NTFS VSS access on Linux? Can I access shadow copies that already exist on an NTFS volume which were created by Windows on Linux?

Operating Systems & Open Source
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Is there a way to access already existing Volume Shadow Copies on an NTFS volume in Linux?

The issue I’m trying to solve is restoring a file from Shadow Copy that has too long of a File Path Name for Windows. Specifically, the error I get is “Source file path too long”.

The source is a shadow copy, so they’re not editable AFAIK. I would assume accessing it via Linux would bypass this issue since Linux can handle longer file paths than Windows and wouldn’t care.

However, I don’t know if I can mount an NTFS Volume on Linux and be able to see the shadow copies as files.

Is this possible?

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This states that shadow copies are actually just files kept in C:\System Volume Information\

I can’t access the directory in Windows for love or money. Possibly because I’m on a work computer (though I am local admin). Try accessing that directory in Linux. If they are just files, you may be in luck. Otherwise, I don’t hold out much hope. Most of the advanced features of NTFS aren’t actually features of NTFS, but rather separate services. As such, NTFS-3g probably won’t have anything to do with them, since it’s job is to give you access to the file system.

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That’s very informative. I actually found another way on serverfault.

TL;DR: Use the direct path and robocopy. Robocopy doesn’t have the same path limit that Windows does.

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