Cloning a MOBILE Lab System

The MOBILE Presenter's cloning utility allows users to duplicate their running operating system and ALL its files onto another hard drive. This is used to create identical system images on external hard drives to distribute to participants in a class or workshop. It is important to note that this utility can be used to clone information from any of a computer's connected devices to another (for example, it could clone the contents of an external drive onto the local hard drive).

As stated above, the clone utility is found in the MOBILE Presenter program. To use it:

  1. Open MOBILE Presenter (double-click its icon on the Desktop)
  2. Click on Utilities -> Clone System in the upper left corner of the window



  3. Choose a device to write to from the dropdown at the top of the window.

    In the image below, the device 'sdb' is chosen. So, if executed with sync core system checked, the clone utility will copy the contents of the running filesystem to the device 'sdb' and overwrite any and all existing files on that drive.

    The large text pane shows existing partition information for the device chosen. In this case, the destination drive shows it already has existing partitions that would be overwritten by the clone system if 'sync core system' were checked.

    The checkboxes at the bottom toggle whether or not to:

    Sync the core system Copy the entire filesystem to the destination device (overwrite destination device)
    Make Presenter system Create a Presenter Icon on the destination device's Desktop
    Sync the MOBILE sessions Copy the running system's MOBILE sessions to the destination device (overwrite destination device's sessions)

  4. After clicking the 'Clone' button, you are presented with notification dialog that also links to a document on how to unmount and reformat the destination device.


  5. One final confirm dialog will appear showing your selected options. After confirmation, the cloning process begins.

  6. After completion, you're ready to distribute!

As the amount of data on the source disk dictates the amount of work required to clone the filesystem, the clone utility may take varying lengths to finish. The main factor at play will likely be how many programs were installed on the base system. With a relatively Spartan system, cloning often took 15-25 minutes to complete.