HOWTO: Using cpio to Copy a Partition in Linux

Using cpio to copy everything from one partition to another in Linux, maintaining all file permissions, symlinks, and timestamps.

# File: copy_partition.notes
# Auth: burly
# Date: 03/20/05
# Desc: A method of copying everything from one 
#      partition to another

# Change directories to the top level of the 
# partition you want to copy
cd /part

# Use find to locate all objects and cpio to copy them
find . -mount -print0 | cpio -0dump /path/to/new/part