Provided by: squashfs-tools-ng_1.1.3-2_amd64 
NAME
gensquashfs - generate squashfs images
SYNOPSIS
gensquashfs [OPTIONS] <squashfs-file>
DESCRIPTION
Generate a SquashFS image.
OPTIONS
--pack-file, -F <file>
Use a gen_init_cpio style description file. The file format is specified below. If --pack-dir is
used, input file paths are relative to the pack directory, otherwise they are relative to the
directory the pack file is in.
--pack-dir, -D <directory>
If --pack-file is used, this is the root path relative to which to read files. If no pack file is
specified, pack the contents of the given directory into a SquashFS image. The directory becomes
the root of the file system.
--compressor, -c <name>
Select the compressor to use. Run gensquashfs --help to get a list of all available compressors
and the default selection.
--comp-extra, -X <options>
A comma separated list of extra options for the selected compressor. Specify help to get a list of
available options.
--num-jobs, -j <count>
If libsquashfs was compiled with a built in thread pool based, parallel data compressor, this
option can be used to set the number of compressor threads. If not set, the default is the number
of available CPU cores.
--queue-backlog, -Q <count>
Maximum number of data blocks in the thread worker queue before the packer starts waiting for the
block processors to catch up. Higher values result in higher memory consumption. Defaults to 10
times the number of workers.
--block-size, -b <size>
Block size to use for Squashfs image. Defaults to 131072.
--dev-block-size, -B <size>
Device block size to padd the image to. Defaults to 4096.
--keep-time, -k
When using --pack-dir only, use the timestamps from the input files instead of setting defaults on
all input paths. The root inode and the modification time on the SquashFS image itself will still
be set to defaults.
--one-file-system, -o
When using --pack-dir only, stay in the local filesystem and do not cross mount points.
--defaults, -d <options>
A comma separated list of default values for implicitly created directories. The following values
can be set:
┌───────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Option │ Default │
├───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ uid=<value> │ 0 │
├───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ gid=<value> │ 0 │
├───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ mode=<value> │ 0755 │
├───────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ mtime=<value> │ $SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH if set, 0 otherwise │
└───────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────┘
--set-uid, -u <number>
Force the owners user ID for ALL inodes to this value, no matter what the pack file or directory
entries actually specify.
--set-gid, -g <number>
Force the owners group ID for ALL inodes to this value, no matter what the pack file or directory
entries actually specify.
--all-root
A short hand for `--set-uid 0 --set-gid 0`.
--selinux, -s <file>
If built with SELinux support, use the given SELinux label file to add context labels to the
elements packed into the SquashFS image.
--exportable, -e
Generate an export table for NFS support.
--no-tail-packing, -T
Do not perform tail end packing on files that are larger than the specified block size.
--force, -f
Overwrite the output file if it exists.
--quiet, -q
Do not print out progress reports.
--help, -h
Print help text and exit.
--version, -V
Print version information and exit.
INPUT FILE FORMAT
The input file contains a simple, newline separated list that describe the files to be included in the
squashfs image:
# a comment
file <path> <mode> <uid> <gid> [<location>]
dir <path> <mode> <uid> <gid>
nod <path> <mode> <uid> <gid> <dev_type> <maj> <min>
slink <path> <mode> <uid> <gid> <target>
link <path> <dummy> <dummy> <dummy> <target>
pipe <path> <mode> <uid> <gid>
sock <path> <mode> <uid> <gid>
glob <path> <mode|*> <uid|*> <gid|*> [OPTIONS...] <location>
┌────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ <path> │ Absolute path of the entry in the │
│ │ image. Can be put in quotes if some │
│ │ components contain spaces. │
├────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ <location> │ Optional location of the input file. │
│ │ Can be specified relative to either │
│ │ the description file or the pack │
│ │ directory. If omitted, the image path │
│ │ is used as a relative path. │
├────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ <target> │ Symlink or hardlink target. │
├────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ <mode> │ Mode/permissions of the entry. │
├────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ <uid> │ Numeric user id. │
├────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ <gid> │ Numeric group id. │
├────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ <dev_type> │ Device type (b=block, c=character). │
├────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ <maj> │ Major number of a device special file. │
├────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ <min> │ Minor number of a device special file. │
└────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────┘
File Globbing
The glob command requires an input location which is interpreted relative to the pack directory (or the
input file if no directory was specified). This location is scanned recursively and the contents are
added to the specified virtual path.
The specified mode, uid and gid are applied to all new entries added by the glob. They can alternatively
be set to the special value * to use the value from the input directory.
In front of the source location, several additional options can be specified to control the behavior of
the glob command:
┌─────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Option │ Description │
├─────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ -type │ Followed by a single space and a single, lowercase │
│ │ character describing the inode type to accept. │
│ │ Works similar to the -type option of the find │
│ │ command. │
│ │ │
│ │ Possible values are b (block devices), c │
│ │ (character devices), d (directories), p (named │
│ │ pipes), f (regular files), l (symlinks) and s │
│ │ (sockets). │
│ │ │
│ │ If -type is not used, all are accepted. The first │
│ │ use clamps the selection down to a single type and │
│ │ subsequent uses allow additional types. │
├─────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ -xdev │ Do not cross mount points during a recursive glob. │
├─────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ -mount │ An alias for -xdev │
├─────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ -keeptime │ Use the time stamps from the scanned files. │
├─────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ -nonrecursive │ Do not descend into directories. │
│ │ │
│ │ Even if the type argument does not include │
│ │ directories, it is still possible to recursively │
│ │ scan a hierarchy. In that case, the scanning will │
│ │ not add new directory nodes, but still recurse │
│ │ into a directory if a coresponding node already │
│ │ exist in the virtual filesystem tree. │
│ │ │
│ │ So a typicall use case might be to first scan only │
│ │ the directories, and then do several narrower │
│ │ globs to fill them. │
├─────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ -name <pattern> │ Only add entries if their name matches a shell │
│ │ glob pattern. │
│ │ │
│ │ If the pattern is supposed to contain spaces, it │
│ │ can be wrapped in quotation marks ("..." or │
│ │ '...'). │
├─────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ -path <pattern> │ Only add entries if their full resulting path in │
│ │ the SquashFS image matches a shell glob pattern. │
│ │ Slashes in the path are only matched against │
│ │ slashes in the pattern and will never match a wild │
│ │ card character or a bracket expression containing │
│ │ a slash. │
│ │ │
│ │ The path is normalized, so it won't have a leading │
│ │ or trailing slash. │
└─────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Any other, unknown string starting with - will be rejected as unknown option. If the input path starts
with -, the sequence -- can be used to stop argument parsing, similar to many command line tools.
Example
# A simple squashfs image
dir /dev 0755 0 0
nod /dev/console 0600 0 0 c 5 1
dir /root 0700 0 0
dir /sbin 0755 0 0
# Add a file. Input is relative to pack dir or listing path
file /sbin/init 0755 0 0 ../init/sbin/init
# Read from ./bin/bash relative to pack dir or listing path
# /bin is created implicitly with default attributes.
file /bin/bash 0755 0 0
# file name with a space in it and a "special" name
file "/opt/my app/\"special\"/data" 0600 0 0
# collect the contents of ./lib and put it under /usr/lib
# mode and uid/gid are explictly set. First we collect the directory tree,
# then all so files, then all symlinks that don't end in ".so"
glob /usr/lib 0755 0 0 -type d ./lib
glob /usr/lib 0755 0 0 -type f -name "*.so.*" ./lib
glob /usr/lib 0777 0 0 -type l -name "*.so.*" ./lib
ENVIRONMENT
If the command line switch --defaults is not used or no default mtime is specified, the value of the
environment variable SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH is used for all file and filesystem timestamps.
If SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH is not set, not a parsable number or it is out of range, the timestamps default to
0.
Environment variables are only used if no explicit command line switches are set. Explicit command line
switches are always preferred over the environment variables.
SEE ALSO
rdsquashfs(1), tar2sqfs(1)
AUTHOR
Written by David Oberhollenzer.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2019 David Oberhollenzer License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later
<https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by law.
generate squashfs images March 2021 GENSQUASHFS(1)