Clone Volumio to a New Raspberry PI

MyVolumio
1

I’m very happy with my Volumio running on a RPI at home. I’ve configured it with a number of URL web radio stations. I would like to create a new RPI to use at my cottage which includes these customizations. I need to change the network settings on the new RPI.

I wondering if someone can advise on the best way to accomplish this. I know I can use RPI SD Clone to clone the uSD card but can I then manually change the network settings by mounting the uSD card? I saw there is a SAVE for configuration but it doesn’t seem to save to my computer. Can I export the settings?

Thanks

2

Yes—both approaches (Backup/Restore and “clone + edit network files”) are valid and will give you a second Volumio instance with the same web-radio URLs. Here’s a quick sanity-check and a few refinements:

1. Backup/Restore method

  1. Backup on the original Pi

    • In Volumio’s Web UI → Settings → My Music → Backup, click “Start backup.”
    • Volumio packages all user-level settings (web-radio URLs, playlists, plugin configurations and the contents of /data/network) into a single .tar file.
    • Download that .tar to your computer.

  2. Fresh install on the new Pi

    • Flash the same Volumio version to the new SD card.
    • Boot the new Pi and let Volumio complete its initial setup (it can stay on DHCP/Wi-Fi temporarily).

  3. Restore on the new Pi

    • In Volumio’s Web UI → Settings → My Music → Backup, choose your downloaded .tar under “Restore” and click “Restore.”
    • Volumio will import everything and reboot.

  4. Overwrite network settings

    • After restore, go to Volumio’s Web UI → Settings → Network → Wi-Fi (or Ethernet) and change SSID/password or switch to a static IP.
    • Click “Save” (and “Reconnect” if prompted).

• Why it’s correct: The backup file already contains your original network config, so restoring it automatically brings over your home SSID/password. After restore, you simply overwrite those saved credentials with your cottage network’s details.

• Common pitfalls:

  • Make sure both Pis run the same Volumio build (e.g. v3.x). A backup from v3.812 should be restored onto another v3.812 (or at least v3.x) install.
  • If you restore onto a Pi with a very different hardware setup (e.g. moving from RPi3 to RPi4), Volumio will adapt but plugins that are architecture-specific might need re-enabling.

2. Clone SD and manually edit network files

  1. Clone the working SD card

    • Use your preferred imaging tool (Win32 Disk Imager, dd, balenaEtcher, Raspberry Pi Imager, etc.) to create an exact image of the original Volumio SD.
    • Write that image onto the new SD for the cottage Pi.

  2. Mount the root (ext4) partition on your computer

    • The Volumio image has two partitions: a small FAT “boot” slice and a larger ext4 “root” slice.
    • Mount only the ext4 partition (it usually shows up as /dev/sdX2 on Linux). On macOS you’ll need an ext4-capable driver or mount tool.

  3. Edit the Wi-Fi or Ethernet JSON

    • For Wi-Fi, open

      /mnt/volumio/data/network/wpa_supplicant.conf

      and replace the SSID/PSK block with your cottage SSID and password.

    • If you need a static IP (instead of DHCP), edit

      /mnt/volumio/data/configuration/system_controller/network.json

      and set

      {
  "mode": "wifi",
  "ssid": "Cottage_SSID",
  "key": "CottagePassword",
  "ip_method": "static",
  "address": "192.168.2.50",
  "netmask": "255.255.255.0",
  "gateway": "192.168.2.1",
  "dns": "8.8.8.8"
}

      (or adjust the "mode" and JSON keys appropriately for a wired interface).

  4. Unmount and boot

    • sudo umount /mnt/volumio (or equivalent).
    • Insert the SD into the cottage Pi and power on. It will use the new network block you just wrote.

• Why it’s correct: Cloning gives you an exact OS+configuration copy (including your web-radio entries). By modifying /data/network/... before first boot, you force it to connect to the correct Wi-Fi or Ethernet settings.

• Common pitfalls:

  • If you forget to edit the JSON or wpa_supplicant.conf, the Pi will either try to join your home network (and fail) or drop to AP mode.
  • Make sure any JSON edits remain valid (no missing commas or braces). A malformed network.json will prevent Volumio from parsing it.

Summary

  • Yes, exporting via Volumio’s Backup/Restore is the simplest way to replicate web-radio URLs and other settings. Once restored, just change the network panel in the UI.
  • Yes, you can also “clone + mount + edit” the SD card if you prefer a bit-for-bit copy; just make sure you edit /data/network/wpa_supplicant.conf and/or /data/configuration/system_controller/network.json before the first boot.

Either procedure is correct. Choose Backup/Restore for ease and reliability, or SD-clone + manual edit if you want to preserve absolutely everything at once without using Volumio’s GUI backup.

3

Why all this complexity???

Just clone the SD with programs like win32diskimager.
Flash the cloned image to a new SD.
Boot the SD on the new location and configure the network.

1 Like
4

True—cloning with Win32 Disk Imager is the quickest route if you don’t mind logging in later and re-entering the new network settings.

The reason I described the backup/restore and “clone + edit network files” methods is that the original poster wanted a Pi that boots head-less at the cottage with all web-radio presets and the correct Wi-Fi credentials already baked in. Cloning alone won’t do that unless you edit the network files afterward; backup/restore achieves it with a couple of clicks via the UI.

So both options are on the table—simple clone for convenience, or the slightly more involved path for those who enjoy a bit of tinkering (and want everything to “just work” on first boot). Sometimes tackling the extra complexity is half the fun.

5

Thanks all.

What I did in the end was:

  • Copy the URL’s of my custom stations
  • Make a new Volumio SD card
  • Boot and configure the new network
  • Manually copy/paste the URL’s of my custom stations

One question is how does one access Volumio to get to the .tar file? SSH is not enabled on my setup,

6

Go to yoursystemsipaddress/dev and the ssh option is there.

7

Sorry, don’t understand “yoursystemsipaddress/dev”. At the present time, the Volumio doesn’t have SSH running on port 22.

8

Accessing Your Volumio Device via Browser:

  1. Open your web browser.
  2. Navigate to your Volumio device.
  3. Add /dev in the address bar.
  • Example: If your IP address is 192.168.1.100, navigate to 192.168.1.100/dev.

Important Reminder:
If these steps seem confusing or difficult, you might want to reconsider following Xone’s instructions, as they involve more complex processes

9

That makes sense. I didn’t know that the /dev would take me to a menu to enable SSH. That works but any idea what the SSH password is?

11

User: volumio
password: volumio