ntfsclone(1M) System Administration Commands ntfsclone(1M)NAMEntfsclone - clone, image, restore, or rescue an NTFS
SYNOPSISntfsclone [options] source
ntfsclone--save-image [options] source
ntfsclone--resotore-image [options] source
ntfsclone--metadata [options] source
DESCRIPTION
The ntfsclone utility efficiently clones (which includes copy, save,
backup, and restore operations) or rescues an NTFS filesystem to a
sparse file, an image, a device (partition), or to standard output. It
works at disk sector level and copies only the written data (that is,
not empty space). Unused disk space becomes zero (cloning to sparse
file), encoded with control codes (saving in special image format),
left unchanged (cloning to a disk/partition) or filled with zeros
(cloning to standard output).
ntfsclone can be useful in making backups—taking an exact snapshot of
an NTFS filesystem—and restoring it later on. It also can be used to
test NTFS read/write functionality and allows you to troubleshoot
users' issues using the clone, without the risk of destroying the orig‐
inal file system.
If not using the special image format (see section of the same name
below), the clone is an exact copy of the original NTFS file system,
from sector to sector. Thus, it can also be mounted just like the orig‐
inal NTFS filesystem. For example, if you clone to a file and the ker‐
nel has a loopback device and NTFS support, then the file can be
mounted using:
# mount -t ntfs -o loop ntfsclone.img
Windows Cloning
You must exercise great care to copy, move or restore a system or boot
partition to another computer, or to a different disk or partition
(for example, /dev/dsk/c0d0p1 to /dev/dsk/c0d0p2, /dev/dsk/c0d0p1 to
/dev/dsk/c0d1p1 or to a different disk sector offset).
Under most circumstances, to enable Windows to boot you must copy,
move, or restore NTFS to the same partition that has the following
characteristics as the original partition and disk:
o starts at the same sector
o on the same type of disk
o having the same BIOS legacy cylinder setting
The ntfsclone utility guarantees an exact copy of NTFS but does not
deal with booting issues. This is by design: ntfsclone is a file sys‐
tem, not a system, utility. Its goal is only NTFS cloning, not Windows
cloning. Because of this, ntfsclone can be used as a very fast and
reliable building block for Windows cloning, but is not a complete
answer. You can find useful tips on NTFS cloning at the NTFS web site,
http://wiki.linux-ntfs.org.
Sparse Files
A file containing unallocated blocks (holes) is referred to as a
"sparse file". The reported size of such files is always higher than
the disk space consumed by them. The du(1) command reports the real
disk space used by a sparse file. The holes are always read as zeros.
All major Linux file systems, such as, ext2, ext3, reiserfs, Reiser4,
JFS, and XFS support sparse files. However, the ISO 9600 CD-ROM file
system, as one example, does not.
Special Image Format
It is recommended that you save an NTFS filesystem to a special image
format. Instead of representing unallocated blocks as holes, they are
encoded using control codes. Thus, the image saves space without
requiring sparse file support. The image format is ideal for streaming
file system images over the network. The disadvantage of the special
image format is that you cannot mount the image directly; you must
first restore it.
To save an image using the special image format, use the -s or the
--save-image option. To restore an image, use the -r or the --restore-
image option. Note that you can restore images from standard input by
using a hyphen (-) as the source file.
Metadata-only Cloning
Using the -m or --metadata option, ntfsclone can save only the NTFS
metadata and the clone still will be mountable. In this usage, all non-
metadata file content is lost; reading back the data results in all
zeros.
The metadata-only image can be compressed very well, usually to a size
in the range of 1 to 8 MB. It is convenient to transfer such an image
for investigation and troubleshooting.
In metadata-only mode, ntfsclone saves none of the user's data, which
includes the resident user's data embedded into metadata. All is filled
with zeros. Moreover, all the file timestamps, and deleted and unused
spaces inside the metadata are filled with zeros. Thus, this mode is
inappropriate, for example, for forensic analyses.
Note that filenames are not removed. Because a filename might contain
sensitive information, consider the possibities for breaches of secu‐
rity or privacy before sending out a metadata-only image.
OPTIONS
Supported options are listed below. Most options have both single-let‐
ter and full-name forms. Multiple single-letter options that do not
take an argument can be combined. For example, -fv is the equivalent of
-f-v. A full-name option can be abbreviated to a unique prefix of its
name.
-f, --force
Forces ntfsclone to proceed, even if the filesystem is marked
"dirty" following a consistency check.
-h, --help
Show a list of options with a brief description of each one.
-i, --ignore-fs-check
Ignore the result of the file system consistency check. This option
can be used only with the --meta-data option. Any clusters that
cause an inconsistency are saved.
-m, --metadata
Clone only metadata. With this option, you must clone only to a
file.
-o, --output file
Clone NTFS to the non-existent file. If file is a hyphen (-), clone
to the standard output.
-O, --overwrite file
Clone NTFS to file, overwriting file if it already exists.
--rescue
Ignore disk read errors so that a disk having bad sectors, for
example, a failing disk, can be rescued with minimal impact on the
disk. ntfsclone works at the lowest, sector level in this mode,
enabling more data to be rescued. The contents of the unreadable
sectors are filled with the question mark (?) character; the begin‐
ning of such sectors are marked by the string: BadSector.
-r, --restore-image source
Restore from the special image format specified by source. If
source is a hyphen (-), the image is read from the standard input.
-s, --save-image
Save to the special image format. In terms of space usage and
speed, this is the most efficient option if imaging is done to the
standard output. This option is useful for image compression,
encryption, or streaming through a network.
EXAMPLES
Example 1 Cloning with Overwrite Option
The following command clones with the --overwrite option.
# ntfsclone--overwrite /dev/dsk/c0d2p1 /dev/dsk/c0d0p1
Example 2 Saving to Special Image Format
The following command clones to the special image format to its origi‐
nal partition.
# ntfsclone--save-image --output backup.img /dev/dsk/c0d0p1
Example 3 Restoring from a Special Image File
The following command restores an NTFS from a special image file.
# ntfsclone--restore-image --overwrite /dev/dsk/c0d0p1 backup.img
Example 4 Saving to a Compressed Image
The following command saves an NTFS to a compressed image file.
# ntfsclone--save-image -o - /dev/dsk/c0d0p1
Example 5 Restoring from a Compressed Image
The following command restores an NTFS volume from a compressed image
file.
# gunzip -c backup.img.gz | \
ntfsclone--restore-image --overwrite /dev/dsk/c0d0p1 -
Example 6 Backing up to a Remote Host Using ssh
The following command backs up to a remote host, using ssh(1). Note
that ssh will probably require a password.
# ntfsclone--save-image --output - /dev/dsk/c0d0p1 | \
gzip -c | ssh host `cat > backup.img.gz`
Example 7 Restoring from a Remote Host Using ssh
The following command backs up to a remote host, using ssh(1). Note
that ssh will probably require a password.
# ssh host `cat backup.img.gz` | gunzip -c | \
ntfsclone--restore-image --overwrite /dev/dsk/c0d0p1 -
Example 8 Streaming an Image File from a Web Server
The following command streams an image file from a web server and
restore it to a partition.
# wget -qO - http://server/backup.img | \
ntfsclone--restore-image --overwrite /dev/dsk/c0d0p1 -
Example 9 Cloning to a New File
The following command clones an NTFS volume to a non-existent file.
# ntfsclone--output ntfs-clone.img /dev/dsk/c0d0p1
Example 10 Packing NTFS Metadata
The following command packs NTFS metadata into an image file. Note that
bzip2 takes a much longer time than gzip, but produces an archive that
is up to ten times smaller than the latter produces.
# ntfsclone--metadata --output ntfsmeta.img /dev/dsk/c0d0p1
bzip2 ntfsmeta.img
Example 11 Unpacking NTFS Metadata
The following command unpacks NTFS metadata into a sparse file.
# bunzip2 -c ntfsmeta.img.bz2 | \
cp --sparse=always /proc/self/fd/0 ntfsmeta.img
EXIT STATUS
The return code is zero on success, non-zero otherwise.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │system/file-system/ntfsprogs │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Interface Stability │Uncommitted │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOdu(1), ssh(1), ntfsresize(1M), ntfsundelete(1M), parted(1M),
attributes(5)
http://wiki.linux-ntfs.org
AUTHORSntfsclone was written by Szabolcs Szakacsits with contributions from
Per Olofsson (special image format support) and Anton Altaparmakov.
SunOS 5.11 14 May 2009 ntfsclone(1M)
