Creating filesystem images typically requires mounting, copying files, and hoping your build environment doesn't introduce non-determinism. New capabilities in mkfs.xfs solve both problems. You can now populate an XFS filesystem directly from a directory tree at creation time, no mount required. I'll cover the implementation approach, discuss design, and show how to use it. Useful for distributions, embedded systems, and anyone who needs verifiable filesystem artifacts.

Reference commits: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/fs/xfs/xfsprogs-dev.git/commit/?h=for-next&id=8a4ea72724930cfe262ccda03028264e1a81b145

https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/fs/xfs/xfsprogs-dev.git/commit/?h=for-next&id=4a54700b4385bbedadfc71ee5bb45b0fc37fabb7