1BTRFS-SEND(8) Btrfs Manual BTRFS-SEND(8)
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6 btrfs-send - generate a stream of changes between two subvolume
7 snapshots
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10 btrfs send [-ve] [-p <parent>] [-c <clone-src>] [-f <outfile>] <subvol>
11 [<subvol>...]
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14 This command will generate a stream of instructions that describe
15 changes between two subvolume snapshots. The stream can be consumed by
16 the btrfs receive command to replicate the sent snapshot on a different
17 filesystem. The command operates in two modes: full and incremental.
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19 All snapshots involved in one send command must be read-only, and this
20 status cannot be changed as long as there’s a running send operation
21 that uses the snapshot.
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23 In the full mode, the entire snapshot data and metadata will end up in
24 the stream.
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26 In the incremental mode (options -p and -c), previously sent snapshots
27 that are available on both the sending and receiving side can be used
28 to reduce the amount of information that has to be sent to reconstruct
29 the sent snapshot on a different filesystem.
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31 The -p <parent> option can be omitted when -c <clone-src> options are
32 given, in which case btrfs send will determine a suitable parent from
33 among the clone sources.
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35 You must not specify clone sources unless you guarantee that these
36 snapshots are exactly in the same state on both sides—both for the
37 sender and the receiver. For implications of changed read-write status
38 of a received snapshot please see section SUBVOLUME FLAGS in
39 btrfs-subvolume(8).
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41 Options
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43 -e
44 if sending multiple subvolumes at once, use the new format and omit
45 the end cmd marker in the stream separating the subvolumes
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47 -p <parent>
48 send an incremental stream from parent to subvol
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50 -c <clone-src>
51 use this snapshot as a clone source for an incremental send
52 (multiple allowed)
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54 -f <outfile>
55 output is normally written to standard output so it can be, for
56 example, piped to btrfs receive. Use this option to write it to a
57 file instead.
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59 --no-data
60 send in NO_FILE_DATA mode
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62 The output stream does not contain any file data and thus cannot be
63 used to transfer changes. This mode is faster and is useful to show
64 the differences in metadata. -q|--quiet:::: (deprecated) alias for
65 global -q option -v|--verbose:: (deprecated) alias for global -v
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68 Global options
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70 -q|--quiet
71 suppress all messages except errors
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73 -v|--verbose
74 increase output verbosity, print generated commands in a readable
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78 btrfs send returns a zero exit status if it succeeds. Non zero is
79 returned in case of failure.
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82 btrfs is part of btrfs-progs. Please refer to the btrfs wiki
83 http://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org for further details.
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86 mkfs.btrfs(8), btrfs-receive(8), btrfs-subvolume(8)
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90Btrfs v5.15.1 11/22/2021 BTRFS-SEND(8)