Cloning select system files to SSD

[mattand]

Hey, all:

I've got a question on how to clone select startup and system files from main HD to a SSD. I think I've come up with an idea based on this thread in the FAQ (When I try to copy a single directory, I end up copying the whole disk. Why?), but want to make sure I'm doing this right.

I have 8 items on my startup drive, but I only want to copy four of them to the new SSD: Applications; Library; System; and Users. The SSD will eventually become the new startup drive


The startup drive contains 700 GB of data, and the new SSD is 256 GB. The four files above add up to 202 GB. I created a script based on the above FAQ. There's a few things I'm not sure of:

1. I did not include the "ignore .*" command, as I want to eventually make the SSD my startup, and figured there's all sorts of invisible files that Mavericks needs to run properly. Is this correct?
   
2. I added by hand folders like tmp, bin, etc.; again, figuring that the OS needs these run. I'm guessing there's any easier way to do that, assuming I need to copy these over.

I've included a screen shot of the script I made. Hopefully, I'm in the ballpark and not coming off as a complete dunce. Thanks for any help.

Sincerely,
Matt

[dnanian]

That is absolutely not going to work, Matt. Your system requires far more folders than those (such as the ones you're adding). What are you actually trying to leave out?

Perhaps what you should do is create a Sandbox - shared users on the SSD?

[mattand]

Hey, Dave:

Thanks for the reply.

Right now, I have a one TB HD on my iMac that contains everything: all of the OS X folders needed to run the system, in addition to work files. Ultimately my goal is to swap out the SuperDrive in my iMac with the SSD, and make that the startup (Two internal HDs, no DVD).

I only want the OS on the SSD. I'm going to leave all non-OS folders/files on the platter HD.

I thought about doing a clean install of Mavericks on to the SSD, but I really don't want to go through the hassle of re-installing all of my software; in addition to fiddling with permissions on the new users folder to match the old.

I thought I could use SuperDuper to clone over just the four folders I'm guessing are the basis for OS X: System; Library; Users; and Applications. Is it possible to use SD to accomplish this?

Thanks again for the response.

Sincerely,

Matt

Originally Posted by dnanian

That is absolutely not going to work, Matt. Your system requires far more folders than those (such as the ones you're adding). What are you actually trying to leave out?

Perhaps what you should do is create a Sandbox - shared users on the SSD?

[dnanian]

Those are not the basis of OS X. Those are a small part of it. You need all of Unix as well. That's why I'm suggesting using "Sandbox - shared users".

[mattand]

Originally Posted by dnanian

Those are not the basis of OS X. Those are a small part of it. You need all of Unix as well. That's why I'm suggesting using "Sandbox - shared users".

Hey, Dave:

Thanks for the reply. I'll have to bone up on Sandboxing in the manual. I really haven't fiddled that much with SD other than doing basic backup. Hopefully, that'll get me where I'm going.

Thanks again,

Matt

[dnanian]

Basically, what it's going to do is copy everything but the folders in /Users to the SSD, then symlink the contents of /Users from the SSD to the source drive. So the OS and applications are on the SSD, and everything else isn't.

Note that your SSD is also going to be used for temporary files, swap files, etc. You can't cut this close. If your SSD is too small - you really need to either uninstall applications or get a larger SSD.