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Questions tagged [btrfs]

Btrfs is an integrated filesystem and volume manager, initially developed by Oracle. Use this tag for all questions related to Btrfs' commands and features, as well as volume and filesystem creation and management.

Btrfs (B-tree FS) is a new copy-on-write filesystem and volume manager for Linux aimed at implementing advanced features while focusing on fault tolerance, repair and easy administration. Initially developed by Oracle, Btrfs is licensed under the GPL and open for contribution from anyone.

Btrfs is a next-generation filesystem, with a number of advanced features, such as:

  • Volume and subvolume management
  • Copy-on-write operation
  • Data integrity verification and automatic repair
  • Native handling of standard RAID levels (however RAID5 and RAID6 are not considered production-ready)
  • Native handling of snapshots and backup/replication
  • Native data compression (with userspace option for deduplication)
  • In-place conversion of existing ext2/3/4 and reiserfs file systems
  • Maximum 16 Exabyte file size
  • Maximum 16 Exabyte volume size
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How can I flip a single bit in a file?

I want to intentionally damage a file in order to test the claims that btrfs can heal itself. The article talks about taking the filesystem off, damaging a photo by "flipping" a single bit and then remounting it. In older filesystems this would just…
Oli
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How can I resize and shrink a BTRFS partition?

I have my /home on a BTRFS partition and I need to shrink it. Unfortunately, Gparted does not have the resize option for this FS. Can I resize it in any other way without losing my data?
Borsook
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Will btrfs automatically compress existing files when compression is enabled?

I chose btrfs as the format of my / filesystem in the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS installer. After the installation completed, I added compress=lzo to the mount options in /etc/fstab and rebooted. Will the existing files be automatically compressed now, or…
ændrük
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Message "Sparse file not allowed" after installing on a btrfs filesystem

I've installed Ubuntu without creating a swap partition and with / on a btrfs.# Now I get the message "Sparse file is not allowed" on each boot. This message appears before the splash-screen. Is there a way to kill this warning?
FUZxxl
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Filesystem Label Rename

I'm getting a strange error quark 11 on renaming my filesystems on Ubuntu 12.10 64. I'm sure 100% I've already done it in the past without issues using the disk utility. Maybe some recent upgrade or I don't know what, but now I get an error: Don't…
DaniloV
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1 answer

Does Ubuntu plan to move to btrfs as default filesystem?

Btrfs seems to have a set of useful features such us snapshots and is default in Opensuse and Suse.Fedora plans to move to it. Does Ubuntu plan to move to it? If not, why ?
Dan
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3 answers

How to make a btrfs snapshot?

My /home partition consists of an entire physical disk. It is formatted as btrfs. I want to snapshot it. I'm confused regarding subvolume naming, in particular. I am aware that there are similar questions, but each similar question seems to be…
MountainX
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How can I use Kernel 3.19 in 14.04 now?

So I'm rebuilding my storage server. For stability, I want to use Ubuntu server 14.04 LTS as the OS. However, I'm planning to use Btrfs with RAID 5, and this has been greatly improved in kernel 3.19. So I want to use that kernel with 14.04. I know…
Degenerate
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2 answers

What is the current situation with BtrFS and 11.10?

It feels like I've read about BtrFS forever, but there has always been something that makes me not want to use it. But I'm guessing things are improving, so I'd like to know what the situation is currently. That means in 11.10. Do we have tools to…
Jo-Erlend Schinstad
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How can I convert an ext4 partition to btrfs (or other file systems) without losing data?

I wish to convert my current /home partition to BTRFS (or other file systems) without losing data if possible, what steps should I take for this? is it safe?
Uri Herrera
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6 answers

Can I have a swapfile on btrfs?

Modern Ubuntu versions are using a swap file instead of a swap partition by default. Before the 5.0 Linux kernel it was not possible to place a swap file on a btrfs partition, btrfs file system could be damaged. Now kernels support swap files on…
Pilot6
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How can I deduplicate my data with BTRFS?

I have installed Lubuntu 15.04 on my EEE PC 701 with the file-system BTRFS. I want to deduplicate my data, but I don't know how.
wb9688
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Should I use btrfs or Ext4 for my SSD?

Should I use btrfs (with discard, compress=lzo and space_cache options) or Ext4 (with discard option) for the SSD for my Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric) amd64 desktop root partition of my office machine? /home will be an HDD so fs reliability affects OS…
Graham
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How can I convert my root partition from BTRFS to EXT4?

Is it possible to convert btrfs to ext4 without losing data? I'm experiencing a very low speed on read/write operations on btrfs.
mFat
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How do I recover a BTRFS partition that will not mount?

The installation for 12.04 kept failing, and the solution was to have the installer ignore the btrfs partition that I have previously been using for /home. Now that it's installed, I've been trying to get it to mount the btrfs partition so that I…
Tony
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