[arch-general] Best way to clone install (package selection to another box?)

[David C. Rankin]

Listmates:

        If I want to clone my package selection to another box, is there a 
better way
to do it other than just parsing the files in /var/cache/pacman/pkg to generate
a list to feed to pacman after install on the second box? Something like:

for i in $(find /var/cache/pacman/pkg/ -type f); do
        TMP=${i##*/}
        FILE=${TMP%%-[[:digit:]]*}
        echo $FILE >> ~/linux/INSTALLED
done

        Then after install on the new box:

pacman --sync --refresh

pacman --sync $( < ~/linux/INSTALLED)

  --or--

while read file; do
        pacman --sync $file
done < ~/linux/INSTALLED

        I've picked around a bit and can't find a pacman option that is 
somewhat the
equivalent to rsync's '--files-from' that would allow me to read the list to
pass to pacman directly from a file. I don't know if pacman can do something
like this or how many files it can handle at once if the list of files is piped
or redirected to it. I don't think the second while loop would work either from
a dependency perspective, and, the repeated calls to pacman would make it slow
as hell.

        What's the current thinking on the best way to do something like this?
        

-- 
David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E.
Rankin Law Firm, PLLC
510 Ochiltree Street
Nacogdoches, Texas 75961
Telephone: (936) 715-9333
Facsimile: (936) 715-9339
www.rankinlawfirm.com