BTRFS-IMAGE(8) BTRFS BTRFS-IMAGE(8)
NAME
btrfs-image - create/restore an image of the filesystem
SYNOPSIS
btrfs-image [options] <source> <target>
DESCRIPTION
btrfs-image is used to create an image of a btrfs filesystem. All data
will be zeroed, but metadata and the like is preserved. Mainly used for
debugging purposes.
In the dump mode, source is the btrfs device/file and target is the out-
put file (use - for stdout).
In the restore mode (option -r), source is the dumped image and target
is the btrfs device/file.
OPTIONS
-r Restore metadump image. By default, this fixes super's chunk
tree, by using 1 stripe pointing to primary device, so that file
system can be restored by running tree log reply if possible. To
restore without changing number of stripes in chunk tree check -o
option.
-c <value>
Compression level (0 ~ 9).
-t <value>
Number of threads (1 ~ 32) to be used to process the image dump
or restore.
-o Use the old restore method, this does not fixup the chunk tree so
the restored file system will not be able to be mounted.
-s Sanitize the file names when generating the image. Not recom-
mended as this would introduce new file name hash mismatches,
thus if your problem involves subvolume tress, it can even mask
existing problems. Furthermore kernels can not do proper path
resolution due to the introduced hash mismatches.
One -s means just generate random garbage, which means that the
directory hash won't match its file names. Using two -s will
calculate a collision for the file name so that the hashes match,
and if it can't calculate a collision then it will just generate
garbage. The collision calculator is very time and CPU inten-
sive.
-w Walk all the trees manually and copy any blocks that are refer-
enced. Use this option if your extent tree is corrupted to make
sure that all of the metadata is captured.
-m Restore for multiple devices, more than 1 device should be pro-
vided.
--version
Print the btrfs-image version, builtin features and exit.
EXIT STATUS
btrfs-image will return 0 if no error happened. If any problems hap-
pened, 1 will be returned.
SEE ALSO
mkfs.btrfs(8)
6.14 Apr 17, 2025 BTRFS-IMAGE(8)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Tue Dec 16 07:17:54 CET 2025.