Create a compact system image version.
Create a compact system image version.
I'm working on finding a reliable way to generate system images from Linux machines like Raspberry Pi. So far, Win32DiskImager has limitations—especially with large files on 32GB cards. Would using dd be a better option? Are there tools available that can produce an image matching the actual disk usage without leaving unnecessary empty space? Thanks ahead!
DD offers a reduced size choice that leads to a smaller final image without changing the partition search setting "DD sparse file" in Google.
The process uses a buffer size of 128k and checks if the device is /dev/sdX. It compresses data with pigz or gzip, aiming for 4k+ buffer size for better performance. You can also use bzip2 or other compression tools instead of pigz. If needed, apply a zeroing trick with dd to improve compression efficiency. This should be done separately for each filesystem partition. For maximum size reduction, consider zeroing the swap partition before recreating it.