Super Awesome Setup Script, Yummy!
The script better known simply as sassy was a long time coming. Every time I
upgrade Ubuntu and then have crap fall apart to the point that I end up
reinstalling I end up saying "Josh, if you had a script that would easily get a
fresh install of Ubuntu up to speed for you, you'd be set". And set I shall be.
I started building a script that includes a listing of all of my installed
packages and updates all of the /etc conf files to get me there. This did
include some changes in how my system was set up, specifically where I kept
files. I've since moved everything into my /home directory, including my
development web sites which are now symlinked back to /var/www to match my
production server. The plan is to eventually move /home on to it's own partition
so that I can reinstall the system and leave it intact. The script thus far is
under 100 lines and is going to be a lifesaver on my next install (9.10 I will
be performing a clean install). I won't be posting the source code as I feel the
script is just a bit too customized towards my needs. I do recommend setting
something similar up yourself, it's a very fun project and takes a minimal
amount of Bash knowledge to get going. It will also help get you in the mindset
of keeping backups. The only gotcha I've come across is that when restoring
MySQL on Debian, if you restore the "mysql" database, you will end up hosing
your install because the debian-sys-maint account's password changes. It's
easily remedied, but I'd avoid doing a full import on that database if at all
possible.