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Platform Support

Preserve is designed to work across Windows, Linux, and macOS. This document covers platform-specific details, known quirks, and testing status.

Support Matrix

Platform Status Tested Notes
Windows 10/11 Supported Yes Primary development platform
Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, etc.) Supported Yes Tested on Ubuntu 22.04+
macOS Supported Community Needs more testing - help wanted
BSD (FreeBSD, OpenBSD) Unknown No Likely works - help wanted
WSL/WSL2 Supported Yes Works with Windows paths

Platform-Specific Behavior

Windows

  • Junctions: Windows NTFS junctions are detected and handled during MOVE operations
  • Drive Letters: Absolute path mode (--abs) preserves drive letters as directories (e.g., C:\data\file.txt → backup/C/data/file.txt)
  • Long Paths: Supports Windows long paths (260+ characters) when enabled in Windows settings
  • Permissions: File permissions are preserved where possible; some attributes require administrator privileges

Linux

  • Symlinks: Symbolic links are detected during cycle detection
  • Permissions: Full POSIX permission preservation (owner, group, mode)
  • Case Sensitivity: Filesystem is typically case-sensitive; preserve respects this

macOS

  • Symlinks: Should work like Linux symlinks
  • Case Sensitivity: Default HFS+/APFS is case-insensitive but case-preserving
  • Extended Attributes: Resource forks and extended attributes may need additional handling

Note: macOS support is based on code compatibility with Linux. We welcome testing and feedback from macOS users.

BSD

  • Expected Behavior: Should work similarly to Linux
  • Untested: No direct testing has been performed

Known Quirks

Path Handling

Scenario Windows Linux/macOS
Path separator \ (backslash) / (forward slash)
Drive letters C:\, D:\, etc. N/A (mount points)
Root path C:\ /
Home directory %USERPROFILE% ~ or $HOME

Preserve normalizes paths internally and handles cross-platform path differences automatically.

Symbolic Links vs Junctions

Feature Windows Junction Windows Symlink Unix Symlink
Target type Directory only File or directory File or directory
Admin required No Yes (or Developer Mode) No
Relative targets No Yes Yes
Cross-volume No Yes Yes

Preserve's --link-handling flag works with all link types.

Installation by Platform

Windows

pip install dazzle-preserve[windows]

The [windows] extra includes pywin32 for enhanced Windows functionality.

Linux / macOS / BSD

pip install dazzle-preserve

All Platforms with Dazzlelink

pip install dazzle-preserve[dazzlelink]

Help Us Test!

We'd love help testing preserve on platforms we don't have regular access to:

  • macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon)
  • BSD variants (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD)
  • Other Linux distributions
  • ARM-based systems

How to Help

  1. Install preserve on your platform
  2. Run some basic operations: 
    # Create a test directory with some files
mkdir -p test-src/subdir
echo "test" > test-src/file.txt
echo "nested" > test-src/subdir/nested.txt

# Test COPY with verification
preserve COPY test-src/ --dst test-backup/ --rel --includeBase -r --hash SHA256

# Test VERIFY
preserve VERIFY --src test-src/ --dst test-backup/ --hash SHA256

# Test RESTORE
preserve RESTORE --src test-backup/ --dst test-restored/

# Compare results
diff -r test-src/ test-restored/test-src/
  3. Share your results in our Platform Testing Discussion

What to Report

  • Operating system and version
  • Python version (python --version)
  • Preserve version (preserve --version)
  • Any errors or unexpected behavior
  • Whether all basic operations worked

Resources

See Also