Work with DwarFS images.
Use DwarFS Utility for a dedicated workspace, or work directly in Dolphin. Both use the same engine and settings.
DwarFS Utility
Open DwarFS Utility from the application launcher. Choose Open Image… to add images to the sidebar, then select an image to inspect it. Overview compares the original and compressed size; Contents maps folders by logical size. Point to a ring for its path and size.
The toolbar provides creation, mounting, browsing, extraction and integrity checks. Open Settings from the menu for shared defaults, or use the information icon at the right of the toolbar for About. Removing an image from the recent list does not delete its file.
Create an image
- Right-click the folder you want to archive.
- Choose DwarFS → Build Image….
- Choose where to save the
.dwarfsfile. - Select Create. The window shows the current phase and elapsed time.
You can also choose Create Image… in DwarFS Utility. On completion, DwarFSctl reports the number of files, original size, image size, space saved and elapsed time. Compression behavior comes from shared Settings, so the creation window stays focused on this image.
Open or browse
Mount and open
Double-click an image to mount it read-only and open the resulting volume. An active image appears in Dolphin Places with its own volume icon. This is the best option when you need normal filesystem paths or original modification times.
Browse without mounting
Use the image's dwarfs: location to look through its contents without creating a FUSE mount. Files can be opened or copied out, but modification times are not available in this view.
DwarFS images are always read-only. Extract files before editing them.
Inspect an image
Open Dolphin's standard Properties dialog and select DwarFS Image. The page shows image contents, original size, space saved, format, creation information and current mount state.
Technical Details… contains engine and storage diagnostics for troubleshooting. Ordinary file operations remain in the right-click menu.
Extract files
Right-click an image and choose Extract…, then select a parent folder. DwarFSctl creates a clearly named folder inside it, extracts the complete image there and opens the result in Dolphin. To retrieve one file while browsing the image, copy it to a regular Dolphin location.
The result appears only after extraction succeeds. If that folder name is already present, DwarFSctl chooses a numbered name instead. It never merges image contents into an existing folder or silently replaces its files.
Unmount
Use the eject control beside the volume in Places, choose Unmount DwarFS Volume on the mounted folder, or use the tray menu. DwarFSctl removes the temporary Places entry and empty mount directory.
Command line
dwarfsctl build ./folder --output ./archive.dwarfs
dwarfsctl status ./archive.dwarfs
dwarfsctl ls ./archive.dwarfs --path /documents --children-only
dwarfsctl cat ./archive.dwarfs /documents/note.txt ./note.txt
dwarfsctl extract ./archive.dwarfs ./restored
dwarfsctl mount ./archive.dwarfs
dwarfsctl unmount ./archive.dwarfsEvery command writes one JSON envelope to standard output. Run man dwarfsctl for the complete command reference installed with your version.