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31

Will btrfs automatically compress existing files when compression is enabled?

rated 0 times [ 31] [ 0] / answers: 1 / hits: 42834 / 2 Years ago, fri, december 3, 2021, 6:13:00

I chose btrfs as the format of my / filesystem in the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS installer. After the installation completed, I added compress=lzo to the mount options in /etc/fstab and rebooted.

Will the existing files be automatically compressed now, or must I explicitly do something to cause that to happen?

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lintical

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answered 2 Years ago puccop · Accepted Answer

You will have to run btrfs fi defragment to force recompression of existing data. Otherwise, only new data will be compressed.

From the FAQ:

...consider remounting with -o compress, and either rewrite particular files in-place, or run btrfs fi defragment to recompress everything. This may take a while.