Feature Request: Migration Assistant for Existing Linux Installations

[gavemaster]

Problem

One of the biggest barriers to switching to Omarchy is not installing the OS itself, but migrating an existing development workstation.

For example, an Ubuntu user may have:

• personal files
• Git repositories, including uncommitted work
• SSH keys and Git configuration
• .env files and project secrets
• installed development tools
• language runtimes
• VS Code extensions/settings
• browser data
• Docker volumes
• shell configuration
• local databases and other application state

Today, a user considering a full-disk Omarchy installation has to manually identify, back up, and reconstruct much of this environment.

For experienced Linux users this is manageable, but it creates significant friction for someone who simply wants to move their existing workstation to Omarchy.

Proposed Feature

It would be useful if the Omarchy installer offered an optional migration assistant when another Linux installation is detected.

For example:

1. Detect an existing Ubuntu/Fedora/etc. installation.
2. Scan the existing user’s environment.
3. Produce a migration inventory.
4. Allow the user to select what should be preserved.
5. Back up that state before disk installation.
6. Install Omarchy.
7. Restore compatible state and translate supported configuration into Omarchy-native equivalents.
8. Produce a post-migration report showing what was restored, translated, skipped, or requires manual action.

Example:

Existing Ubuntu installation detected
✓ 18 Git repositories
✓ SSH configuration
✓ Git configuration
✓ 4 .env files
✓ Documents
✓ VS Code settings
✓ 23 VS Code extensions
✓ Docker configuration
✓ Node 22
✓ Python development environment
Translation available:
Ubuntu package -> Arch package
Manual review:
3 unsupported packages
Ignored:
GNOME-specific configuration
Ubuntu system configuration

Important Design Principle

I don’t think this should simply copy the user’s entire home directory or .config.

Omarchy has opinionated defaults, and blindly restoring configuration from another distribution could break or undermine those defaults.

Migration could instead classify state into categories such as:

Restore

• documents
• Git repositories
• SSH keys/config
• Git configuration
• selected project files
• editor extensions

Translate

• apt packages → Arch equivalents
• language runtimes
• common development tools
• selected services

Do Not Automatically Restore

• GNOME configuration
• Ubuntu-specific system configuration
• kernel configuration
• distribution-specific services
• incompatible dotfiles

The user would get a migration plan before anything destructive happens.

Longer-Term Possibility

This could eventually become a reusable workstation manifest:

omarchy migrate
omarchy export
omarchy restore

That could support both:

Ubuntu → Omarchy
Fedora → Omarchy
Old Omarchy laptop → New Omarchy laptop

The goal would be to make changing machines or adopting Omarchy feel closer to:

“Make this Omarchy installation reproduce my existing development environment.”

I saw the existing discussion around a first-class Omarchy backup/restore/check workflow (#5588). This feels complementary to that idea, but focused specifically on onboarding users from an existing non-Omarchy Linux installation.

Would something like this fit Omarchy’s vision?