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bd-archiver documentation

bd-archiver turns a directory into Blu-ray data discs. The command is bd-archive. Creation and burning are separate: prepare size-checked disc folders, then burn them and verify the result. Add create --iso to save ISO images instead. The raw/DAR archive format choice is independent of this output choice.

Choose a format

	Raw data disc	DAR archive
Best for	Files you want to open directly, such as photos, music or videos	Larger backups and incremental archive chains
Disc count	One per create; larger collections are planned and archived over several runs	One or more
Compression	None	zstd by default; other algorithms or none
Recovery default	5% PAR2; --fill-recovery fills free space	5% PAR2 per slice; --fill-recovery fills free space
Access	Open or copy the archive folder from the disc	Restore with bd-archive extract
Command	create or create -m raw	create -m dar

Both modes write SHA-512 checksums. PAR2 adds recovery information that can repair some damaged data; checksums alone only detect damage. Use -r 0 or -r none to omit PAR2.

These are data discs. Raw mode does not author a Blu-ray Video title: standalone players must support data discs and the files' formats.

Multisession is not supported and is not planned for the foreseeable future. Collect files before burning each disc; later additions require a new disc. Multisession support and research explains the limitation and the distinction from DAR incrementals and packing.

Start here

1. Install the tools.
2. Follow the quick start to prepare, check and burn an archive.
3. Read Raw data discs or DAR archives for your chosen format.
4. Plan enough disk space using Storage and layout.

Guides

Task	Guide
Choose which units of a larger collection go onto the next raw disc	Planning raw discs
Add changed files to an existing DAR archive	Incrementals and packing
Burn prepared folders/images or resume a disc set	Burning
Check a disc, ISO or copied disc directory	Verification
Restore DAR data, including damaged or incomplete sets	Restoring
Understand the multisession limitation and research	Multisession
Look up flags and defaults	CLI reference
Run in a container	Docker
Resolve common failures	Troubleshooting
Work on the Python package	Development

A few terms

• Disc folder: the files for one disc, prepared as disc/ (raw) or under discs/disc_NNNN/ (DAR).
• ISO image: the file that will be written to a disc.
• Slice: one numbered piece of a DAR archive, sized for a disc together with its metadata and recovery data.
• Catalog: DAR's index of an archive. An isolated catalog is saved separately for future incrementals and recovery; it does not contain the archived file contents.
• Generation: a full archive (generation 1) or a later incremental.
• Chain: a full archive and its successive incrementals, identified by the same archive name (-n).

The guides describe the current source checkout. A container image or older installation can differ; inspect bd-archive --version and the command's --help when following examples.

Source repository