In the world of high-performance computing, embedded systems, and enterprise server management, efficiency is paramount. One of the most powerful yet often overlooked sets of utilities comes from the CRI (CRIU, Containers, and Low-Level I/O) ecosystem . Specifically, "CRI file system tools" refer to a suite of command-line utilities used to inspect, manipulate, repair, and monitor file system structures at a granular level—often bridging the gap between the virtual file system (VFS) and physical storage blocks.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:oisf/cri sudo apt update sudo apt install crifs # For CRIU and basic tools sudo dnf install criu fuse3-devel Enable EPEL for additional packages sudo dnf install epel-release sudo dnf install crifs Arch Linux sudo pacman -S criu fuse3 crifs-git After these commands, verify installation with: cri file system tools install
echo "test data" > /tmp/testfile tail -f /tmp/testfile & PID=$! sudo criu dump -t $PID --shell-job --ext-files -D /tmp/criu_dump sudo criu restore -D /tmp/criu_dump --shell-job If the restore succeeds, the filesystem interactions were preserved. | Issue | Likely Cause | Solution | |-------|--------------|----------| | fuse: device not found | Kernel module not loaded | sudo modprobe fuse | | crifs: command not found | PATH not updated | Re-run sudo ldconfig or add /usr/local/bin to PATH | | protobuf-c version mismatch | Outdated library | Install protobuf-c 1.3+ from source | | criu dump fails with "filesystem not supported" | Kernel missing CONFIG_CHECKPOINT_RESTORE | Recompile kernel or upgrade distribution | Advanced Usage: Combining CRI Tools for Filesystem Management Once installed, these tools shine when used together. Example scenario: Live migration of a database process with active log files . Example scenario: Live migration of a database process
# Freeze the DB process criu dump -D /tmp/snap -t $(pidof postgres) --ext-files --log-file dump.log crifs /var/lib/postgresql/data /mnt/db_backup -o ro rsync -a /mnt/db_backup /backup/location/ Restore on another node scp -r /tmp/snap user@new-node:/tmp/ ssh user@new-node "criu restore -D /tmp/snap" Conclusion: Your Next Steps with CRI File System Tools Completing the cri file system tools install unlocks a new level of visibility and control over your Linux filesystems. Whether you are debugging a corrupted inode table, live-migrating a containerized application, or exploring OCI images as local directories, the combined power of CriFS and CRIU is unparalleled. live-migrating a containerized application