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hdiutil

A brief guide to disk image files

So many different types, from read-only disk image .dmg files, to sparse bundles and DVD/CD-R masters. Which to use, and how to create them?

September 19, 2020 Macs, Technology

Imaging APFS storage in Disk Utility, and size of the VM volume

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Disk Utility can’t image APFS volumes, and normally returns an error if you try to image a container. Here’s the workaround.

September 18, 2020 Macs, Technology

Limits to size of sparse bundles, and bugs fixed in Spundle 1.2

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Important update for all users, which addresses several bugs in setting the maximum size of sparse bundles.

June 22, 2020 Macs, Technology

Selecting sizes for sparse bundles

How to set the total size, and band size, for your sparse bundles, with calculation of the critical band size.

June 18, 2020 Macs, Technology

Spundle: a new utility for creating and adjusting sparse bundles

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Saves you from having to learn how to use hdiutil, and supports 6 different file systems and custom band sizes.

May 18, 2020 Macs, Technology

How to encrypt files and folders in APFS

What if you don’t want whole disk encryption? If your Mac doesn’t have T2, or if you’re using an external drive, encryption is still performed in software. Here’s a good solution.

November 22, 2019 Macs, Technology

Hitting the limits of APFS is both easy and confusing

What’s the minimum size of a container, or a volume, in APFS? The answer can range from 1.05 MB up to 167.8 MB, it appears.

August 12, 2019 Macs, Technology

Disk Utility can’t resize APFS disk images, but hdiutil can

Want to increase the size of a disk image in APFS? If you’re relying on Disk Utility to do it, you’re out of luck. But here’s how to do this at the command line instead.

March 16, 2019 Macs, Technology

xattr: com.apple.diskimages.recentcksum, disk image checksum

Contains details of the last checksum of a disk image, performed using hdiutil verify, which can be compared against that stored in the image. Read-only and compressed images only.

February 8, 2018 xattr

Disk Utility and diskutil

Disk Utility may seem the most mundane of all the utilities, but together with its command shell partners packs a real punch in several important areas.

April 15, 2015 Macs, Technology
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