DOKK / manpages / debian 12 / partclone / partclone.vmfs.8.en
PARTCLONE(8) Partclone User Manual PARTCLONE(8)

partclone - The utility for clone and restore a partition.

partclone.[fstype] {[-c | --clone] [-r | --restore] [-b | --dev-to-dev]} {[-s | --source] source} {[[-o | --output] [-O | --overwrite]] target} [[-dX | --debug=X] [--restore_raw_file]] [[-z | --buffer_size] [-N | --ncurses]] [[-q | --quiet] [-f | --UI-fresh]] [[-F | --force] [-I | --ignore_fschk]] [[--ignore_crc] [-X | --dialog] [-C | --nocheck]] [[-R | --rescue] [-L | --logfile] logfile]

partclone.[fstype] is a part of Partclone project. Partclone provide utilities to backup used blocks and design for higher compatibility of the file system by using existing library, e.g. e2fslibs is used to read the used block of ext2 partition.

Partclone supported file system include btrfs, ext2, ext3, ext4, reiserfs, reiser4, xfs and jfs for LINUX. Also support some non-linux operation system, ex: NTFS, FAT and EXFAT (for Windows), HFS plus (APPLE MAC OS), UFS2 (FreeBSD), VMFS (VMWare Vsphere) and MINIX (MINIX3).

All partclone utils could be run like partclone.[fstype] is very smiliar fsck or mkfs. For example, for backup/restore hfsplus, just run partclone.hfsp



       File System             partclone.[fstype]


       btrfs                   partclone.btrfs


       ext2, ext3, ext4        partclone.[ext2|ext3|ext4]


       reiserfs 3.5            partclone.reiserfs


       reiser 4                partclone.reiser4


       xfs                     partclone.xfs


       ufs | ufs2              partclone.ufs


       jfs                     partclone.jfs


       hfs plusfs              partclone.[hfs+|hfsplus]


       vmfs                    partclone.vmfs


       ntfs                    partclone.ntfs


       fat12, fat16, fat32     partclone.[fat12|fat16|fat32]


       exfat                   partclone.exfat


       minix                   partclone.minix


       f2fs                    partclone.f2fs


       nilfs2                  partclone.nilfs2

The program follows the usual GNU command line syntax, with long options starting with two dashes (`-'). A summary of options is included below.

-s FILE, --source FILE

Source FILE. The FILE could be a image file (made by partclone) or device depend on your action. Normally, backup source is device, restore source is image file.

Receving data from pipe line is supported ONLY for restoring, just ignore -s option or use '-' means receive data from stdin.

-o FILE, --output FILE

Output FILE. The FILE could be a image file (partclone will generate) or device depend on your action. Normally, backup output to image file and restore output to device.

Sending data to pipe line is also supported ONLY for back-up, just ignore -o option or use '-' means send data to stdout.

-O FILE, --overwrite FILE

Overwrite FILE, overwriting if exists.

-c, --clone

Save partition to the special image format.

-r, --restore

Restore partition from the special image format.

-b, --dev-to-dev

Local device to device copy on-the-fly, source and output both are device.

-D, --domain

Create GNU Ddrescue domain log file from source device. This is a human readable file in which + marks used block areas and ? marks free areas.

--offset_domain=X

Add X (in bytes) to all positions reported in the domain log file

--restore_raw_file

Creating special raw file for loop device.

-L FILE, --logfile FILE

put special path to record partclone log information. (default /var/log/partclone.log)

-R, --rescue

Continue after disk read errors.

-C, --no_check

Don't check device size and free space.

-N, --ncurses

Using Ncurses Text User Interface.

-X, --dialog

Output message as Dialog Format.

-I, --ignore_fschk

Ignore filesystem check.

--ignore_crc

Ignore crc check error.

-F, --force

Force progress.

-f sec, --UI-fresh sec

put special second to different interval.

-z size, --buffer_size size

Read/write buffer size (default: 1048576)

-q, --quiet

Disable progress message.

-dlevel, --debug level

Set the debug level [1|2|3]

-h, --help

Show summary of options.

-v, --version

Show version of program.

/var/log/partclone.log

The log file of partclone



 clone /dev/hda1 to hda1.img and display debug information.


   partclone.ext3 -c -d -s /dev/hda1 -o hda1.img


 restore /dev/hda1 from hda1.img and display debug information.


   partclone.extfs -r -d -s hda1.img -o /dev/hda1


 restore image from clonezilla (split, gzip,) with stdin source


   cat sda1.ext3-ptcl-img.gz.a* | gunzip -c | partclone.ext3 -d -r -s - -o /dev/sda1

The following diagnostics may be issued on stderr:

partclone provides some return codes, that can be used in scripts:

Code Diagnostic
0 Program exited successfully.
1 Clone or Restore seem failed.

Report bugs to thomas@nchc.org.tw or http://partclone.org.

You can get support at http://partclone.org

partclone(8), partclone.chkimg(8), partclone.restore(8), partclone.dd(8), partclone.info(8)

Yu-Chin Tsai <thomas@nchc.org.tw>

Copyright © 2007 Yu-Chin Tsai

This manual page was written for the Debian system (and may be used by others).

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 2 or (at your option) any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.

On Debian systems, the complete text of the GNU General Public License can be found in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL.

02/11/2023 partclone