e2image

Save critical ext2/ext3/ext4 filesystem metadata to a file. More information: https://manned.org/e2image.

Write metadata located on device to a specific file:

e2image {{/dev/sdXN}} {{path/to/image_file}}

Print metadata located on device to stdout:

e2image {{/dev/sdXN}} -

Restore the filesystem metadata back to the device:

e2image -I {{/dev/sdXN}} {{path/to/image_file}}

Create a large raw sparse file with metadata at proper offsets:

e2image -r {{/dev/sdXN}} {{path/to/image_file}}

Create a QCOW2 image file instead of a normal or raw image file:

e2image -Q {{/dev/sdXN}} {{path/to/image_file}}