1ntfsclone(1M) System Administration Commands ntfsclone(1M)
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6 ntfsclone - clone, image, restore, or rescue an NTFS
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9 ntfsclone [options] source
10 ntfsclone --save-image [options] source
13 ntfsclone --resotore-image [options] source
16 ntfsclone --metadata [options] source
19
22 The ntfsclone utility efficiently clones (which includes copy, save,
23 backup, and restore operations) or rescues an NTFS filesystem to a
24 sparse file, an image, a device (partition), or to standard output. It
25 works at disk sector level and copies only the written data (that is,
26 not empty space). Unused disk space becomes zero (cloning to sparse
27 file), encoded with control codes (saving in special image format),
28 left unchanged (cloning to a disk/partition) or filled with zeros
29 (cloning to standard output).
30 ntfsclone can be useful in making backups—taking an exact snapshot of
33 an NTFS filesystem—and restoring it later on. It also can be used to
34 test NTFS read/write functionality and allows you to troubleshoot
35 users' issues using the clone, without the risk of destroying the orig‐
36 inal file system.
37 If not using the special image format (see section of the same name
40 below), the clone is an exact copy of the original NTFS file system,
41 from sector to sector. Thus, it can also be mounted just like the orig‐
42 inal NTFS filesystem. For example, if you clone to a file and the ker‐
43 nel has a loopback device and NTFS support, then the file can be
44 mounted using:
45 # mount -t ntfs -o loop ntfsclone.img
47 Windows Cloning
51 You must exercise great care to copy, move or restore a system or boot
52 partition to another computer, or to a different disk or partition
53 (for example, /dev/dsk/c0d0p1 to /dev/dsk/c0d0p2, /dev/dsk/c0d0p1 to
54 /dev/dsk/c0d1p1 or to a different disk sector offset).
55 Under most circumstances, to enable Windows to boot you must copy,
58 move, or restore NTFS to the same partition that has the following
59 characteristics as the original partition and disk:
60 o starts at the same sector
62 o on the same type of disk
64 o having the same BIOS legacy cylinder setting
66 The ntfsclone utility guarantees an exact copy of NTFS but does not
69 deal with booting issues. This is by design: ntfsclone is a file sys‐
70 tem, not a system, utility. Its goal is only NTFS cloning, not Windows
71 cloning. Because of this, ntfsclone can be used as a very fast and
72 reliable building block for Windows cloning, but is not a complete
73 answer. You can find useful tips on NTFS cloning at the NTFS web site,
74 http://wiki.linux-ntfs.org.
75 Sparse Files
77 A file containing unallocated blocks (holes) is referred to as a
78 "sparse file". The reported size of such files is always higher than
79 the disk space consumed by them. The du(1) command reports the real
80 disk space used by a sparse file. The holes are always read as zeros.
81 All major Linux file systems, such as, ext2, ext3, reiserfs, Reiser4,
82 JFS, and XFS support sparse files. However, the ISO 9600 CD-ROM file
83 system, as one example, does not.
84 Special Image Format
86 It is recommended that you save an NTFS filesystem to a special image
87 format. Instead of representing unallocated blocks as holes, they are
88 encoded using control codes. Thus, the image saves space without
89 requiring sparse file support. The image format is ideal for streaming
90 file system images over the network. The disadvantage of the special
91 image format is that you cannot mount the image directly; you must
92 first restore it.
93 To save an image using the special image format, use the -s or the
96 --save-image option. To restore an image, use the -r or the --restore-
97 image option. Note that you can restore images from standard input by
98 using a hyphen (-) as the source file.
99 Metadata-only Cloning
101 Using the -m or --metadata option, ntfsclone can save only the NTFS
102 metadata and the clone still will be mountable. In this usage, all non-
103 metadata file content is lost; reading back the data results in all
104 zeros.
105 The metadata-only image can be compressed very well, usually to a size
108 in the range of 1 to 8 MB. It is convenient to transfer such an image
109 for investigation and troubleshooting.
110 In metadata-only mode, ntfsclone saves none of the user's data, which
113 includes the resident user's data embedded into metadata. All is filled
114 with zeros. Moreover, all the file timestamps, and deleted and unused
115 spaces inside the metadata are filled with zeros. Thus, this mode is
116 inappropriate, for example, for forensic analyses.
117 Note that filenames are not removed. Because a filename might contain
120 sensitive information, consider the possibities for breaches of secu‐
121 rity or privacy before sending out a metadata-only image.
122
124 Supported options are listed below. Most options have both single-let‐
125 ter and full-name forms. Multiple single-letter options that do not
126 take an argument can be combined. For example, -fv is the equivalent of
127 -f -v. A full-name option can be abbreviated to a unique prefix of its
128 name.
129 -f, --force
131 Forces ntfsclone to proceed, even if the filesystem is marked
133 "dirty" following a consistency check.
134 -h, --help
137 Show a list of options with a brief description of each one.
139 -i, --ignore-fs-check
142 Ignore the result of the file system consistency check. This option
144 can be used only with the --meta-data option. Any clusters that
145 cause an inconsistency are saved.
146 -m, --metadata
149 Clone only metadata. With this option, you must clone only to a
151 file.
152 -o, --output file
155 Clone NTFS to the non-existent file. If file is a hyphen (-), clone
157 to the standard output.
158 -O, --overwrite file
161 Clone NTFS to file, overwriting file if it already exists.
163 --rescue
166 Ignore disk read errors so that a disk having bad sectors, for
168 example, a failing disk, can be rescued with minimal impact on the
169 disk. ntfsclone works at the lowest, sector level in this mode,
170 enabling more data to be rescued. The contents of the unreadable
171 sectors are filled with the question mark (?) character; the begin‐
172 ning of such sectors are marked by the string: BadSector.
173 -r, --restore-image source
176 Restore from the special image format specified by source. If
178 source is a hyphen (-), the image is read from the standard input.
179 -s, --save-image
182 Save to the special image format. In terms of space usage and
184 speed, this is the most efficient option if imaging is done to the
185 standard output. This option is useful for image compression,
186 encryption, or streaming through a network.
187
190 Example 1 Cloning with Overwrite Option
191 The following command clones with the --overwrite option.
194 # ntfsclone --overwrite /dev/dsk/c0d2p1 /dev/dsk/c0d0p1
197 Example 2 Saving to Special Image Format
201 The following command clones to the special image format to its origi‐
204 nal partition.
205 # ntfsclone --save-image --output backup.img /dev/dsk/c0d0p1
208 Example 3 Restoring from a Special Image File
212 The following command restores an NTFS from a special image file.
215 # ntfsclone --restore-image --overwrite /dev/dsk/c0d0p1 backup.img
218 Example 4 Saving to a Compressed Image
222 The following command saves an NTFS to a compressed image file.
225 # ntfsclone --save-image -o - /dev/dsk/c0d0p1
228 Example 5 Restoring from a Compressed Image
232 The following command restores an NTFS volume from a compressed image
235 file.
236 # gunzip -c backup.img.gz | \
239 ntfsclone --restore-image --overwrite /dev/dsk/c0d0p1 -
240 Example 6 Backing up to a Remote Host Using ssh
244 The following command backs up to a remote host, using ssh(1). Note
247 that ssh will probably require a password.
248 # ntfsclone --save-image --output - /dev/dsk/c0d0p1 | \
251 gzip -c | ssh host `cat > backup.img.gz`
252 Example 7 Restoring from a Remote Host Using ssh
256 The following command backs up to a remote host, using ssh(1). Note
259 that ssh will probably require a password.
260 # ssh host `cat backup.img.gz` | gunzip -c | \
263 ntfsclone --restore-image --overwrite /dev/dsk/c0d0p1 -
264 Example 8 Streaming an Image File from a Web Server
268 The following command streams an image file from a web server and
271 restore it to a partition.
272 # wget -qO - http://server/backup.img | \
275 ntfsclone --restore-image --overwrite /dev/dsk/c0d0p1 -
276 Example 9 Cloning to a New File
280 The following command clones an NTFS volume to a non-existent file.
283 # ntfsclone --output ntfs-clone.img /dev/dsk/c0d0p1
286 Example 10 Packing NTFS Metadata
290 The following command packs NTFS metadata into an image file. Note that
293 bzip2 takes a much longer time than gzip, but produces an archive that
294 is up to ten times smaller than the latter produces.
295 # ntfsclone --metadata --output ntfsmeta.img /dev/dsk/c0d0p1
298 bzip2 ntfsmeta.img
299 Example 11 Unpacking NTFS Metadata
303 The following command unpacks NTFS metadata into a sparse file.
306 # bunzip2 -c ntfsmeta.img.bz2 | \
309 cp --sparse=always /proc/self/fd/0 ntfsmeta.img
310
314 The return code is zero on success, non-zero otherwise.
315
317 See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
318 ┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
323 │ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
324 ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
325 │Availability │SUNWntfsprogs │
326 ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
327 │Interface Stability │Uncommitted │
328 └─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
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331 du(1), ssh(1), ntfsresize(1M), ntfsundelete(1M), parted(1M),
332 attributes(5)
333 http://wiki.linux-ntfs.org
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338 ntfsclone was written by Szabolcs Szakacsits with contributions from
339 Per Olofsson (special image format support) and Anton Altaparmakov.
340SunOS 5.11 14 May 2009 ntfsclone(1M)