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-rw-r--r--man/repart.d.xml25
1 files changed, 19 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/man/repart.d.xml b/man/repart.d.xml
index 43540234a7..d404645588 100644
--- a/man/repart.d.xml
+++ b/man/repart.d.xml
@@ -422,12 +422,25 @@
<varlistentry>
<term><varname>CopyBlocks=</varname></term>
- <listitem><para>Takes a path to a regular file, block device node or directory. If specified and the
- partition is newly created the data from the specified path is written to the newly created
- partition, on the block level. If a directory is specified the backing block device of the file
- system the directory is on is determined and the data read directly from that. This option is useful
- to efficiently replicate existing file systems on the block level on a new partition, for example to
- build a simple OS installer or OS image builder.</para>
+ <listitem><para>Takes a path to a regular file, block device node or directory, or the special value
+ <literal>auto</literal>. If specified and the partition is newly created, the data from the specified
+ path is written to the newly created partition, on the block level. If a directory is specified, the
+ backing block device of the file system the directory is on is determined, and the data read directly
+ from that. This option is useful to efficiently replicate existing file systems onto new partitions
+ on the block level — for example to build a simple OS installer or an OS image builder.</para>
+
+ <para>If the special value <literal>auto</literal> is specified, the source to copy from is
+ automatically picked up from the running system (or the image specified with
+ <option>--image=</option> — if used). A partition that matches both the configured partition type (as
+ declared with <varname>Type=</varname> above), and the currently mounted directory appropriate for
+ that partition type is determined. For example, if the partition type is set to
+ <literal>root</literal> the partition backing the root directory (<filename>/</filename>) is used as
+ source to copy from — if its partition type is set to <literal>root</literal> as well. If the
+ declared type is <literal>usr</literal> the partition backing <filename>/usr/</filename> is used as
+ source to copy blocks from — if its partition type is set to <literal>usr</literal> too. The logic is
+ capable of automatically tracking down the the backing partitions for encrypted and Verity-enabled
+ volumes. <literal>CopyBlocks=auto</literal> is useful for implementing "self-replicating" systems,
+ i.e. systems that are their own installer.</para>
<para>The file specified here must have a size that is a multiple of the basic block size 512 and not
be empty. If this option is used, the size allocation algorithm is slightly altered: the partition is