How to migrate / copy Axolotl / Signal profile to new smartphone / device?

GT

Hi all,

how is it possible to migrate the Axolotl / Signal profile to a new smartphone?

Is it sufficient to copy the following folders to the new device?
/home/phablet/.local/share/textsecure.nanuc/
/home/phablet/.config/textsecure.nanuc/

Or is there any other action (registration/deregistration....) required to that Signal works flawless on the new device (including all old messages/conversations)?

Alter

@gt : Don't unregister! This will make all the old messages unreadable. I have moved from phone to phone with Axolotl and was able to keep all my messages. I'm pretty sure I have a tutorial / dummy instructions on my PC, but I will have to look. Might be Thursday, though, if you can wait this long?

GT

@alter Thanks for your response. Yes, Thursday is fine.
My Volla has the screen-freeze issue and I have to send it in for repair/replacement. That's why I will need to transfer everything to a new device.

Alter

@gt :

How to migrate all Axolotl messages to a new phone.
First a dummy guide which presumes a working screen and USB on the old phone as well.
Then a terminal guide (which I haven't tried, but more knowledgable people have).
Hope it helps! Kind regards, Alter

DUMMY GUIDE (NO TERMINAL)

Copy textsecure folders (in hidden folders .cache, .config, .local)
to phablet/home:
a. Make a folder Axolotl-backup in phablet/home by opening File Manager

Navigate to Documents - Click on + sign -Type folder name and click
Create Folder;
b. In this new folder, create 3 more folders called Cache-content,
Config-content, Local-content in the same way, then go back to
Filemanager home;
c. Unlock restricted folders by clicking Unlock and enter your
passphrase/unlock code (if not set, enter 0000);
d. Go to .cache and copy folder textsecure.nanuc by pulling the folder
to the left and clicking on the copy icon appearing to the right;
e. Go to Documents/Axolotl-backup/Cache-content and click Menu (3
horizontal lines top right) > Paste 1 file
f. Repeat step d. and e. for the textsecure folders in .config and
.cache, obviously placing them in the appropriate backup folders.
You might want to do this too for other apps like e.g. Gallery (.cache,
.config, .local), Morph bookmarks (bookmarks.sqlite).

Turn on flight mode
a. Put your old phone to Flight mode (switching all network off) by
clicking on the Network icon and pulling the Flight Mode slider;
b. Never put network on again, as only one instance of Axolotl can run
at any one time and it can mess up migration.
Backup the Axolotl-backup folder (and everything else you want to
keep) to your PC:
b. Attach the USB cord and connect it to your PC, preferably a USB2 port
as this works best;
c. Make sure your phone's screen is active so the PC can see the phone
(if not, enter your passphrase on the phone to unlock the screen);
d. From your PC, you can now see and copy the Axoltl-backup folder and
all its contents to your PC.
e. Same goes for all other items you'd like to keep, like any other
backupped hidden folders and Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, Videos
Install Axolotl on new phone
a. Install Axolotl app on new phone without opening it to do setup;
Copy backup to new phone in flightmode
a. Put the Axolotl-backup folder in the Documents folder on your new phone;
b. Copy each old textsecure folder in there to the appropriate hidden
folder it was in;
c. Once done, open Axolotl on new phone and everything should be there
again.
Delete contents of old phone
a. Once migration is succesful, you can use System Settings > Reset
feature on the old phone to delete all contents.

TERMINAL GUIDE
Apparently (I haven't tried it) you can achieve same in Terminal. Short
explanation:

log in old phone via ssh from PC with Nemo/Nautilus
copy old directories to PC
log out of ssh
(- install Axolotl app on new phone without opening it to do setup and set phone to flight mode)
log in new phone via ssh
copy from PC
(Thanks to the helpful people at the Axolotl-dev Telegram group, see Axolotl.chat website)

GT

@alter Thanks, that's very helpful!

Alter

@gt : Glad to hear that!
Kind regards, Alter