Migrating and Repacing /var/home with /home

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Background

Was previously using the Budgie Spin. After an update, it appeared I had frequently been logged out and been forced between Budgie and Gnome. Despite trying to break free, efforts were fruitless and it was unbearable.

I’ve made motions to install the Atomic Budgie, later the Atomic KDE Plasma (Kinoite) after realizing I was not free from Gnome.

Intentions

In my old distribution, I had previously setup /home in an alternate drive of btrfs. This drive is SATA ssd and labeled /dev/sda

It contains all of my flatpak data, wine prefixes, games, and personal files. I would like to have this new installation take everything it can from the existing directory. It must be seperate from the m.2 nvme install directory, due to space and security concerns.

Problem

Process

In the previous installation, I had simply:

  • pulled the contents of the live /home I wanted onto the drive
  • mounted the drive into a /mnt/home directy I created
  • moved the undesired /home to an arbitrary /homeBak
  • remounted the live /home, updating /etc/fstab and systemctl

Rogue Element

Attempting this process onto my newly installed KDE Plasma system failed.

While attempting to move the fresh and undesired /var/home so it is out of play, I was given the following message:
Read-only file system

I have tried, in great dismay, messing with /etc/fstab, finding the UUID of the drive and specifying where they may find this /home directory. In doing so, I had been bricked from my system, perpetually in emergency mode upon reboot.

Current Situation

Unable to get any console, I have once again reinstalled my system onto the m.2 nvme drive. My desired /home directly still remains in the sata ssd.

Looking for help on this.

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TLDR: Appears impossible to perform. To my understanding Spins can do this, not Atomics.

In light of time constraints, and after many hours of troubleshoot, I had wounded up ditching the atomic version for the desktop spin.

Same processed followed. This time, I had performed the steps on a Bootable USB. This was possible only by the Spin; the Atomic version does not allow a preview before installation. Just like that, worked like a charm.

Until there are 3rd party bootable platforms capable of accessing Atomic filesystems, it appears this may be an impossible task. In the best case scenario, where one may use a console to see the file structure of the installation, one cannot move any of the original /home files due to processes running. One, therefore, cannot perform a /home relocation under any circumstances.

Until there are developments, this may be a thread better serving as a cautionary tale, than a guide. This may be closed.