I'm not sure if there is an equivalent to the rpm command myself. deborphan comes to mind as a possiblity. Backing up just your data should be fairly easy. Have you compiled/installed any software that wasn't in deb form? If you have, did you at least install it to /usr/local? If not, you should! I also recommend using stow to manage your compiled software. (apt-get install stow) Stow "manages" your /usr/local software by creating symlinks from it's repository (usually /usr/local/stow) to the proper places in /usr/local. So your configure/make/make install would look like: # ./configure # make # sudo make install prefix=/usr/local/stow/package_version # cd /usr/local/stow # sudo stow package_version Sorry for the side track. Here's what I would recommend backing up on a Debian/Ubuntu system: - /etc/ - /home/ - /opt/ - /root/ - /srv/ - /usr/local - /var/www (If you have changed the default web site) - mysqldump file if you have MySQL databases. - dpgk selections file. The dpgk selections file is a file that has a list of all the software you have installed via Debian's package manager. You can export this list with the following command: # dpkg --get-selections > dpgk_selections On a clean (or any) install of Debian/Ubuntu, you can then restore the selections list: # dpkg --set-selections < dpgk_selections And then tell apt to install your selected software: # apt-get dist-upgrade And all the packages you had installed will download and install. -- Andrew S. Zbikowski | http://andy.zibnet.us IT Outhouse Blog Thing | http://www.itouthouse.com