DOKK / manpages / debian 13 / xfsprogs / xfs_protofile.8.en
xfs_protofile(8) System Manager's Manual xfs_protofile(8)

xfs_protofile - create a protofile for use with mkfs.xfs

xfs_protofile path [ paths... ]
xfs_protofile -V

xfs_protofile walks a directory tree to generate a protofile. The protofile format is specified in the mkfs.xfs(8) manual page and is derived from 3rd edition Unix.

Create protofile directives to copy this path into the root directory. If the path is a directory, protofile directives will be emitted to replicate the entire subtree as a subtree of the root directory. If the path is a not a directory, protofile directives will be emitted to create the file as an entry in the root directory. The first path must resolve to a directory.

Filenames cannot contain spaces. Extended attributes are not copied into the filesystem.