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SYS-C0070 · Storage, Filesystems & RAID

Btrfs Snapshots Explained

Draft one read-only Btrfs snapshot. A snapshot is not a backup on another disk.

Updated 25 October 2026 · Explainer

This is an original planning guide. It is not a vendor manual, an official standard, or legal advice. Example addresses use documentation ranges. Review every command before you paste it.

What this hour is for

The builder writes btrfs subvolume snapshot -r for a source and a snapshot path you type. -r makes it read-only. It says this does not replace a backup on another disk. It does not run the command.

One subvolume you administer. Do not delete a subvolume during the reading. Do not treat the snapshot as the only copy.

192.0.2.10/24 and example.com are documentation. They stay in the note.

The change you can finish

Apply nothing while you are writing the note. When the lab window opens, it is one change on the host named in the ticket. Read the draft, then the host, then decide.

Rollback is the file, the package version, or the snapshot you saved first. You do not invent a rollback after the only copy is gone.

  1. Name the source and the snapshot path.
  2. Keep -r.
  3. Write where the other copy lives.
  4. Do not run it.
  5. Stop.

Mistakes that outlive the command

Btrfs Snapshots Explained goes wrong in a small set of ways. The list is here so the ticket can forbid them before the window.

Decisions to write down

One decision for Btrfs Snapshots Explained: -r is present. Another copy is named or still missing on purpose. Nothing was deleted. And the filesystem is yours.

Checks before you call it done

Confirm this before you call the change done: The source is written. The snapshot path is written. -r is written. Nothing was run. And the filesystem is yours. If one of those fails, stop.

# -r is a read-only snapshot.
# It is not a backup on another disk.
# Do not delete a subvolume during the reading.

Before you leave the host

Btrfs Snapshots Explained ends when the hostname in the prompt matches the hostname in the ticket. If it does not, you are on the wrong host. Stop. A command that succeeded on the wrong host is not progress.

The draft stays a draft until a person has read the names in it. A generator does not log into the host and does not know which disk is empty. You delete a line that names a host, a path, or an account you did not write down.

192.0.2.10/24, gateway 192.0.2.1, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24, and 2001:db8::/32 are documentation. example.com is a documentation name. They belong in the note. They are not values you leave on a host because a draft included them.

prompt-for-this is a reminder that a secret is missing. It is not a password, a key, or a token you save in the ticket or in git. The real secret stays in the password store.

One change is the window. If two things move and the result is wrong, you will not know which one did it. The next change waits for its own page.

If the same step fails twice, stop for the day. The failure is the result. Adding a forum command beside a half-applied change produces a host nobody can rebuild. Restore the copy you took first.

A second person reads the hostname and the change aloud. If they cannot find them in the ticket, the note is not done. Silence is not agreement. Then leave the host alone.

This page is a planning guide. It is not a vendor manual, not an official standard, and not permission to touch a host you do not administer. You do not disable a firewall, AppArmor, or SELinux to make a check pass.

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