1. Backup before reinstalling

Do this on your old system. Anything that isn't in the backup or in git is gone after formatting.

Installing Arch for the first time? Skip this step and head to USB stick and BIOS.

1.1. Push your live configs to the repo

Your configs in ~/.config may have drifted ahead of the repo. Check the diff:

cd ~/arch-install-kit
git pull

diff -rq dotfiles/.config ~/.config | grep -v "Only in /home"
diff -rq dotfiles/bin ~/bin

Copy the changes you want to keep into dotfiles/, then commit and push.

If you installed with --link, your configs are already symlinks to the repo — git status is all you need.

1.2. Save your installed package list

mkdir -p ~/reinstall-backup
pacman -Qqen > ~/reinstall-backup/pkglist.txt   # from the official repos
pacman -Qqem > ~/reinstall-backup/aurlist.txt   # from the AUR

Handy for comparing against installer/packages/ and adding anything you installed by hand.

1.3. Save whatever isn't in the repo

cd ~/reinstall-backup

cp -a ~/.ssh ssh                         # keys — the most important part
cp -a ~/.gnupg gnupg 2>/dev/null
cp ~/.gitconfig gitconfig 2>/dev/null
cp ~/.local/share/fish/fish_history . 2>/dev/null
cp -a ~/Images images                    # your own wallpapers

Check these by hand:

What	How to save it
Projects in ~/Projects	git status in each → everything committed and pushed
.env and other secrets	find ~/Projects -name ".env*" -not -path "*/node_modules/*" → copy them
PostgreSQL	sudo -u postgres pg_dumpall > pg_dump.sql
Docker volumes	docker volume ls, export the ones you need to an archive
Browsers	turn on sync or copy ~/.config/google-chrome, ~/.mozilla
IDE	Settings Sync / export your settings
Documents	~/Documents, ~/Downloads, ~/Videos, ~/Music

1.4. Get the backup off the disk

tar czf ~/reinstall-backup.tar.gz -C ~ reinstall-backup
cp ~/reinstall-backup.tar.gz /run/media/$USER/<usb-stick>/

A separate /home partition can be left unformatted during install, so your home folder survives the reinstall intact. Make the backup anyway: one partitioning mistake and the partition is wiped.

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Next: 2. USB stick and BIOS →