Differences

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--- other:win10wsl [2022/08/31 15:08] – [Creating a backup] jypeter
+++ other:win10wsl [2022/08/31 16:58] – [Restoring or relocating a Linux installation] Improved jypeter
@@ Line 1011: / Line 1011: @@
     * If you are not going to use the backup tar file right away, you can optionally compress it in order to save some space
-      * <code>Add compression example here</code>
+      * <code>$ ls -lh /mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>/WSL/WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.5_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar
+.4G Aug 29 17:49 /mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>/WSL/WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.5_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar
+$ gzip  /mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>/WSL/WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.5_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar
+$ ls -lh /mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>/WSL/WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.5_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar.gz
+M Aug 29 17:49 /mnt/c/Scratch/<your_login>/WSL/WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.5_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar.gz</code>
 === Backup of specific directories ===
@@ Line 1039: / Line 1045: @@
 ==== Restoring or relocating a Linux installation ====
-When we have a backup in a tar file, we can restore it to the default location (Check ?? FIXME), or specify where we want to restore it. This is a way of moving (relocating) an installation to another disk or partition than the default location ''C:\''
+When we have the tar file of a [[other:win10wsl#creating_a_backup|FULL backup]], we can use [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/basic-commands#import-a-new-distribution|--import]] to install or restore it to a specific location.
+Note:
+  * This is currently the only way of moving (relocating) a Linux installation to another disk than the default ''C:\'' location
+  * Importing will mostly put the ''ext4.vhdx'' file in the specified target location!
+    * You need [[other:win10wsl#disk_usage|enough disk space]] in the new disk location, knowing that the size of the ''vhdx'' file will start growing (as needed) as soon as you use your installation
+  * This is an indirect way of reclaiming the unused space of a Linux installation, i.e the size of the ''ext4.vhdx'' file after importing can be smaller than the size of the originally exported ''ext4.vhdx'' file.
+Detailed [[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/basic-commands#import-a-new-distribution|--import]] example:
+  * We assume that we have an exported installation tar file available
+    * In this example, we use the compressed backup file created in [[other:win10wsl#backup_of_a_full_linux_installation|Backup of a FULL Linux installation]]\\ ''C:\Scratch\<your_login>\WSL\WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.5_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar.gz''
+  * Create the directory where the Linux installation (mostly its ''ext4.vhdx'' file) will be restored
+    * Hint: use an explicit directory path and name using the name of the distribution that will be restored\\ e.g. ''D:\WSL_Distributions\Ubuntu_custom''
+  * Import the distribution, giving it a name that does not appear in ''wsl -l -v''
+    * <code>> wsl -l -v
+  NAME      STATE           VERSION
+* Ubuntu    Stopped         2
+> wsl --import Ubuntu_custom D:\WSL_Distributions\Ubuntu_custom C:\Scratch\<your_login>\WSL\WSL_Ubuntu_20.04.5_LTS_stdu_22-08-29.tar.gz
+> wsl -l -v
+  NAME             STATE           VERSION
+* Ubuntu           Stopped         2
+  Ubuntu_custom    Stopped         2</code>
+    * After importing, there should be a new ''ext4.vhdx'' file in the previously empty ''D:\WSL_Distributions\Ubuntu_custom'' directory
+  * Start the imported ''Ubuntu_custom'' distribution
+    * Directly from the Windows Terminal pull-down menu
+    * Or from a PowerShell, using ''wsl --distribution Ubuntu_custom''
+    * WARNING: even if the distribution we imported had an existing default ''stdu'' user, the //new// default user will be ''root'' !
 FIXME Read [[https://www.howtogeek.com/426562/how-to-export-and-import-your-linux-systems-on-windows-10/|How to Export and Import Your Linux Systems on Windows 10]] and [[https://winaero.com/blog/export-import-wsl-linux-distro-windows-10/|Export and Import WSL Linux Distro in Windows 10]] and similar threads