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Something like, dd an iso straight to the other partition without making a usb installer... and then updating grub?
or maybe, make a virtual machine mimicking my real hardware and use the extra partion as it's hd, and then virtually boot an installer iso?
surely there's good way to do this...

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    Can you please be more clear about what you are trying to achieve? Cloning an existing system to a new partition? Do you have a working system already? Are you looking for a ready to use system image that you can just copy to a new partition? Commented Jan 8, 2019 at 20:57
  • sorry. working system already. install a new system onto the new partition. Commented Jan 8, 2019 at 21:09
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    Question unclear. Please edit instead of saying complement in the comments Commented Jan 8, 2019 at 21:19
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    Are you aiming to speed up system installation? (Please, edit your question with your clarifications). Usually, installers copy stuff and configure your system based on your specific hardware and preferences (localization, partitions, swap, networking, users, packages...). All things that have to be done somehow before you can just copy a file system and setup a boot loader. Commented Jan 8, 2019 at 21:36
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    You can clone an existing linux installation. Also you can use the chroot way , there is an example here : unix.stackexchange.com/questions/361239/… Commented Jan 8, 2019 at 22:04

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Yes, absolutely. You can pack an entire Linux root filesystem into a tar archive file (using the tar program), and then unpack that archive onto a freshly formatted disk partition. I've done it before to back up a system and that is effectively what is being done if you install a distribution from a Live USB - often times the installer is just unpacking a base system from a tarball (tar archive).

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  • This solution will work if you are trying to copy your existing instance from one partition to another. You're essentially forking your OS and would have two completely identical (but entirely separate) OSs if you did this. I'm not entirely sure that this is what the question is asking. Commented Jan 8, 2019 at 21:44
  • @Crypteya I agree the OP could clarify the question better. It seemed to me they were basically asking if it possible to copy an entire system from one partition to another. Commented Jan 9, 2019 at 14:53
  • Fair. Doesn't look like the question will be clarified. I upvoted your answer when initially commenting anyway. I'm sure your answer will help people who find this question. Commented Jan 10, 2019 at 4:38

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