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Because of some upgrade problems with 17.10 I reinstalled it from live image DVD. I used first option (Reinstall Ubuntu 17.10). When prompted to chose username I chose another username and I get another /home/mynewusername directory. Besides that I have /home/myoldusername with all my old files. How do I get my old username files to my new username or how do I get another install as my old usermame? Do I chose Something else option and chose the right partition and home folder? Do I chose Reinstall option again and make the same username as old one? Do I have to delete mew username? How?

Kristijan Iliev
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Mersault
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  • As for files and configs: you can just copy/move them between the two folders. Have you tried to login with your old user credentials? Very probably you will have to use useradd to create your olduser in the new system but WITHOUT creating a new home folder (don't know the options right now). – derHugo Nov 03 '17 at 10:47
  • I tried logging in with old username, but did not succeed. It's ok for me to get old files into new username. Do I just copy old /home folder into new? – Mersault Nov 03 '17 at 10:49
  • Afaik yes you can copy it completely but you will have to repair the permissions. I would do this first so you can't get in trouble: sudo chown -R newuser /home/olduser followed by sudo cp -r /home/olduser /home/newuser this will also copy your old configuration files. – derHugo Nov 03 '17 at 10:54
  • I did first command, but second command did nothing. Then I manually(jnautilus) copied files from old home folder into new. It stopped in between process because I had not enough space. Now when rebooting I can not get into ubuntu again:( – Mersault Nov 03 '17 at 11:50
  • Well ok I didn't think you run out of space .. hopefully you can fix this .. maybe have a look at this answer – derHugo Nov 03 '17 at 11:57
  • Meanwhile you could try a live Ubuntu, make a backup of your old stuff and try copy again – derHugo Nov 03 '17 at 11:59
  • I'll try to back up my old home folder to another partition and then I'll see if I can boot ok. Do you think my old settings somehow collided with new settings? – Mersault Nov 03 '17 at 12:04
  • As it says in the link the main issues would be permissions and eventually yes you can get in trouble with UserID and GroupID if you have any configfile or script relying on it. So probably your main issue was that the copy couldn't be completed. Also notice the -p option for preserve permissions. Another issue might be missing executable flags on scripts – derHugo Nov 03 '17 at 12:33
  • I managed to save old folder to another partition and reinstalled ubuntu 17.10 – Mersault Nov 03 '17 at 20:37

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