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I cloned my Ubuntu 18.04 installation to an SSD with the program "systemback" and named it Ubuntuclone. I use Ubuntuclone with my MacBook Pro for a separate OS. While my mac is booting I hit the alt button. I then see three options:

  1. MacOs
  2. Windows
  3. EFI

When I choose Windows or EFI, Ubuntu works fine but the problem is this, when I restart or shut down the Ubuntuclone and open it again all the things I have done is gone. For example I have to reenter the password of the wifi, or a saved document is gone. Everything goes back to cloned status and I cannot save anything.

I open any suggestion to solve this.

Thanks in advance.

edit: the original /etc/fstab/ content is ;

overlay / overlay rw 0 0

tmpfs /tmp tmpfs nosuid,nodev 0 0

the mount command output

sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
udev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,nosuid,relatime,size=4000284k,nr_inodes=1000071,mode=755)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,gid=5,mode=620,ptmxmode=000)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,size=807060k,mode=755)
/dev/sdb2 on /cdrom type ext2 (ro,noatime)
/dev/loop0 on /rofs type squashfs (ro,noatime)
/cow on / type overlay (rw,relatime,lowerdir=//filesystem.squashfs,upperdir=/cow/upper,workdir=/cow/work)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
tmpfs on /run/lock type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=5120k)
tmpfs on /sys/fs/cgroup type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,mode=755)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/unified type cgroup2 (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nsdelegate)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/systemd type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,xattr,name=systemd)
pstore on /sys/fs/pstore type pstore (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/memory type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,memory)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,cpuset)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/cpu,cpuacct type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,cpu,cpuacct)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/net_cls,net_prio type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,net_cls,net_prio)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/freezer type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,freezer)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/rdma type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,rdma)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/devices type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,devices)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/hugetlb type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,hugetlb)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/perf_event type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,perf_event)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/pids type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,pids)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/blkio type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,blkio)
systemd-1 on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type autofs (rw,relatime,fd=25,pgrp=1,timeout=0,minproto=5,maxproto=5,direct,pipe_ino=18489)
mqueue on /dev/mqueue type mqueue (rw,relatime)
hugetlbfs on /dev/hugepages type hugetlbfs (rw,relatime,pagesize=2M)
debugfs on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw,relatime)
tracefs on /sys/kernel/debug/tracing type tracefs (rw,relatime)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw,relatime)
configfs on /sys/kernel/config type configfs (rw,relatime)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/core18_1192.snap on /snap/core18/1192 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/core_7396.snap on /snap/core/7396 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/core_7713.snap on /snap/core/7713 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-3-28-1804_71.snap on /snap/gnome-3-28-1804/71 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/wine-platform-3-stable_6.snap on /snap/wine-platform-3-stable/6 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-3-28-1804_67.snap on /snap/gnome-3-28-1804/67 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-calculator_501.snap on /snap/gnome-calculator/501 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-logs_81.snap on /snap/gnome-logs/81 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-characters_317.snap on /snap/gnome-characters/317 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-system-monitor_57.snap on /snap/gnome-system-monitor/57 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/utorrent_92.snap on /snap/utorrent/92 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/core18_1144.snap on /snap/core18/1144 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gtk-common-themes_1313.snap on /snap/gtk-common-themes/1313 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-logs_73.snap on /snap/gnome-logs/73 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/vlc_1049.snap on /snap/vlc/1049 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/wine-platform-runtime_37.snap on /snap/wine-platform-runtime/37 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/spotify_36.snap on /snap/spotify/36 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-characters_296.snap on /snap/gnome-characters/296 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-calculator_406.snap on /snap/gnome-calculator/406 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-system-monitor_100.snap on /snap/gnome-system-monitor/100 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-3-26-1604_90.snap on /snap/gnome-3-26-1604/90 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/wine-platform-runtime_30.snap on /snap/wine-platform-runtime/30 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-3-26-1604_92.snap on /snap/gnome-3-26-1604/92 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gtk-common-themes_818.snap on /snap/gtk-common-themes/818 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
tmpfs on /run/user/121 type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,size=807056k,mode=700,uid=121,gid=125)
tmpfs on /run/user/1000 type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,size=807056k,mode=700,uid=1000,gid=1000)
gvfsd-fuse on /run/user/1000/gvfs type fuse.gvfsd-fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1000,group_id=1000)
/dev/sdb1 on /media/esra/SBLIVE type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1000,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,showexec,utf8,flush,errors=remount-ro,uhelper=udisks2)
curious
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  • Please check whether you have a write permission to your disk. Can you create a new folder or new file in your home directory? – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 12:05
  • Also a remount root directory with rw permission might help. Check this: https://askubuntu.com/questions/448231/usage-of-mount-o-remount-rw – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 12:07
  • @kukulo I can create a new file but as I said when I reopened its gone... How can I change writing permission ? I will try the rw option and inform you. – curious Oct 19 '19 at 12:10
  • After the remount works, edit your /etc/fstab file with appropriate UUID in for the root . Use blkid to determine UUID. – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 12:10
  • sudo mount -o remount,rw / – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 12:11
  • One more question I hope its not absurd one; Where do I do the remount process while is mac open or just in cloned Ubuntu ? – curious Oct 19 '19 at 12:13
  • The UUID pitfall in the fstab is the most common error when copying over a system. The fstab file stores UUID of your drive, this needs to be changed when you copy over to a new SSD or HDD. – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 12:15
  • Open cloned Ubuntu and open a terminal. Then do sudo mount -o remount,rw / . – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 12:15
  • After that run blkid command to determine UUID of your new drive. Denote it and run sudo nano /etc/fstab. – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 12:17
  • You will see a line like this: UUID=a8a90c89-49ab-44ad-bb37-487babcdef / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1 – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 12:18
  • look for the / character in the mount points, this is your root. Change the UUID to your denoted UUID from blkid command. Then CTRL+O to save the file and CTRL+X to quit. Then reboot Ubuntu again. – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 12:20
  • I cannot see erros when I run blkid command, I see this... /dev/sda1: LABEL="EFI" UUID="67E3-17ED" TYPE="vfat" PARTLABEL="EFI System Partition" PARTUUID="9f024c20-4af3-4066-a75a-5ca54e4489c2" /dev/sdb1: LABEL="SBLIVE" UUID="2D7B-E5FA" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="081c8542-01" /dev/sdb2: LABEL="SBROOT" UUID="2712ebdf-59f8-45f3-9295-2442953e5b68" TYPE="ext2" PARTUUID="081c8542-02" – curious Oct 19 '19 at 12:26
  • Your ubuntu system resides in /dev/sdb2, the UUID is UUID="2712ebdf-59f8-45f3-9295-2442953e5b68". Copy this UUID to your /etc/fstab file. You are not supposed to see any errors when running blkid command. You want to know the UUID of your drive. – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 12:28
  • After you have done the editing of fstab file, save it and reboot. – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 12:31
  • If your clone is broken and your original is still good you can recreate an empty partition on the SSD and use [this script](https://askubuntu.com/questions/1028604/bash-script-to-backkup-clone-ubuntu-to-another-partition/1028605#1028605) to clone instead of "systemback". That way the UUID's in `/boot/grub.cfg` and `/etc/fstab` will automatically be setup. Plus you will automatically get a new menu choice on your grub menu which "systemback" might not provide. – WinEunuuchs2Unix Oct 19 '19 at 18:26

1 Answers1

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The output of the mount command reveals the overlay being used in the root filesystem:

/cow on / type overlay (rw,relatime,lowerdir=//filesystem.squashfs,upperdir=/cow/upper,workdir=/cow/work)

Where /cow/upper directory contains your changes made to the system. The filesystem.squashfs is a read-only filesystem, so the base is not overwritable. /cow/work is the working directory for temporary data.

Make sure the /cow directory is writeable in the new drive or create the /cow/upper and /cow/work directories in your SSD with live USB Ubuntu system.

kukulo
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  • I tried what you said but the result is unfortunately not changed. I still have the same problem. – curious Oct 19 '19 at 13:05
  • can you paste in your question the content of your fstab file? cat /etc/fstab – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 13:52
  • you mean the edited one ? or just fstab original one ? – curious Oct 19 '19 at 17:24
  • The one that is currently on your SSD drive. Just do in the rerminal a cat /etc/fstab after booting the Ubuntu. – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 17:39
  • Was the Ubuntu installed to your previous drive? – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 17:41
  • Nope, totaly new SSD, but I cannot save the changes in /etc/ftstab, when I restart or reboot I see the old content. – curious Oct 19 '19 at 17:43
  • It is because of the overlay system, what is the output of mount command and cat /etc/overlayroot.conf ? – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 17:44
  • (base) et:~$ cat /etc/overlayroot.conf cat: /etc/overlayroot.conf: No such file or directory – curious Oct 19 '19 at 17:46
  • Paste the output of the mount command now. – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 17:49
  • I paste the mount command output in the question @kukulo – curious Oct 19 '19 at 17:49
  • /cow on / type overlay (rw,relatime,lowerdir=//filesystem.squashfs,upperdir=/cow/upper,workdir=/cow/work) – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 17:54
  • I am sorry but I didn't understand what you mean – curious Oct 19 '19 at 17:58
  • Your configuration contains the overlay root. This means that lowerdir is a read only system, the upperdir is containing your changes to the system root. Make sure the /cow/upper and /cow/work exist on the new disk and are writeable by root. Then your system should not forget what you create or save in the system. – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 18:11
  • Thank you so much for giving your attention and patience, but I have one last question ( I hope at least) How can I be sure "/cow/upper and /cow/work exist on the new disk and are writeable by root. " ? – curious Oct 19 '19 at 18:23
  • Use USB live system for booting and mount the disk in the file manager, create the directories and reboot. – kukulo Oct 19 '19 at 18:30