Virtual LargeFile System for LUFS 0.3 review

vlsf is a plugin for the LUFS package which allows to write large files (4GB and more) on primitive filesystems like FAT32. The work

License: GPL (GNU General Public License) File size: 20K Developer: E. Bloch

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vlsf is a plugin for the LUFS package which allows to write large files (4GB and more) on primitive filesystems like FAT32.

The workaround is simple: the file is stored in small files (chunks) on the real filesystem using the same method and naming scheme as the split utility.

Installing

To install lvfs, you need the prepatched LUFS package or the original version from the LUFS homepage and the patch (see above).

To patch LUFS, do

cd lufs-0.9.7
patch -p0 < ...patchfile
./bootstrap

The rest as usual:

./configure
make
(as root) make install
cd kernel/Linux
make
(as root) insmod 2.6/lufs.ko
(or the equivalent for 2.4/lufs.o)

Limitations:
chunk files must be named after foo.XY (where XY follows the split(1) scheme)
chunk size is limited to 2GB
Link/Symlink operations not possible with virtual files
no cache update functions - you will see wrong data if you work on directly on underlying filesystem

What's New in This Release:
In LUFS, version 0.9.7, the kernel module misses an internal cast so virtual files contain the wrong data over 4GB. The vlfs patch contains fixes, but make sure that you compile and install the fixed module.