SharpExt4, a .Net library, provides read/write Linux ext2/3/4 file system from Windows application

As a day to day Windows user, it’s not easy to access Linux file system. Windows doesn’t natively supports Linux Extended file system access.

I have been working on Linux ARM IoT device, and it’s so annoying to be back and forth between Windows working PC and Linux development PC. I regularly need to burn/flash SD card, read/write file, remove/open directory in Linux device image.

These are the findings so far:

1. DiscUtils, is a .NET library to read and write ISO files and Virtual Machine disk files (VHD, VDI, XVA, VMDK, etc). DiscUtils also provides limited access to ext2/3/4 filesystem.
2. Ext2Fsd is another Windows file system driver for the Ext2, Ext3, and Ext4 file systems. It allows Windows to read Linux file systems natively, providing access to the file system via a drive letter that any program can access. But it stops developing since 2017.
3. DiskInternals Linux Reader is a freeware application from DiskInternals, developers of data recovery software. But it doesn’t have API for .Net Framework.
4. Ext2explore is an open-source application that works similarly to DiskInternals Linux Reader—but only for Ext4, Ext3, and Ext2 partitions. It stops developing for a long time and is read only.

I decided to implement my own library. Finally, I found this, lwext4, a C library to provide ext2/3/4 filesystem for microcontrollers. According to the author, the library has some cool and unique features in microcontrollers world:

• directory indexing – fast file find and list operations
• extents – fast big file truncate
• journaling transactions & recovery – power loss resistance

Lwext4 is an excellent choice for SD/MMC card, USB flash drive or any other wear leveled memory types. However it is not good for raw flash devices.

To be continue.

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