BTRFS-RESTORE(8) BTRFS BTRFS-RESTORE(8)
NAME
btrfs-restore - try to restore files from a damaged filesystem image
SYNOPSIS
btrfs restore [options] <device> <path> | -l <device>
DESCRIPTION
btrfs restore is used to try to salvage files from a damaged filesystem
and restore them into path or just list the subvolume tree roots. The
filesystem image is not modified.
If the filesystem is damaged and cannot be repaired by the other tools
(btrfs-check(8) or btrfs-rescue(8)), btrfs restore could be used to re-
trieve file data, as far as the metadata are readable. The checks done
by restore are less strict and the process is usually able to get far
enough to retrieve data from the whole filesystem. This comes at a cost
that some data might be incomplete or from older versions if they're
available.
There are several options to attempt restoration of various file meta-
data type. You can try a dry run first to see how well the process goes
and use further options to extend the set of restored metadata.
For images with damaged tree structures, there are several options to
point the process to some spare copy.
OPTIONS
-s|--snapshots
get also snapshots that are skipped by default
-x|--xattr
get extended attributes
-m|--metadata
restore owner, mode and times for files and directories
-S|--symlinks
restore symbolic links as well as normal files
-i|--ignore-errors
ignore errors during restoration and continue
-o|--overwrite
overwrite directories/files in path, e.g. for repeated runs
-t <bytenr>
use bytenr to read the root tree
-f <bytenr>
only restore files that are under specified subvolume root
pointed by bytenr
-u|--super <mirror>
use given superblock mirror identified by <mirror>, it can be 0,1
or 2
-r|--root <rootid>
only restore files that are under a specified subvolume whose ob-
jectid is rootid
-d find directory
-l|--list-roots
list subvolume tree roots, can be used as argument for -r
-D|--dry-run
dry run (only list files that would be recovered)
--path-regex <regex>
restore only filenames matching a regular expression (]8;;https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/regex.7.html\regex(7)]8;;\)
with a mandatory format
^/(|home(|/username(|/Desktop(|/.*))))$
The format is not very comfortable and restores all files in the
directories in the whole path, so this is not useful for restor-
ing single file in a deep hierarchy.
-c ignore case (--path-regex only)
-v|--verbose
(deprecated) alias for global -v option
Global options
-v|--verbose
be verbose and print what is being restored
EXIT STATUS
btrfs restore returns a zero exit status if it succeeds. Non zero is re-
turned in case of failure.
AVAILABILITY
btrfs is part of btrfs-progs. Please refer to the documentation at ]8;;https://btrfs.readthedocs.io\-
https://btrfs.readthedocs.io]8;;\.
SEE ALSO
btrfs-check(8), btrfs-rescue(8), mkfs.btrfs(8)
6.14 Apr 17, 2025 BTRFS-RESTORE(8)
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