Cloning your existing Bazzite installation to a new drive will save you a ton of time compared to reinstalling the system from scratch. While it's still faster to install than Windows, cloning a Bazzite installation is super useful if you have already configured tools like EmuDeck or Steam, upgraded to a larger SSD, or encountered installation issues on a specific device. So follow along as this guide walks through the process of copying your current setup to a new drive using GParted.

Takeaways:

  1. Learn how to clone a Bazzite installation onto another drive.
  2. Wat's the best tool to use to clone a bazzite installation onto a different drive.

First Prepare a Bootable Linux USB

First, you will need a bootable version of Linux Mint.

  • Go to the Linux Mint website.
  • Select the Cinnamon edition.
  • Choose a mirror server close to your location.
  • Download Rufus from its official homepage (64-bit version recommended).
  • Insert a USB drive (all data on it will be erased).
  • Select the Linux Mint ISO and the USB drive in Rufus.
  • Start the process and wait until it completes.
  • Safely eject the USB drive.

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How to Clone a Bazzite Installation

Now that you have a bootable Linux Mint USB boot it up, and attach both the original drive containing Bazzite and the new target drive to your computer.

  • Next open GParted.
  • Enable Device Information from the View menu to clearly identify your drives and partitions.
  • Select your original drive and confirm that it uses a GPT partition table.
  • Then find these key partitions:

EFI partition

ext4 partition

btrfs partition containing the main Bazzite system

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  • Switch to the new drive and verify that it also uses GPT.

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  • If it contains existing partitions, delete them.
  • Make sure you are selecting the correct drive, as this step permanently removes data.
  • Apply the changes to create unallocated space.
  • Return to the original drive and copy each required partition one by one:

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  • Right click the EFI partition and select Copy

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  • Switch to the new drive, right click unallocated space, and select Paste

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  • Repeat for the ext4 and btrfs partitions
  • While pasting the btrfs partition, adjust its size to use the remaining space on the new drive. This makes sure you take full advantage of the larger disk capacity.

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  • Click Apply to begin the cloning process. This may take some time depending on the size of the data being copied.

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Important Notes

Compatibility Warning: This method works for Bazzite but not for Windows. Copying Windows partitions in this way typically results in an unbootable system.

UUID Conflict: Both drives will share identical UUIDs after cloning. Do not boot with both drives connected, as this can cause system conflicts or emergency mode.

Booting from the New Drive

  • Once cloning is complete, shut down your system and physically remove the original drive.
  • Boot your computer with only the new drive installed. You may see a Boot Options Restoration message. This is normal, as the BIOS rebuilds EFI entries.
  • After booting, log in and confirm that your system, files, and applications are intact. Your environment should match the original installation.