Packing archives¶

crushr pack creates a new archive.

Basic form:

bash crushr pack <input>... -o <archive.crs>

Common examples¶

Archive one directory with full preservation:

bash crushr pack ./project -o project.crs

Archive multiple inputs:

bash crushr pack ./docs ./scripts ./README.md -o bundle.crs

Choose a preservation profile:

bash crushr pack ./project -o project.crs --preservation basic

Pick a compression level:

bash crushr pack ./project -o project.crs --level 10

Important options¶

Option	Meaning
`-o, --output <archive>`	Output archive path
`--preservation <profile>`	`full`, `basic`, or `payload-only`
`--level <n>`	Compression level
`--silent`	Emit concise machine-friendly output

Preservation profiles in practice¶

`full`¶

Use when you want the archive to preserve Linux metadata and special entry behavior as completely as crushr currently supports.

That includes things like: - ownership - xattrs - ACLs - SELinux labels - capabilities - sparse files - special file types

Use this for: - backups - system snapshots - serious restore workflows

`basic`¶

Use when you want a more portable archive and do not care about system-heavy metadata.

It keeps: - files - directories - symlinks - hard links - mode - mtime - sparse semantics

It omits: - xattrs - ownership - ACLs - SELinux labels - capabilities - FIFOs - device nodes

`payload-only`¶

Use when you only care about file content and paths.

This is intentionally the lightest contract.

Why this matters

The preservation profile becomes part of the archive contract. Later, info and extraction both interpret the archive through that profile.

What warnings during pack mean¶

crushr may warn and omit entries when the selected profile does not permit them.

Examples: - FIFO encountered while using basic - device node encountered while using payload-only

This is expected behavior. crushr will not silently flatten those entries into something else.

No quiet fabrication

If an entry kind is excluded by the chosen profile, crushr warns and omits it. It does not pretend a FIFO is a regular file or a device node is harmless data.

What normal successful output looks like¶

Interactive output typically shows: - target archive - preservation profile - progress phases - final size and timing summary

In --silent mode, expect a concise single-line style instead of the full presentation.

Common mistakes¶

Forgetting the profile¶

If you care about Linux metadata, do not assume basic or payload-only will keep it. Use full.

Picking `payload-only` for a system tree¶

That is usually the wrong choice. It is good for content transport, not faithful Linux restoration.

Treating warnings as decoration¶

Warnings during pack usually mean the resulting archive contract is lighter than the source tree. Read them.

Summary¶

Use pack when you want to create the archive.

Choose the preservation profile based on what you need later: - full for fidelity - basic for lighter sharing - payload-only for content-only packaging