dot snap folder

[Polytropon]

On Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:21:27 +0000, RW wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:59:59 +0100
> Polytropon wrote:
> 
> > On Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:32:11 -0600, ajtiM wrote:
> > > On Sunday 15 January 2012 23:54:52 Chip Camden wrote:
> > > > Quoth Polytropon on Monday, 16 January 2012:
> > > > > On Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:40:20 -0800, Jim Pazarena wrote:
> > > > > > Is it permissible to delete the dot snap folder which is
> > > > > > created in a filesystem?
> > > > > 
> > > > > First of all, it's called a directory, not a "folder". :-)
> > > > 
> > > > After all, it doesn't fold (for that you need a little Haskell or
> > > > OCaml).
> > > 
> > > ...and the answer if is it permissible to delete .snap directory
> > > is?? Thank you.
> > 
> > The answer has been provided two times, none of them is
> > quoted above or below. :-)
> > 
> > I may repeat: It is permissible _unless_ you are running
> > the dump program on a live partition using the -L option.
> > 
> > As the question has been answered, 
> 
> I'm not sure it has. AFAIK it's also used by background fsck.

That information could be obtained by conclusion and
by experience. I had the experience that it might
interfere with a regular fsck (not the background one)
if present. Only at a background run you'd have the
opportunity to remove .snap, whereas during a normal
fsck run (typically at startup) you cannot do this
(without interrupting fsck).

Anyway, you're right: fsck_ffs's source code mentiones
the .snap directory. It's line 320 and later. The comment
at line 283 suggests that fsck will _create_ that
directory if required, just like dump -L would do.
Line numbers for /usr/src/sbin/fsck_ffs/main.c OS
version 8.2-STABLE here, may differ for others.

So there may be an extension of my summary:

It is permissible _unless_ you are running the dump
program on a live partition using the -L option -or-
you are currently running (background) fsck.


-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...