Hawkynt.FileFormats.FileSystems

Pure-managed filesystem handling for .NET, without mounting anything through the host OS. The package claims the WHOLE domain — every filesystem and disk-image container, modern, legacy, virtual-machine, optical, forensic and retro-computing alike — not a selection of it. Where a format is read-only, create-only or a deliberate subset, that is a tracked gap recorded in the support matrix below, which is generated from the descriptors and checked by the test suite.

📦 Installation

dotnet add package Hawkynt.FileFormats.FileSystems

The package bundles every FileSystem.* assembly and the disk-image FileFormat.* assemblies, with Hawkynt.Compression.Core as its one NuGet dependency.

✨ Features

Inspect filesystems in-process without libguestfs, loop mounts, kernel drivers or elevated privileges — NTFS from Linux, ext4 from Windows, HFS+ from either.
Create fresh images for every format marked WORM or R/W below, with real nested directory trees where the format has them.
Edit existing images for every format marked R/W: add, replace, remove, purge. Some formats edit blocks in place, some lay the volume out again; the matrix says which.
Defragment, wipe unused space, shrink and re-lay volumes at a chosen geometry on the formats whose descriptors offer it.
Open disk-image containers (VHD, VHDX, VMDK, VDI, QCOW2, DMG, EWF, optical and tape images, firmware volumes) and reach the filesystem inside.
Every writer is held against the format's own tools where one exists: a real kernel under QEMU, its fsck, or its canonical third-party utility.

🧩 Support matrix

State	Meaning
N/A	Registered filesystem domain that is not represented by a standalone image/container descriptor; specialized multi-source drivers may expose mounted capabilities separately.
R	Open, list and extract only. For network, distributed and encrypted formats this may be signature/metadata detection; deliberately unverified descriptors can instead require explicit format selection and expose an opaque object.
WORM	Read plus create a fresh image; no supported edit of an existing image.
R/W	Read plus add / replace / remove / purge on an existing image. The edit may update blocks in place or lay the volume out again — the Notes column says when it is the latter.

The six verb columns are the maintenance operations the CLI and the UI gate on, defined once in docs/ARCHIVE-MODEL.md:

Defrag lays a volume out again, and says how: moving relocates only the runs that are out of place through a block mover of the format's own, rebuild writes the volume out afresh.
Wipe zeroes what no file holds — free space, cluster-tip slack, deleted directory entries — without touching a live byte.
Shrink reduces a volume to what it needs, keeping its geometry. It is absent wherever the geometry is fixed: for most read-only filesystems and for optical images there is no smaller canonical size to step to, so nothing could be reclaimed.
Layout re-lays a volume at a chosen cluster or block geometry. This needs a creator to write the new volume with, so a format that can only analyse its geometry is marked absent here however thoroughly it reads it.
Purge erases every live entry and leaves a valid empty image.
Compact is the composite the UI offers as one click: defrag, then layout, then shrink, so it is available wherever any of those three is.

Proof is how the format is held against something outside this repository, and every tool it names links to that tool's own source, so the thing doing the checking can be reached from here. "own reader + struct-parity tests" means nothing outside this repository currently checks the format — either no such tool exists, or none is wired into the suite — so the on-disk structures are checked field by field instead. That cell is the honest gap, and it is deliberately preferred over naming a tool nobody runs: a cell that cites a checker which never executes stops anyone from going looking for one.

The Id, State and verb columns are read off the descriptors by FilesystemReadmeIsCurrentTests, and cross-checked against the registry's own filesystem list by CapabilityDocumentationTests; a row that disagrees with the code fails the build. FilesystemVerbsAreBackedTests then runs each ticked verb, so a cell cannot be earned by declaring an interface that refuses when called.

Disk-image and firmware containers

Format	Id	State	Compact	Defrag	Wipe	Shrink	Layout	Purge	Proof	Notes	Reference
Apple IPSW	`Ipsw`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	ZIP-based firmware archive	IPSW
BIN/CUE	`BinCue`	R/W	—	—	✅	—	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Sector-image editor	CUE sheet
CDI	`Cdi`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	—	✅	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	ISO 9660 edits rebuild; low-level existing-sector rewrite remains available	DiscJuggler
Commodore Lynx archive	`Lynx`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	C64 Lynx archive	Lynx
DMG	`Dmg`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	raw-profile edits in place; readable foreign/compressed profiles rebuild to canonical raw UDIF	Apple disk images
EnCase EWF (E01)	`Ewf`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	EnCase E01 segment chain	libewf documentation
Flattened Device Tree Blob	`Dtb`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Flattened Device Tree walked as a pseudo-archive	Devicetree specification
Intel HEX	`IntelHex`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	—	—	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Intel HEX and Motorola S-record, normalised to `firmware.bin` + metadata; the writer takes one payload and the base and start addresses from `metadata.ini`	Intel HEX / S-record
MDF/MDS	`Mdf`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	—	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Fixed-track ISO 9660 editor; raw-sector EDC/ECC regenerated	Alcohol 120%
Nintendo PartitionFS	`Pfs0`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	—	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Nintendo Switch PartitionFS	PFS0 (switchbrew)
NRG	`Nrg`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	—	✅	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	NRG v1/v2 reader; v2 TAO writer; named edits rebuild the embedded ISO	Nero Burning ROM
PSP CSO/ZSO	`Cso`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Compressed ISO; edits re-pack the affected blocks	CSO
QCOW2	`Qcow2`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	—	✅	`qemu-img check` / `convert -O raw` / reverse `qemu-img create`	Edits go to the inner filesystem	QCOW2 specification
T64	`T64`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	—	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	C64 tape archive	T64 (VICE)
TAP	`Tap`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	—	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Sinclair / Commodore tape image	TAP (World of Spectrum)
TI-TXT (MSP430)	`TiTxt`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	—	—	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	TI-TXT sparse firmware dump; edits and canonical rebuild preserve omitted address holes	TI-TXT
U-Boot uImage	`UImage`	R/W	✅	—	✅	✅	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	U-Boot legacy image header + payload; the writer takes one payload and the header fields from `metadata.ini`, and computes both CRCs	U-Boot image format
UEFI Firmware Volume	`UefiFv`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	—	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Firmware volume / FFS	UEFI specification
VDI	`Vdi`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	—	✅	`qemu-img check` / `convert -O raw` / reverse `qemu-img create`	Edits go to the inner filesystem	VirtualBox storage
VHD	`Vhd`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	—	✅	`qemu-img check` / `convert -O raw` / reverse `qemu-img create`	Standalone fixed and dynamic; differencing requires a parent chain and is rejected; edits go to the inner filesystem	Microsoft VHD
VHDX	`Vhdx`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	—	✅	`qemu-img check` / `convert -O raw` / reverse `qemu-img create`	Edits go to the inner filesystem	MS-VHDX
VMDK	`Vmdk`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	—	✅	`qemu-img check` / `convert -O raw` / reverse `qemu-img create`	Edits go to the inner filesystem	VMware Virtual Disk API

Microsoft / DOS

Format	Id	State	Compact	Defrag	Wipe	Shrink	Layout	Purge	Proof	Notes	Reference
DoubleSpace CVF	`DoubleSpace`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	MS-DOS 6.22 `DRVSPACE` driver under QEMU mounts, reads and writes; real driver CVFs read byte-exact	MSDBL6.0 CVF; stored clusters	DoubleSpace
DriveSpace 3 CVF	`DriveSpace3`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`dmsdos` mounts the genuine `GenuineDvr3Writer` output and reads byte-exact	Win95 DVR3 CVF; a Win95 guest oracle and the HiPack codec are still open	DriveSpace 3 notes
DriveSpace CVF	`DriveSpace`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	MS-DOS 6.22 `DRVSPACE` mounts the DoubleSpace / DriveSpace CVFs; real driver CVFs read byte-exact	MSDSP6.0 CVF; stored clusters	DriveSpace
exFAT	`ExFat`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	host-kernel `exfat` mount r/w + `fsck.exfat`	—	exFAT specification
FAT Filesystem Image	`Fat`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	host-kernel `vfat` mount r/w + `fsck.fat` + `mtools` + reverse `mkfs.vfat`	FAT12/16/32 with long filenames; in-place `FatModifier`	FAT specification
FAT+ Filesystem Image (large-file extension)	`FatPlus`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	✅	✅	host-kernel `vfat` mount + `fsck.fat` read the written volume	FAT+ large-file extension	FAT+ draft
FATX (Xbox)	`Fatx`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Xbox FATX	FATX (xboxdevwiki)
HPFS	`Hpfs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	OS/2 HPFS	HPFS layout (OS/2 Museum)
NEC PC-98 DOS	`Pc98`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	NEC IPL keeps the BPB at 0x80, so the Linux `msdos` driver rejects it	PC-98 disk layout
NTFS	`Ntfs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`ntfsls` / `ntfsinfo` / `ntfsfix` (ntfs-3g) + reverse `mkfs.ntfs`	Writes NTFS 1.2, 3.0 or 3.1 as the `NtfsVersion` create option selects, and reads all three: the version drives the FILE record header layout (3.1 names the record at 44 with the USA at 48; 3.0 and 1.2 have no record number and put the USA at 42), the metadata set (`$Secure`+`$Extend` from 3.0, `$Quota` and no `$Extend` before it), the `$AttrDef` table and the `$STANDARD_INFORMATION` size (72 from 3.0, 48 on 1.2). No security descriptors are stored at any version. Edits relayout the volume; `ntfs3` mounts it but lists an empty root (root `$I30` index pending)	MS-FSCC
ReFS	`Refs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	—	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	ReFS 3.x; mutation is offline-quiescent only (see limitations). Its geometry analysis is real, but there is no creator to write a re-laid volume with, so Layout stays absent	ReFS overview
Stacker CVF	`Stacker`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	✅	✅	`dmsdos` mounts the genuine `GenuineStackerWriter` output and reads byte-exact	STACVOL; Genuine/Extended flavor-preserving rebuild edits	Stacker notes
Transactional FAT (TFAT)	`TFat`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	✅	✅	host-kernel `vfat` mount + `fsck.fat` read the written volume	Transaction-safe FAT (Windows CE)	TFAT

Unix / Linux

Format	Id	State	Compact	Defrag	Wipe	Shrink	Layout	Purge	Proof	Notes	Reference
AdvFS (Tru64 UNIX)	`AdvFs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Tru64 UNIX	AdvFS
BcacheFS	`BcacheFs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`bcachefs fsck -n` + `show-super`; alloc / freespace / backpointer / accounting witness tests	True in-place edits for the single-device, regular-extent profile; other profiles are refused for mutation	bcachefs
BFS	`Bfs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	BeFS; edits rebuild the volume	Be File System
Btrfs Filesystem Image	`Btrfs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`btrfs check --readonly` + `show-super`; alloc / freespace / backpointer / accounting witness tests	Edits relayout the volume	Btrfs on-disk format
Coherent FS	`Coherent`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	PDP-endian	sysv
EFS (SGI Extent File System)	`Efs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	host-kernel `efs` mount reads byte-exact	SGI EFS	EFS
ext1	`Ext1`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`dumpe2fs` accepts as ext2	1992 ext, magic `0xEF51`; no `mkfs.ext1` exists	Extended file system
ext2/3/4	`Ext`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`e2fsck -fn` / `dumpe2fs` / `debugfs` + reverse `mke2fs`	ext2 / ext3 / ext4	ext4 documentation
F2FS	`F2fs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	host-kernel `f2fs` mount r/w + `fsck.f2fs`	—	F2FS documentation
GFS (Sistina/Red Hat, original)	`Gfs1`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests; the Linux `gfs2` driver rejects GFS1	Sistina GFS	GFS2
GFS2 (Global File System 2)	`Gfs2`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`fsck.gfs2 -n` + `debugfs.gfs2`; `mkfs.gfs2` image read by the package	Standalone `lock_nolock`; stuffed + indirect-tree files; edits rebuild while preserving image-size floor and lock table	GFS2
HAMMER (DragonFly BSD)	`Hammer`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	DragonFly kernel mount r/w under QEMU + `hammer show` / `hammer checkmap`	Single volume, about 1 GB minimum; edits rebuild the volume	HAMMER
HAMMER2 (DragonFly BSD)	`Hammer2`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	DragonFly kernel mount r/w under QEMU	—	HAMMER2
HTFS (SCO High Throughput File System)	`Htfs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	SCO HTFS	HTFS
JFS	`Jfs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	host-kernel `jfs` mount + `fsck.jfs`	JFS2 (Linux / AIX)	JFS project
JFS1 (OS/2 original IBM JFS)	`Jfs1`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests; the Linux `jfs` driver only knows JFS2	OS/2 JFS1	JFS project
Minix FS	`MinixFs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`mkfs.minix` round-trip	MINIX v1 / v2 / v3 superblock families	MINIX filesystem
Minix V1 FS	`MinixV1`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`fsck.minix` clean after in-place edit + host-kernel loop-mount reads the added file byte-exact	14-character names	MINIX filesystem
Minix V2 FS	`MinixV2`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`fsck.minix` clean after in-place edit + host-kernel loop-mount reads the added file byte-exact	30-character names	MINIX filesystem
NILFS v1	`Nilfs1`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	NILFS v1	NILFS
NILFS2	`Nilfs2`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	host-kernel loop-mount reads the in-place-added file byte-exact; `mkfs.nilfs2` superblock re-validated	—	NILFS
OCFS2 (Oracle Cluster Filesystem 2)	`Ocfs2`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`fsck.ocfs2 -fn` + `debugfs.ocfs2`; `mkfs.ocfs2` image read by the package	Edits rebuild the volume	OCFS2
QNX4 FS	`Qnx4`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	—	qnx4
QNX6 Neutrino FS	`Qnx6`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	—	qnx6
Reiser4	`Reiser4`	WORM	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests; `reiser4progs` not installable here	Empty tree from `mkfs.reiser4` captures; files live in a payload area the reiser4 driver does not see, so the writer stays WORM	Reiser4
ReiserFS	`ReiserFs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`reiserfsck`, also after mutation	ReiserFS 3.6; edits rebuild the tree	ReiserFS documentation
TUX2	`Tux2`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Phase-tree filesystem	Tux2
TUX3	`Tux3`	R	✅	—	✅	✅	—	—	own reader + struct-parity tests	—	Tux3
UFS	`Ufs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	FreeBSD kernel mount r/w + `fsck_ffs` under QEMU	UFS1 / FFS	UFS
UNIX System V FS	`SysV`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	host-kernel `sysv` mount reads byte-exact	System V filesystem	sysv
VxFS (Veritas)	`VxFs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	—	—	✅	Linux `freevxfs` driver mounts the written volume	One fileset, direct extents, flat root; edits rebuild the volume	freevxfs
Xenix FS	`Xenix`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	host-kernel `sysv` (`detect_xenix`) mount reads byte-exact	—	sysv
XFS	`Xfs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	host-kernel `xfs` mount r/w + `xfs_repair -n`	XFS v5; edits rebuild the volume	XFS documentation
ZFS	`Zfs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	—	✅	✅	✅	`zdb -l` label path; own reader + struct-parity tests	OpenZFS v28 single-vdev profile; edits rebuild the pool	OpenZFS documentation

Apple

Format	Id	State	Compact	Defrag	Wipe	Shrink	Layout	Purge	Proof	Notes	Reference
APFS	`Apfs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Single container / volume, unencrypted; edits rebuild the tree	Apple File System Reference
Apple DOS 3.3	`AppleDos`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	DOS 3.3, catalog at T17 S15	Apple DOS
Apple IIgs GS/OS (2IMG)	`GsOs`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	—	✅	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	2IMG wrapper delegating to the inner ProDOS / HFS / DOS 3.3 reader	2IMG
Apple UCSD Pascal	`ApplePascal`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	UCSD Pascal volume	UCSD p-System
HFS (Classic)	`Hfs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`hmount` / `hls` (hfsutils) list the written files	Classic HFS; edits rebuild the catalog	Inside Macintosh: Files
HFS+	`HfsPlus`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`fsck.hfsplus -fn` + hfsutils + reverse `mkfs.hfsplus`	Edits rebuild the catalog	TN1150
MFS (Macintosh File System)	`Mfs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Macintosh File System (1984)	MFS
ProDOS	`ProDos`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	—	ProDOS technical reference

Optical

Format	Id	State	Compact	Defrag	Wipe	Shrink	Layout	Purge	Proof	Notes	Reference
ISO 9660	`Iso`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	host-kernel `iso9660` mount + `isoinfo` / `xorriso`	ISO 9660 + Joliet; edits rebuild the image	ECMA-119
UDF	`Udf`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	host-kernel `udf` mount + `udfinfo` / `mkudffs` round-trip	Edits rebuild the image	OSTA UDF

Compressed, embedded and flash

Format	Id	State	Compact	Defrag	Wipe	Shrink	Layout	Purge	Proof	Notes	Reference
CramFS	`CramFs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`mkfs.cramfs` image read byte-exact	Edits rebuild the image	cramfs
EROFS	`Erofs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`mkfs.erofs` image read byte-exact	Compact inodes, FLAT_PLAIN; edits rebuild the image	EROFS
JFFS2	`Jffs2`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	`mkfs.jffs2` image read byte-exact	Log-structured	JFFS2
LittleFS	`LittleFs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	—	littlefs
ROMFS	`RomFs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	host-kernel `romfs` mount + 7-Zip read the written image	Edits rebuild the image	romfs
SmartFS	`SmartFs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	NuttX; flat root; edits rebuild the volume	NuttX SmartFS
SquashFS	`SquashFs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	host-kernel `squashfs` mount + `unsquashfs`	Edits rebuild the image	SquashFS
UBIFS	`Ubifs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Log-structured; edits rebuild the image	UBIFS
YAFFS2	`Yaffs2`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	—	YAFFS

Amiga, Atari, Acorn and other home computers

Format	Id	State	Compact	Defrag	Wipe	Shrink	Layout	Purge	Proof	Notes	Reference
Acorn ADFS	`Adfs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests; the `adfs` module is absent from the QEMU guest	Acorn ADFS	ADFS
ADF	`Adf`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	Linux `affs` driver reads the written volume	OFS / FFS	ADF (Clévy)
Amiga Professional FS	`AmigaPfs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	—	PFS3
Amiga SFS	`Sfs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	—	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests; every block self-checksums	Flat root; edits rebuild the volume	AROS SFS
ATR (Atari 8-bit)	`Atari8`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	ATR, Atari DOS 2 VTOC	Atari DOS
BBC DFS	`Bbc`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	BBC DFS	DFS
CP/M 2.2 (8" SSSD)	`Cpm`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	cpmtools `cpmls` / `cpmcp` read the written IBM-3740 image	CP/M 2.2, 8-inch SSSD	CP/M format notes
CPC DSK	`CpcDsk`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests; cpmtools / libdsk expect a different EDSK geometry	MV - CPCEMU DSK	DSK format
Cromemco RDOS	`Cromemco`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	RDOS	Cromemco
D64	`D64`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	—	VICE disk images
D71	`D71`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	—	VICE disk images
D81	`D81`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	—	VICE disk images
DragonFS	`DragonFs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	DragonDOS	DragonDOS
G64 (Commodore GCR)	`G64`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Raw GCR tracks; the writer GCR-encodes a 1541 image	G64 (VICE)
GEMDOS (Atari ST)	`Gemdos`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Atari ST FAT variant	GEMDOS
MFS-1 (Acorn Master File System v1)	`Mfs1`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Acorn MFS-1; geometry-preserving catalog rebuild for edits	BBC Master
MSA (Magic Shadow Archiver)	`Msa`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Magic Shadow Archive	MSA (Atari ST)
NIB (Commodore nibble dump)	`Nib`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	—	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Raw nibble tracks	NIB
PlayStation Memory Card	`Ps1MemoryCard`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Deletion marks the directory frame; add / replace re-pack the blocks	PS1 memory card
SCL (ZX Spectrum)	`ZxScl`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	SCL, `SINCLAIR` magic + checksum	SCL
Sharp X68000 Human68k	`Human68k`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Sharp X68000	Human68k
TI-99/4A DSR	`Ti99`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	—	TI-99/4A disk format
TR-DOS	`TrDos`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	ZX Spectrum TRD	TR-DOS
TRSDOS / LDOS	`Trsdos`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	—	TRSDOS
VDFS	`Vdfs`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Gothic-engine VDFS	VDFS

Minicomputer and workstation

Format	Id	State	Compact	Defrag	Wipe	Shrink	Layout	Purge	Proof	Notes	Reference
DEC RT-11 (RX01)	`Rt11`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	DEC RT-11	RT-11 documentation
HP LIF (Logical Interchange Format)	`Lif`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	HP LIF, 256-byte sectors	LIF
Microware OS-9 RBF	`Os9Rbf`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Microware OS-9 RBF	OS-9
ODS-1 (VAX/VMS Files-11 L1)	`Ods1`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Files-11 ODS-1 (RSX-11)	Files-11
OpenVMS Files-11	`OpenVms`	R/W	✅	✅ moving	✅	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Files-11 ODS-2 / ODS-5	Files-11

Network, distributed and proprietary

Format	Id	State	Compact	Defrag	Wipe	Shrink	Layout	Purge	Proof	Notes	Reference
BeeGFS	`BeeGfs`	N/A	—	—	—	—	—	—	V3/V6 decoder + RAID0 stripe arithmetic against documented layout, over real ext/XFS backing images and their native `user.fhgfs` xattrs — no BeeGFS-produced target set serves as an oracle	Read-only mounting of offline metadata/storage target sets through `FilesystemStreamSet`; V3 dentries + V6 inline/separate regular-file inodes; non-mirrored non-sparse RAID0. Nothing is created or modified: BeeGFS-level mutation would be a transaction across every target plus management state	BeeGFS
CephFS / RADOS pool export	`CephFs`	R/W	✅	—	✅	✅	—	✅	detection of the on-disk signature	RADOS objects only	Ceph
Dell EMC Isilon OneFS	`OneFs`	R	—	—	—	—	—	—	Dell architecture/diagnostics; raw serialization not public	Isilon OneFS	OneFS
eCryptfs	`Ecryptfs`	R/W	✅	—	✅	✅	—	✅	ecryptfs-utils passphrase vector + Linux kernel layout	Passphrase lower-file AES-128/192/256 read/create; private-key auth and xattr-only metadata are unsupported	eCryptfs
GlusterFS brick	`GlusterFs`	R	✅	—	✅	✅	—	—	detection of the on-disk signature	Brick metadata only	GlusterFS
IBM Storage Scale / GPFS	`Gpfs`	R	—	—	—	—	—	—	detection of the on-disk signature	IBM Spectrum Scale	GPFS
JuiceFS	`JuiceFs`	R	✅	—	—	✅	—	—	canonical `juicefs dump` JSON/protobuf framing + struct-parity tests	Portable metadata backups only; JSON shrink strips insignificant whitespace; file payloads remain in object storage	JuiceFS metadata backup
Lustre	`Lustre`	R	✅	—	✅	✅	—	—	own reader + struct-parity tests	ldiskfs MDT/OST backing store; conservative offline free-block wipe + trailing-block shrink; namespace edits remain R/O	Lustre
MooseFS	`MooseFs`	R	—	—	✅	—	—	✅	detection of the on-disk signature	Chunk-server objects only	MooseFS
NetApp WAFL	`Wafl`	R	—	—	—	—	—	—	detection of the on-disk signature	NetApp WAFL	WAFL
NSS (Novell Storage Services)	`Nss`	WORM	✅	✅ moving	✅	—	—	—	own reader + struct-parity tests, against vectors built to the OES-derived on-disk notes	Native read covers validated nested names and ordinary contiguous extents; the writer still emits a private container, not a mountable NSS pool	NSS on-disk notes
NWFS (Novell NetWare 386 Traditional Filesystem)	`Nwfs`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	✅	✅	detection of the on-disk signature	NetWare 286 / 3.x	NWFS
NWFS386 (Novell Traditional NetWare filesystem)	`Nwfs386`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	—	✅	✅	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Plain single-segment DOS namespace; rebuild edits preserve block size and volume name; compression/suballocation/alternate namespaces are read-only	Traditional NetWare partitions
OrangeFS / PVFS2 DBPF	`OrangeFs`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	—	—	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	One DBPF storage object, not a namespace; the opaque payload is what is edited	OrangeFS
SGI CXFS (Cluster XFS)	`Cxfs`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	—	✅	—	✅	own reader + `xfs_repair -n`	CXFS is XFS on disk; authoring targets the pre-CRC XFS v4 (`crc=0`) profile with dir2 short-form directories, and edits rebuild the volume	CXFS
Tahoe-LAFS share / capability namespace	`TahoeLafs`	R/W	✅	✅ rebuild	✅	✅	—	✅	own reader + struct-parity tests	Opaque share payload; mutable storage-container gaps can be wiped, packed and shrunk without changing share or lease bytes	Tahoe-LAFS
TFS (unverified historical BBN Trans-FS label)	`Tfs`	R	—	—	—	—	—	—	none — explicit format selection only	No normative on-disk specification, reference implementation or genuine sample was located; the historical `TFS\x01` magic and `.tfs` extension are unsourced and no longer detect, so the image is exposed opaquely and only when the caller names the format; see the format notes	BBN

🚀 Quick start

Walk a filesystem image

using FileSystem.Fat;

var image = File.ReadAllBytes("disk.img");
using var fs = new FatReader(image);
foreach (var entry in fs.ListRecursive())
  Console.WriteLine($"{entry.Path} {entry.Size,10} {entry.Modified:O}");

Open a virtual disk and inspect its inner filesystem

using FileFormat.Vhd;
using FileSystem.Ntfs;

using var stream = File.OpenRead("system.vhd");
var inner = new VhdReader().OpenContents(stream);
foreach (var partition in inner.Partitions) {
  if (partition.Type != "NTFS")
    continue;
  var ntfs = new NtfsReader(partition.Open());
  foreach (var path in ntfs.WalkPaths())
    Console.WriteLine(path);
}

Edit an image through the registry

using Compression.Registry;

Compression.Lib.FormatRegistration.EnsureInitialized();
var ops = (IArchiveModifiable)FormatRegistry.GetArchiveOps("Ext")!;
using var image = File.Open("root.ext4", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.ReadWrite);
ops.Add(image, [new ArchiveInputInfo("", "etc/motd", false, "hello\n"u8.ToArray())]);
ops.Remove(image, ["var/log/old.log"]);

📚 API reference

Every public and protected member of all 868 types, generated from the built assembly and its XML documentation, is in REFERENCE.md.

🧪 How the proofs run

The Proof column is produced by these suites, all in Compression.Tests. External tools that are absent make the corresponding test skip rather than fail, so the matrix records what has been shown, not what a particular runner had installed. A tool too old to read the format at all counts as absent for this purpose and skips with the version it reported — it never examined the image, so it has not judged it. A tool that does read the image and then objects has judged it, and that is a failure, never a skip.

Suite	What it shows
`Support/ThirdPartyFsCheck`	Mounts the written image with the host kernel's own driver, or extracts it with 7-Zip, and compares every payload. A driver that is present and refuses the volume fails the test; only a driver that is absent lets it skip.
`Support/QemuRunner` (BSD guests)	A headless FreeBSD guest runs `fsck_ffs` over the written UFS volume; a DragonFly guest runs `hammer` over the HAMMER and HAMMER2 volumes. There is no Linux guest — Linux drivers are reached through the host kernel, not through QEMU.
`KernelMount/InPlaceRwKernelMountTests`	On a Linux host whose kernel carries the module, the host loop-mounts the package's image directly and reads the in-place-added file (MinixV1, MinixV2, NILFS2). Skips without sudo, `losetup` or the module.
`ExternalConformance*`, `ExternalFsInteropTests` (`Category("ExternalFsInterop")`)	`e2fsck`, `xfs_repair`, `btrfs check`, `fsck.f2fs`, `fsck.jfs`, `reiserfsck`, `fsck.minix`, `fsck.hfsplus`, hfsutils, ntfs-3g, `mkudffs`, `unsquashfs`, `mtools`, `qemu-img` accept what the package writes, and the package reads what they write.
DOS-era drivers under QEMU / `dmsdos`	MS-DOS 6.22 `DRVSPACE` mounts the DoubleSpace / DriveSpace CVFs; the `dmsdos` driver mounts the DriveSpace 3 and Stacker volumes.
Struct-parity unit tests	For formats with no reachable external tool, each on-disk structure the writer emits is compared field by field against the specification and read back by the package's own reader.
Disk-image containers follow the same rule with `qemu-img`: forward `check`, raw round-trip via `convert -O raw`, and reverse — an image `qemu-img create` made is opened by the package reader. A forensic-style path builds an inner filesystem with known files, wraps it in a container, validates the container externally, then walks it back and compares bytes.

🧯 Filesystem-aware recovery

FilesystemCarver in Compression.Analysis scans raw images for known superblock signatures at canonical offsets, asks the matching reader to validate each candidate, and can then extract readable entries — useful when a partition table is lost but an inner superblock survives.

using var fs = File.OpenRead("sdcard.img");
var hits = FilesystemCarver.CarveStream(fs);
foreach (var c in hits) {
  var result = FilesystemExtractor.ExtractCarved(fs, c, $"out/{c.FormatId}_0x{c.ByteOffset:X}");
  Console.WriteLine($"{c.FormatId}: {result.FilesExtracted} files, {result.FilesFailed} failed");
}

cwb recover sdcard.img
cwb recover raw.img --mode filesystems --out out/
cwb recover raw.img --mode files --format Jpeg,Png

🔌 Dependencies

Dependency	Role
`Hawkynt.Compression.Core`	Compression, checksums, bit I/O, partition helpers and the shared registry primitives
Host filesystem drivers / `libguestfs`	Not required at runtime.
External `fsck` / `mkfs` / `qemu` tools	Optional, used by the test suite only

⚠️ Limitations

This is an image-manipulation toolkit, not a kernel filesystem driver. R/W does not imply concurrent mount semantics, crash-consistent journaling under arbitrary interruption, or a drop-in replacement for the OS driver.
Where Notes says a format's edits rebuild the volume, an add or remove costs the whole image rather than the bytes that changed, and the block placement of untouched files may move.
bcachefs mutation is profile-gated: the in-place writer owns single-device regular pointer extents as emitted by this package. Bucket generations are carried through a mutation: emptying a bucket advances its generation, and the alloc key, the bucket_gens slot, the extent pointer and its backpointer are written from one source and checked against each other before the commit is published. Foreign volumes with extra live b-trees, non-canonical bucket_gens or alloc_v4 keys, inline / reflink / compressed extent keys, or unsupported inode and dirent types are refused for mutation rather than rewritten speculatively; read support is broader. How the accounting, backpointer and LRU keys were established is written up in BCACHEFS-ACCOUNTING.md.
ReFS edits are offline-quiescent: the image must not be mounted, and RefsMutationMode.NativeCow stays fail-closed. The reader walks ReFS 3.x containers, MSB+ trees, allocators, Block Refcount rows and MLog framing; the offline editor relocates data and metadata pages, replaces and removes regular files and empty directories through CoW B+ replacement and alternate-checkpoint publication. Block Refcount row creation and whole-file clone semantics are implemented and tested: RefsOfflineBlockCloner.CloneWholeFile repoints an existing destination stream at an existing, equal-sized, cluster-aligned source stream, materialises the shared-cluster reference counts — including the first clone of a slot the sparse table does not yet track — and publishes Object Table root #0 and Block Refcount root #6 through one alternate checkpoint, reclaiming the destination's former allocation only once that checkpoint is durable. Writing to a clone afterwards reallocates rather than overwriting the shared clusters. No public verb reaches this primitive: it is a library entry point, not something cwb can be asked to do, and the profile is deliberately narrower than FSCTL_DUPLICATE_EXTENTS_TO_FILE — resident, sparse, integrity, zero-length, already-shared and partial-range clones are all refused. Still open before a mounted driver could use the same core: redo-payload codecs and replay for every opcode, every Schema Table key rule, the allocation-zone policies of the three allocators, container create / delete / move, partial-range and EOF-extending clones, hard links, sparse and integrity-stream mutation beyond 4 KiB clusters, snapshots, ADS, security descriptors, reparse points, USN, rename, truncate, a format path, locking and a Windows chkdsk corpus.
Reiser4 remains WORM: the current writer captures the empty native tree but stores added files in a payload area the reiser4 driver does not see. It must not be promoted until the native tree writer owns those files.
GFS2 R/W is the standalone lock_nolock profile with regular files in the root directory; small files are stuffed and larger files use the indirect tree. Existing-image edits rebuild the volume while preserving its size floor and lock-table value. ExHash/nested-directory writing, journal replay, cluster-lock-manager state and extended attributes remain out of scope.
NSS native read support is intentionally narrow and quiescent: the reader reconstructs validated DirH/LEAF namespace relationships and ordinary contiguous file extents using the OES-derived clean-room profile in NSS-ON-DISK.md, while retaining anchor diagnostics for unsupported images. Native allocation trees, journals, trustee metadata, ZLBH history, compressed/sparse/fragmented data profiles and writable NSS pools remain out of scope; the existing writer still emits a private Workbench container rather than a pool NetWare/OES would mount.
Network and distributed formats generally carry no self-contained image. eCryptfs is the encrypted exception handled here: a lower file is structurally self-contained, and the passphrase profile is supported for AES-128/192/256; private-key authentication and xattr-only metadata remain unsupported.
Disk-image container support and inner-filesystem support are separate capabilities; a container marked R/W edits the filesystem inside it through that filesystem's own descriptor.

❤️ Support

If this project saves you time or money, consider supporting its development:

📜 License

Licensed under LGPL-3.0-or-later — see the repository LICENSE.

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