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Labs

Creating Btrfs Subvolumes and Snapshots

The `b-tree` file system, `btrfs`, is a Linux filesystem that implements several advanced features such as volume management, snapshots, and copy-on-write. In this hands-on lab, you will be tasked with creating and interacting with a `btrfs` file system.

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Labs

Path Info

Level
Clock icon Intermediate
Duration
Clock icon 30m
Published
Clock icon Jun 19, 2020

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Table of Contents

  1. Challenge

    Create a btrfs filesystem based on the information provided in the instructions.

    1. Create a btrfs filesystem using /dev/xvdf1, /dev/xvdg1, and /dev/xvdj1:

    mkfs -t btrfs /dev/xvdf1 /dev/xvdg1 /dev/xvdj1

    1. Mount the btrfs filesystem on /mnt/data:

    mount -t btrfs /dev/xvdg1 /mnt/data

    1. Use a text editor (i.e., vim) to open /etc/fstab and add the following entry:

    UUID=filesystem_UUID /mnt/data btrfs defaults 0 0

  2. Challenge

    Create two subvolumes for /mnt/data based on the information provided in the instructions.

    1. Create the user and admin subvolumes in the /mnt/data filesystem:
    btrfs subvolume create /mnt/data/user
    btrfs subvolume create /mnt/data/admin
    
    1. Mount the admin subvolume at /mnt/admin and the user subvolume at /mnt/user:
    mount -t btrfs -o subvol=user /dev/xvdg1 /mnt/user
    mount -t btrfs -o subvol=admin /dev/xvdg1 /mnt/admin
    
    1. Use a text editor (i.e., vim) to open /etc/fstab and add entries for /mnt/user and /mnt/admin:
    UUID=filesystem_UUID       /mnt/user       btrfs   subvol=user,defaults    0 0
    UUID=filesystem_UUID       /mnt/admin      btrfs   subvol=admin,defaults   0 0
    
  3. Challenge

    Add the /dev/xvdj2 device to the filesystem mounted on /mnt/backup

    1. Add /dev/xvdj2 to filesystem mounted on /mnt/backup using the btrfs command:

    btrfs device add /dev/xvdj2 /mnt/backup

    1. Balance the filesystem to spread block groups across all devices:

    btrfs balance start --full-balance /mnt/backup

  4. Challenge

    Create two snapshots of /mnt/backup/user_data based on the information provided in the instructions.

    1. Create a snapshot called user_data_snap” from the user_data volume:

    btrfs subvolume snapshot /mnt/backup/user_data/ /mnt/backup/user_data_snap

    1. Create a read-only snapshot called user_data_snap_ro from the user_data volume:

    btrfs subvolume snapshot -r /mnt/backup/user_data/ /mnt/backup/user_data_snap_ro

The Cloud Content team comprises subject matter experts hyper focused on services offered by the leading cloud vendors (AWS, GCP, and Azure), as well as cloud-related technologies such as Linux and DevOps. The team is thrilled to share their knowledge to help you build modern tech solutions from the ground up, secure and optimize your environments, and so much more!

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