SquashFS HOWTO

2005-03-25

Revision History
Revision 1.7	2005-03-25
Changes according to SquashFS release 2.1.
Revision 1.6	2004-11-10
Changes according to SquashFS release 2.0. Text corrections.
Revision 1.5	2004-06-07
Changes according to SquashFS release 2.0 alpha. Lots of description improvements and clarifications. Split instructions for Linux kernels of 2.6.x (new) and 2.4.x series.
Revision 1.1	2004-05-22
Changes according to SquashFS release 1.3r3.
Revision 1.0	2004-02-19
Initial Release, reviewed by LDP.
Revision 0.2	2003-12-08
Text corrections, license added.
Revision 0.1	2003-11-24
Initial version. Instructions for SquashFS release 1.3r2.

Abstract

This HOWTO describes the usage of SquashFS - a highly-compressed read-only file system for Linux, which is intended for use in tiny-sized and embedded systems, and anywhere else you'd want to use a compressed file system. With this document, you'll learn how to prepare a SquashFS-ready Linux kernel, create a sqaushed file system and happily use it.

Home of this HOWTO

The SquashFS HOWTO lives at http://artemio.net/projects/linuxdoc/squashfs. There you will always find the latest version of the document, and will be able to send your feedback.

Table of Contents

1. What is SquashFS

1.1. Introduction
1.2. Overview of SquashFS
1.3. Making it clear

2. Getting ready for SquashFS

2.1. Acquiring SquashFS
2.2. Preparing a SquashFS-capable kernel
2.3. Compiling the mksquashfs tool

3. The mksquashfs tool, exposed

3.1. Using mksquashfs
3.2. Command-line options

4. Creating and using squashed file systems

4.1. Basic steps
4.2. Squashing file systems
4.3. Creating tiny/embedded systems

5. Acknowledgements

6. License

SquashFS HOWTO

Artemiy I. Pavlov