OSTREE ADMIN INIT-F(1) ostree admin init-fs OSTREE ADMIN INIT-F(1)

.SH "NAME" ostree-admin-init-fs - Initialize a new root filesystem

.SH "SYNOPSIS"

.HP 504u

**ostree admin init-fs** \[OPTIONS...] {PATH}

.SH "DESCRIPTION"

.PP Initialize an empty physical root filesystem in the designated PATH, with normal toplevels and correct permissions for each directory. Primarily useful for operating system installers.

.SH "OPTIONS"

.PP **--modern**

Equivalent to --epoch=1.

.RE

.PP **--epoch**

This accepts an integer value in the range \[0-1], inclusive. The default is zero for compatibility.

When set to 1, the command will skip adding a number of toplevel "API filesystems" such as /proc to the toplevel of the physical root. These should be unnecessary, as they should only be mounted in the final deployment root. The main exception is /boot, which may need to be mounted in some setups before the target root.

Epoch 2 is the same as 1, except that the toplevel ostree directory is mode 0700, denying access from unprivileged code. This is a new recommended best practice as it avoids access to old configuration files in /etc in previous deployments, as well as potentially old setuid binaries in /ostree/repo.

.RE

.SH "EXAMPLE"

.PP **$ mkdir /example**

.PP **$ ostree admin init-fs --epoch=1 /example**

.PP **$ ls /example**

.PP *boot*  

OSTree

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Document: ostree-admin-init-fs(1) from ostree 2026.5-r0 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/ostreedev/ostree