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The ‘.snapshot’ directory is the namespace entry point for accessing snapshots. It is also referred to as a ‘portal’ since it provides a path from the HEAD version of the file system into the associated snapshot(s). Much like the UNIX ‘.’ and ‘..’ directory notations, the ‘.snapshot’ directory is a virtual entry in that it does not have an associated record in the directory B-tree, much like ‘.’ and ‘..’.
Within the ‘.snapshot’ directory, there is a virtual entry for every snapshot which either governs the parent directory or was taken on a descendant of the directory. The virtual entries consist of the parent directory’s LIN and the snapshot’s ID. This is implemented by listing the snapshot names directory and filtering the entries which do not apply. If a process opens an entry, it gets a snapshot version of the portal’s parent. The ‘.snapshot’ portal can also be disabled entirely, have access restricted to the root and subdirectories, and be renamed to ‘snapshot’, rather than ‘.snapshot’.