I was setting up a backup program for my newly installed Ubuntu 26.04 when I accidentally deleted all the files (and symlinks) which reside in the root folder of my system. No folders were deleted or changed. I don't have a backup because I haven't set that up yet.
How do I restore those files and links so that the system will boot again?
I can run the demonstration mode of the installation USB to just copy or create what is necessary.
I created the missing root directory links for /bin /sbin /lib and /lib64; all linked to /usr/bin, /usr/lib etc. I was able to log in then:-
The machine then booted with an error "cannot find home directory" but /home directory does exist.
Then another error "main.py crashed with PermissionError in init() [Errno 13] Permission denied "/home/peter/.local"
I expected some collateral damage but I should be able to track that down.
Thank you all who responded for your time and effort.