diff --git a/MCONFIG.in b/MCONFIG.in
index 82c75a28..cb3ec759 100644
--- a/MCONFIG.in
+++ b/MCONFIG.in
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ LIBFUSE = @FUSE_LIB@
 LIBSUPPORT = $(LIBINTL) $(LIB)/libsupport@STATIC_LIB_EXT@
 LIBBLKID = @LIBBLKID@ @PRIVATE_LIBS_CMT@ $(LIBUUID)
 LIBINTL = @LIBINTL@
+LIBARCHIVE = @ARCHIVE_LIB@
 SYSLIBS = @LIBS@ @PTHREAD_LIBS@
 DEPLIBSS = $(LIB)/libss@LIB_EXT@
 DEPLIBCOM_ERR = $(LIB)/libcom_err@LIB_EXT@
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 72c39b4d..d0e3410b 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -704,6 +704,7 @@ SEM_INIT_LIB
 FUSE_CMT
 FUSE_LIB
 CLOCK_GETTIME_LIB
+ARCHIVE_LIB
 MAGIC_LIB
 SOCKET_LIB
 SIZEOF_TIME_T
@@ -13539,6 +13540,57 @@ if test "$ac_cv_func_dlopen" = yes ; then
    MAGIC_LIB=$DLOPEN_LIB
 fi
 
+{ printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking for archive_read_new in -larchive" >&5
+printf %s "checking for archive_read_new in -larchive... " >&6; }
+if test ${ac_cv_lib_archive_archive_read_new+y}
+then :
+  printf %s "(cached) " >&6
+else $as_nop
+  ac_check_lib_save_LIBS=$LIBS
+LIBS="-larchive  $LIBS"
+cat confdefs.h - <<_ACEOF >conftest.$ac_ext
+/* end confdefs.h.  */
+
+/* Override any GCC internal prototype to avoid an error.
+   Use char because int might match the return type of a GCC
+   builtin and then its argument prototype would still apply.  */
+char archive_read_new ();
+int
+main (void)
+{
+return archive_read_new ();
+  ;
+  return 0;
+}
+_ACEOF
+if ac_fn_c_try_link "$LINENO"
+then :
+  ac_cv_lib_archive_archive_read_new=yes
+else $as_nop
+  ac_cv_lib_archive_archive_read_new=no
+fi
+rm -f core conftest.err conftest.$ac_objext conftest.beam \
+    conftest$ac_exeext conftest.$ac_ext
+LIBS=$ac_check_lib_save_LIBS
+fi
+{ printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: result: $ac_cv_lib_archive_archive_read_new" >&5
+printf "%s\n" "$ac_cv_lib_archive_archive_read_new" >&6; }
+if test "x$ac_cv_lib_archive_archive_read_new" = xyes
+then :
+  ARCHIVE_LIB=-larchive
+ac_fn_c_check_header_compile "$LINENO" "archive.h" "ac_cv_header_archive_h" "$ac_includes_default"
+if test "x$ac_cv_header_archive_h" = xyes
+then :
+  printf "%s\n" "#define HAVE_ARCHIVE_H 1" >>confdefs.h
+
+fi
+
+fi
+
+if test "$ac_cv_func_dlopen" = yes ; then
+   ARCHIVE_LIB=$DLOPEN_LIB
+fi
+
 { printf "%s\n" "$as_me:${as_lineno-$LINENO}: checking for clock_gettime in -lrt" >&5
 printf %s "checking for clock_gettime in -lrt... " >&6; }
 if test ${ac_cv_lib_rt_clock_gettime+y}
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index b905e999..69fbbd27 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1296,6 +1296,15 @@ if test "$ac_cv_func_dlopen" = yes ; then
 fi
 AC_SUBST(MAGIC_LIB)
 dnl
+dnl libarchive
+dnl
+AC_CHECK_LIB(archive, archive_read_new, [ARCHIVE_LIB=-larchive
+AC_CHECK_HEADERS([archive.h])])
+if test "$ac_cv_func_dlopen" = yes ; then
+   ARCHIVE_LIB=$DLOPEN_LIB
+fi
+AC_SUBST(ARCHIVE_LIB)
+dnl
 dnl Check to see if librt is required for clock_gettime() (glibc < 2.17)
 dnl
 AC_CHECK_LIB(rt, clock_gettime, [CLOCK_GETTIME_LIB=-lrt])
diff --git a/debugfs/Makefile.in b/debugfs/Makefile.in
index 67f8d0b6..b845a6f0 100644
--- a/debugfs/Makefile.in
+++ b/debugfs/Makefile.in
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ MK_CMDS=	_SS_DIR_OVERRIDE=$(srcdir)/../lib/ss ../lib/ss/mk_cmds
 DEBUG_OBJS= debug_cmds.o debugfs.o util.o ncheck.o icheck.o ls.o \
 	lsdel.o dump.o set_fields.o logdump.o htree.o unused.o e2freefrag.o \
 	filefrag.o extent_cmds.o extent_inode.o zap.o create_inode.o \
-	quota.o xattrs.o journal.o revoke.o recovery.o do_journal.o
+	create_inode_libarchive.o quota.o xattrs.o journal.o revoke.o \
+	recovery.o do_journal.o
 
 RO_DEBUG_OBJS= ro_debug_cmds.o ro_debugfs.o util.o ncheck.o icheck.o ls.o \
 	lsdel.o logdump.o htree.o e2freefrag.o filefrag.o extent_cmds.o \
@@ -31,12 +32,13 @@ SRCS= debug_cmds.c $(srcdir)/debugfs.c $(srcdir)/util.c $(srcdir)/ls.c \
 	$(srcdir)/dump.c $(srcdir)/set_fields.c ${srcdir}/logdump.c \
 	$(srcdir)/htree.c $(srcdir)/unused.c ${srcdir}/../misc/e2freefrag.c \
 	$(srcdir)/filefrag.c $(srcdir)/extent_inode.c $(srcdir)/zap.c \
-	$(srcdir)/../misc/create_inode.c $(srcdir)/xattrs.c $(srcdir)/quota.c \
-	$(srcdir)/journal.c $(srcdir)/../e2fsck/revoke.c \
+	$(srcdir)/../misc/create_inode.c \
+	$(srcdir)/../misc/create_inode_libarchive.c $(srcdir)/xattrs.c \
+	$(srcdir)/quota.c $(srcdir)/journal.c $(srcdir)/../e2fsck/revoke.c \
 	$(srcdir)/../e2fsck/recovery.c $(srcdir)/do_journal.c
 
 LIBS= $(LIBSUPPORT) $(LIBEXT2FS) $(LIBE2P) $(LIBSS) $(LIBCOM_ERR) $(LIBBLKID) \
-	$(LIBUUID) $(LIBMAGIC) $(SYSLIBS)
+	$(LIBUUID) $(LIBMAGIC) $(SYSLIBS) $(LIBARCHIVE)
 DEPLIBS= $(DEPLIBSUPPORT) $(LIBEXT2FS) $(LIBE2P) $(DEPLIBSS) $(DEPLIBCOM_ERR) \
 	$(DEPLIBBLKID) $(DEPLIBUUID)
 
@@ -113,6 +115,11 @@ create_inode.o: $(srcdir)/../misc/create_inode.c
 	$(Q) $(CC) -c $(ALL_CFLAGS) -I$(srcdir) \
 		 $(srcdir)/../misc/create_inode.c -o $@
 
+create_inode_libarchive.o: $(srcdir)/../misc/create_inode_libarchive.c
+	$(E) "	CC $@"
+	$(Q) $(CC) -c $(ALL_CFLAGS) -I$(srcdir) \
+		 $(srcdir)/../misc/create_inode_libarchive.c -o $@
+
 debugfs.8: $(DEP_SUBSTITUTE) $(srcdir)/debugfs.8.in
 	$(E) "	SUBST $@"
 	$(Q) $(SUBSTITUTE_UPTIME) $(srcdir)/debugfs.8.in debugfs.8
@@ -357,6 +364,16 @@ create_inode.o: $(srcdir)/../misc/create_inode.c $(top_builddir)/lib/config.h \
  $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/bitops.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/fiemap.h \
  $(srcdir)/../misc/create_inode.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/e2p/e2p.h \
  $(top_srcdir)/lib/support/nls-enable.h
+create_inode_libarchive.o: $(srcdir)/../misc/create_inode_libarchive.c \
+ $(top_builddir)/lib/config.h $(srcdir)/../misc/create_inode_libarchive.h \
+ $(top_builddir)/lib/dirpaths.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2fs.h \
+ $(top_builddir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2_types.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2_fs.h \
+ $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/ext3_extents.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/et/com_err.h \
+ $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2_io.h $(top_builddir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2_err.h \
+ $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2_ext_attr.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/hashmap.h \
+ $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/bitops.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/fiemap.h \
+ $(srcdir)/../misc/create_inode.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/e2p/e2p.h \
+ $(top_srcdir)/lib/support/nls-enable.h
 xattrs.o: $(srcdir)/xattrs.c $(top_builddir)/lib/config.h \
  $(top_builddir)/lib/dirpaths.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/support/cstring.h \
  $(srcdir)/debugfs.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/ss/ss.h \
diff --git a/lib/config.h.in b/lib/config.h.in
index 076c3823..30477698 100644
--- a/lib/config.h.in
+++ b/lib/config.h.in
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@
 /* Define to 1 if you have the `add_key' function. */
 #undef HAVE_ADD_KEY
 
+/* Define to 1 if you have the <archive.h> header file. */
+#undef HAVE_ARCHIVE_H
+
 /* Define to 1 if you have the <attr/xattr.h> header file. */
 #undef HAVE_ATTR_XATTR_H
 
diff --git a/lib/ext2fs/Makefile.in b/lib/ext2fs/Makefile.in
index 798ff609..36c3e8ee 100644
--- a/lib/ext2fs/Makefile.in
+++ b/lib/ext2fs/Makefile.in
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ COMPILE_ET=	_ET_DIR_OVERRIDE=$(srcdir)/../et ../et/compile_et
 DEBUG_OBJS= debug_cmds.o extent_cmds.o tst_cmds.o debugfs.o util.o \
 	ncheck.o icheck.o ls.o lsdel.o dump.o set_fields.o logdump.o \
 	htree.o unused.o e2freefrag.o filefrag.o extent_inode.o zap.o \
-	xattrs.o quota.o tst_libext2fs.o create_inode.o journal.o \
-	revoke.o recovery.o do_journal.o
+	xattrs.o quota.o tst_libext2fs.o create_inode.o \
+	create_inode_libarchive.o journal.o revoke.o recovery.o do_journal.o
 
 DEBUG_SRCS= debug_cmds.c extent_cmds.c tst_cmds.c \
 	$(top_srcdir)/debugfs/debugfs.c \
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ DEBUG_SRCS= debug_cmds.c extent_cmds.c tst_cmds.c \
 	$(top_srcdir)/debugfs/xattrs.c \
 	$(top_srcdir)/misc/e2freefrag.c \
 	$(top_srcdir)/misc/create_inode.c \
+	$(top_srcdir)/misc/create_inode_libarchive.c \
 	$(top_srcdir)/debugfs/journal.c \
 	$(top_srcdir)/e2fsck/revoke.c \
 	$(top_srcdir)/e2fsck/recovery.c \
@@ -458,7 +459,13 @@ e2freefrag.o: $(top_srcdir)/misc/e2freefrag.c
 	$(E) "	CC $<"
 	$(Q) $(CC) $(ALL_CFLAGS) -DDEBUGFS -I$(top_srcdir)/debugfs -c $< -o $@
 
-create_inode.o: $(top_srcdir)/misc/create_inode.c
+create_inode.o: $(top_srcdir)/misc/create_inode.c \
+ $(top_srcdir)/misc/create_inode_libarchive.c
+	$(E) "	CC $<"
+	$(Q) $(CC) $(ALL_CFLAGS) -DDEBUGFS -c $< -o $@
+
+create_inode_libarchive.o: $(top_srcdir)/misc/create_inode_libarchive.c \
+ $(top_srcdir)/misc/create_inode_libarchive.c
 	$(E) "	CC $<"
 	$(Q) $(CC) $(ALL_CFLAGS) -DDEBUGFS -c $< -o $@
 
@@ -499,7 +506,7 @@ tst_libext2fs: $(DEBUG_OBJS) \
 	$(Q) $(CC) -o tst_libext2fs $(ALL_LDFLAGS) -DDEBUG $(DEBUG_OBJS) \
 		$(STATIC_LIBSS) $(STATIC_LIBE2P) $(LIBSUPPORT) \
 		$(STATIC_LIBEXT2FS) $(LIBBLKID) $(LIBUUID) $(LIBMAGIC) \
-		$(STATIC_LIBCOM_ERR) $(SYSLIBS) -I $(top_srcdir)/debugfs
+		$(STATIC_LIBCOM_ERR) $(SYSLIBS) $(LIBARCHIVE) -I $(top_srcdir)/debugfs
 
 tst_inline: $(srcdir)/inline.c $(STATIC_LIBEXT2FS) $(DEPSTATIC_LIBCOM_ERR)
 	$(E) "	LD $@"
@@ -1413,6 +1420,16 @@ e2freefrag.o: $(top_srcdir)/misc/e2freefrag.c $(top_builddir)/lib/config.h \
  $(top_srcdir)/lib/support/dqblk_v2.h \
  $(top_srcdir)/lib/support/quotaio_tree.h
 create_inode.o: $(top_srcdir)/misc/create_inode.c \
+ $(top_srcdir)/misc/create_inode_libarchive.c \
+ $(top_builddir)/lib/config.h $(top_builddir)/lib/dirpaths.h \
+ $(srcdir)/ext2fs.h $(top_builddir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2_types.h \
+ $(srcdir)/ext2_fs.h $(srcdir)/ext3_extents.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/et/com_err.h \
+ $(srcdir)/ext2_io.h $(top_builddir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2_err.h \
+ $(srcdir)/ext2_ext_attr.h $(srcdir)/hashmap.h $(srcdir)/bitops.h \
+ $(srcdir)/fiemap.h $(top_srcdir)/misc/create_inode.h \
+ $(top_srcdir)/lib/e2p/e2p.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/support/nls-enable.h
+create_inode_libarchive.o: $(top_srcdir)/misc/create_inode_libarchive.c \
+ $(top_srcdir)/misc/create_inode_libarchive.c \
  $(top_builddir)/lib/config.h $(top_builddir)/lib/dirpaths.h \
  $(srcdir)/ext2fs.h $(top_builddir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2_types.h \
  $(srcdir)/ext2_fs.h $(srcdir)/ext3_extents.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/et/com_err.h \
diff --git a/misc/Makefile.in b/misc/Makefile.in
index e5420bbd..814e7064 100644
--- a/misc/Makefile.in
+++ b/misc/Makefile.in
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ LPROGS=		@E2INITRD_PROG@
 TUNE2FS_OBJS=	tune2fs.o util.o journal.o recovery.o revoke.o
 MKLPF_OBJS=	mklost+found.o
 MKE2FS_OBJS=	mke2fs.o util.o default_profile.o mk_hugefiles.o \
-			create_inode.o
+			create_inode.o create_inode_libarchive.o
 CHATTR_OBJS=	chattr.o
 LSATTR_OBJS=	lsattr.o
 UUIDGEN_OBJS=	uuidgen.o
@@ -80,7 +80,8 @@ PROFILED_MKLPF_OBJS=	profiled/mklost+found.o
 PROFILED_MKE2FS_OBJS=	profiled/mke2fs.o profiled/util.o \
 				profiled/default_profile.o \
 				profiled/mk_hugefiles.o \
-				profiled/create_inode.o
+				profiled/create_inode.o \
+				profiled/create_inode_libarchive.o
 PROFILED_CHATTR_OBJS=	profiled/chattr.o
 PROFILED_LSATTR_OBJS=	profiled/lsattr.o
 PROFILED_UUIDGEN_OBJS=	profiled/uuidgen.o
@@ -281,7 +282,7 @@ mke2fs: $(MKE2FS_OBJS) $(DEPLIBS) $(LIBE2P) $(DEPLIBBLKID) $(DEPLIBUUID) \
 	$(E) "	LD $@"
 	$(Q) $(CC) $(ALL_LDFLAGS) -o mke2fs $(MKE2FS_OBJS) $(LIBS) $(LIBBLKID) \
 		$(LIBUUID) $(LIBEXT2FS) $(LIBE2P) $(LIBINTL) \
-		$(SYSLIBS) $(LIBMAGIC)
+		$(SYSLIBS) $(LIBMAGIC) $(LIBARCHIVE)
 
 mke2fs.static: $(MKE2FS_OBJS) $(STATIC_DEPLIBS) $(STATIC_LIBE2P) $(DEPSTATIC_LIBUUID) \
 		$(DEPSTATIC_LIBBLKID)
@@ -857,6 +858,16 @@ create_inode.o: $(srcdir)/create_inode.c $(top_builddir)/lib/config.h \
  $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/bitops.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/fiemap.h \
  $(srcdir)/create_inode.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/e2p/e2p.h \
  $(top_srcdir)/lib/support/nls-enable.h
+create_inode_libarchive.o: $(srcdir)/create_inode_libarchive.c \
+ $(top_builddir)/lib/config.h \
+ $(top_builddir)/lib/dirpaths.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2fs.h \
+ $(top_builddir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2_types.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2_fs.h \
+ $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/ext3_extents.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/et/com_err.h \
+ $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2_io.h $(top_builddir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2_err.h \
+ $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2_ext_attr.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/hashmap.h \
+ $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/bitops.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/fiemap.h \
+ $(srcdir)/create_inode.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/e2p/e2p.h \
+ $(top_srcdir)/lib/support/nls-enable.h
 fuse2fs.o: $(srcdir)/fuse2fs.c $(top_builddir)/lib/config.h \
  $(top_builddir)/lib/dirpaths.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2fs.h \
  $(top_builddir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2_types.h $(top_srcdir)/lib/ext2fs/ext2_fs.h \
diff --git a/misc/create_inode.c b/misc/create_inode.c
index a3a34cd9..b5a61587 100644
--- a/misc/create_inode.c
+++ b/misc/create_inode.c
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@
 #include "create_inode.h"
 #include "support/nls-enable.h"
 
+#include "create_inode_libarchive.h"
+
 /* 64KiB is the minimum blksize to best minimize system call overhead. */
 #define COPY_FILE_BUFLEN	65536
 
@@ -69,7 +71,7 @@ static int ext2_file_type(unsigned int mode)
 }
 
 /* Link an inode number to a directory */
-static errcode_t add_link(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t parent_ino,
+errcode_t add_link(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t parent_ino,
 			  ext2_ino_t ino, const char *name)
 {
 	struct ext2_inode	inode;
@@ -108,8 +110,8 @@ static errcode_t add_link(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t parent_ino,
 }
 
 /* Set the uid, gid, mode and time for the inode */
-static errcode_t set_inode_extra(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t ino,
-				 struct stat *st)
+errcode_t set_inode_extra(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t ino,
+				 const struct stat *st)
 {
 	errcode_t		retval;
 	struct ext2_inode	inode;
@@ -720,12 +722,6 @@ out:
 	return retval;
 }
 
-struct file_info {
-	char *path;
-	size_t path_len;
-	size_t path_max_len;
-};
-
 static errcode_t path_append(struct file_info *target, const char *file)
 {
 	if (strlen(file) + target->path_len + 1 > target->path_max_len) {
@@ -1044,7 +1040,7 @@ out:
 }
 
 errcode_t populate_fs2(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t parent_ino,
-		       const char *source_dir, ext2_ino_t root,
+		       const char *source, ext2_ino_t root,
 		       struct fs_ops_callbacks *fs_callbacks)
 {
 	struct file_info file_info;
@@ -1069,14 +1065,35 @@ errcode_t populate_fs2(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t parent_ino,
 	file_info.path_max_len = 255;
 	file_info.path = calloc(file_info.path_max_len, 1);
 
-	retval = set_inode_xattr(fs, root, source_dir);
+	/* interpret input as tarball either if it's "-" (stdin) or if it's
+	 * a regular file (or a symlink pointing to a regular file)
+	 */
+	if (strcmp(source, "-") == 0) {
+		retval = __populate_fs_from_tar(fs, parent_ino, NULL, root, &hdlinks,
+					   &file_info, fs_callbacks);
+		goto out;
+	}
+
+	struct stat st;
+	if (stat(source, &st)) {
+		retval = errno;
+		com_err(__func__, retval, _("while calling stat"));
+		return retval;
+	}
+	if (S_ISREG(st.st_mode)) {
+		retval = __populate_fs_from_tar(fs, parent_ino, source, root, &hdlinks,
+					   &file_info, fs_callbacks);
+		goto out;
+	}
+
+	retval = set_inode_xattr(fs, root, source);
 	if (retval) {
 		com_err(__func__, retval,
 			_("while copying xattrs on root directory"));
 		goto out;
 	}
 
-	retval = __populate_fs(fs, parent_ino, source_dir, root, &hdlinks,
+	retval = __populate_fs(fs, parent_ino, source, root, &hdlinks,
 			       &file_info, fs_callbacks);
 
 out:
@@ -1086,7 +1103,7 @@ out:
 }
 
 errcode_t populate_fs(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t parent_ino,
-		      const char *source_dir, ext2_ino_t root)
+		      const char *source, ext2_ino_t root)
 {
-	return populate_fs2(fs, parent_ino, source_dir, root, NULL);
+	return populate_fs2(fs, parent_ino, source, root, NULL);
 }
diff --git a/misc/create_inode.h b/misc/create_inode.h
index b5eeb420..c75d6855 100644
--- a/misc/create_inode.h
+++ b/misc/create_inode.h
@@ -22,6 +22,12 @@ struct hdlinks_s
 	struct hdlink_s *hdl;
 };
 
+struct file_info {
+	char *path;
+	size_t path_len;
+	size_t path_max_len;
+};
+
 #define HDLINK_CNT	(4)
 
 struct fs_ops_callbacks {
@@ -53,5 +59,9 @@ extern errcode_t do_mkdir_internal(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t cwd,
 extern errcode_t do_write_internal(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t cwd,
 				   const char *src, const char *dest,
 				   ext2_ino_t root);
+extern errcode_t add_link(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t parent_ino,
+			  ext2_ino_t ino, const char *name);
+extern errcode_t set_inode_extra(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t ino,
+				 const struct stat *st);
 
 #endif /* _CREATE_INODE_H */
diff --git a/misc/create_inode_libarchive.c b/misc/create_inode_libarchive.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c147828f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/create_inode_libarchive.c
@@ -0,0 +1,699 @@
+/*
+ * create_inode_libarchive.c --- create an inode from libarchive input
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2023 Johannes Schauer Marin Rodrigues <josch@debian.org>
+ *
+ * %Begin-Header%
+ * This file may be redistributed under the terms of the GNU library
+ * General Public License, version 2.
+ * %End-Header%
+ */
+
+#define _FILE_OFFSET_BITS 64
+#define _LARGEFILE64_SOURCE 1
+#define _GNU_SOURCE 1
+
+#include "config.h"
+
+#include <ext2fs/ext2_types.h>
+
+#include "create_inode.h"
+#include "support/nls-enable.h"
+
+/* 64KiB is the minimum blksize to best minimize system call overhead. */
+//#define COPY_FILE_BUFLEN 65536
+//#define COPY_FILE_BUFLEN 1048576
+#define COPY_FILE_BUFLEN 16777216
+
+#include <archive.h>
+#include <archive_entry.h>
+#include <libgen.h>
+#include <locale.h>
+
+static const char *(*dl_archive_entry_hardlink)(struct archive_entry *);
+static const char *(*dl_archive_entry_pathname)(struct archive_entry *);
+static const struct stat *(*dl_archive_entry_stat)(struct archive_entry *);
+static const char *(*dl_archive_entry_symlink)(struct archive_entry *);
+static int (*dl_archive_entry_xattr_count)(struct archive_entry *);
+static int (*dl_archive_entry_xattr_next)(struct archive_entry *, const char **,
+					  const void **, size_t *);
+static int (*dl_archive_entry_xattr_reset)(struct archive_entry *);
+static const char *(*dl_archive_error_string)(struct archive *);
+static int (*dl_archive_read_close)(struct archive *);
+static la_ssize_t (*dl_archive_read_data)(struct archive *, void *, size_t);
+static int (*dl_archive_read_free)(struct archive *);
+static struct archive *(*dl_archive_read_new)(void);
+static int (*dl_archive_read_next_header)(struct archive *,
+					  struct archive_entry **);
+static int (*dl_archive_read_open_filename)(struct archive *,
+					    const char *filename, size_t);
+static int (*dl_archive_read_support_filter_all)(struct archive *);
+static int (*dl_archive_read_support_format_all)(struct archive *);
+
+#ifdef HAVE_DLOPEN
+#include <dlfcn.h>
+
+static void *libarchive_handle;
+
+static int libarchive_available(void)
+{
+	if (!libarchive_handle) {
+		libarchive_handle = dlopen("libarchive.so.13", RTLD_NOW);
+		if (!libarchive_handle)
+			return 0;
+
+		dl_archive_entry_hardlink =
+			(const char *(*)(struct archive_entry *))dlsym(
+				libarchive_handle, "archive_entry_hardlink");
+		if (!dl_archive_entry_hardlink)
+			return 0;
+		dl_archive_entry_pathname =
+			(const char *(*)(struct archive_entry *))dlsym(
+				libarchive_handle, "archive_entry_pathname");
+		if (!dl_archive_entry_pathname)
+			return 0;
+		dl_archive_entry_stat =
+			(const struct stat *(*)(struct archive_entry *))dlsym(
+				libarchive_handle, "archive_entry_stat");
+		if (!dl_archive_entry_stat)
+			return 0;
+		dl_archive_entry_symlink =
+			(const char *(*)(struct archive_entry *))dlsym(
+				libarchive_handle, "archive_entry_symlink");
+		if (!dl_archive_entry_symlink)
+			return 0;
+		dl_archive_entry_xattr_count =
+			(int (*)(struct archive_entry *))dlsym(
+				libarchive_handle, "archive_entry_xattr_count");
+		if (!dl_archive_entry_xattr_count)
+			return 0;
+		dl_archive_entry_xattr_next = (int (*)(
+			struct archive_entry *, const char **, const void **,
+			size_t *))dlsym(libarchive_handle,
+					"archive_entry_xattr_next");
+		if (!dl_archive_entry_xattr_next)
+			return 0;
+		dl_archive_entry_xattr_reset =
+			(int (*)(struct archive_entry *))dlsym(
+				libarchive_handle, "archive_entry_xattr_reset");
+		if (!dl_archive_entry_xattr_reset)
+			return 0;
+		dl_archive_error_string =
+			(const char *(*)(struct archive *))dlsym(
+				libarchive_handle, "archive_error_string");
+		if (!dl_archive_error_string)
+			return 0;
+		dl_archive_read_close = (int (*)(struct archive *))dlsym(
+			libarchive_handle, "archive_read_close");
+		if (!dl_archive_read_close)
+			return 0;
+		dl_archive_read_data =
+			(la_ssize_t(*)(struct archive *, void *, size_t))dlsym(
+				libarchive_handle, "archive_read_data");
+		if (!dl_archive_read_data)
+			return 0;
+		dl_archive_read_free = (int (*)(struct archive *))dlsym(
+			libarchive_handle, "archive_read_free");
+		if (!dl_archive_read_free)
+			return 0;
+		dl_archive_read_new = (struct archive * (*)(void))
+			dlsym(libarchive_handle, "archive_read_new");
+		if (!dl_archive_read_new)
+			return 0;
+		dl_archive_read_next_header = (int (*)(struct archive *,
+						       struct archive_entry **))
+			dlsym(libarchive_handle, "archive_read_next_header");
+		if (!dl_archive_read_next_header)
+			return 0;
+		dl_archive_read_open_filename =
+			(int (*)(struct archive *, const char *filename,
+				 size_t))dlsym(libarchive_handle,
+					       "archive_read_open_filename");
+		if (!dl_archive_read_open_filename)
+			return 0;
+		dl_archive_read_support_filter_all =
+			(int (*)(struct archive *))dlsym(
+				libarchive_handle,
+				"archive_read_support_filter_all");
+		if (!dl_archive_read_support_filter_all)
+			return 0;
+		dl_archive_read_support_format_all =
+			(int (*)(struct archive *))dlsym(
+				libarchive_handle,
+				"archive_read_support_format_all");
+		if (!dl_archive_read_support_format_all)
+			return 0;
+	}
+
+	return 1;
+}
+#else
+static int libarchive_available(void)
+{
+	dl_archive_entry_hardlink = archive_entry_hardlink;
+	dl_archive_entry_pathname = archive_entry_pathname;
+	dl_archive_entry_stat = archive_entry_stat;
+	dl_archive_entry_symlink = archive_entry_symlink;
+	dl_archive_entry_xattr_count = archive_entry_xattr_count;
+	dl_archive_entry_xattr_next = archive_entry_xattr_next;
+	dl_archive_entry_xattr_reset = archive_entry_xattr_reset;
+	dl_archive_error_string = archive_error_string;
+	dl_archive_read_close = archive_read_close;
+	dl_archive_read_data = archive_read_data;
+	dl_archive_read_free = archive_read_free;
+	dl_archive_read_new = archive_read_new;
+	dl_archive_read_next_header = archive_read_next_header;
+	dl_archive_read_open_filename = archive_read_open_filename;
+	dl_archive_read_support_filter_all = archive_read_support_filter_all;
+	dl_archive_read_support_format_all = archive_read_support_format_all;
+
+	return 1;
+}
+#endif
+
+static errcode_t __find_path(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t root, const char *name,
+			     ext2_ino_t *inode)
+{
+	errcode_t retval;
+	ext2_ino_t tmpino;
+	char *p, *n, *n2 = strdup(name);
+
+	if (n2 == NULL) {
+		retval = errno;
+		goto out;
+	}
+	n = n2;
+	*inode = root;
+	/* any number of leading slashes */
+	while (*n == '/')
+		n++;
+	while (*n) {
+		/* replace the next slash by a NULL, if any */
+		if ((p = strchr(n, '/')))
+			(*p) = 0;
+		/* find the inode of the next component */
+		retval = ext2fs_lookup(fs, *inode, n, strlen(n), 0, &tmpino);
+		if (retval)
+			goto out;
+		*inode = tmpino;
+		/* continue the search at the character after the slash */
+		if (p)
+			n = p + 1;
+		else
+			break;
+	}
+
+out:
+	free(n2);
+	return retval;
+}
+
+/* Rounds quantity up to a multiple of size. size should be a power of 2 */
+static inline unsigned int __round_up(unsigned int quantity, unsigned int size)
+{
+	return (quantity + (size - 1)) & ~(size - 1);
+}
+
+static int remove_inode(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t ino)
+{
+	errcode_t ret = 0;
+	struct ext2_inode_large inode;
+
+	memset(&inode, 0, sizeof(inode));
+	ret = ext2fs_read_inode_full(fs, ino, (struct ext2_inode *)&inode,
+				     sizeof(inode));
+	if (ret)
+		goto out;
+
+	switch (inode.i_links_count) {
+	case 0:
+		return 0; /* XXX: already done? */
+	case 1:
+		inode.i_links_count--;
+		inode.i_dtime = fs->now ? fs->now : time(0);
+		break;
+	default:
+		inode.i_links_count--;
+	}
+
+	if (inode.i_links_count)
+		goto write_out;
+
+	/* Nobody holds this file; free its blocks! */
+	ret = ext2fs_free_ext_attr(fs, ino, &inode);
+	if (ret)
+		goto write_out;
+
+	if (ext2fs_inode_has_valid_blocks2(fs, (struct ext2_inode *)&inode)) {
+		ret = ext2fs_punch(fs, ino, (struct ext2_inode *)&inode, NULL,
+				   0, ~0ULL);
+		if (ret)
+			goto write_out;
+	}
+
+	ext2fs_inode_alloc_stats2(fs, ino, -1, LINUX_S_ISDIR(inode.i_mode));
+
+write_out:
+	ret = ext2fs_write_inode_full(fs, ino, (struct ext2_inode *)&inode,
+				      sizeof(inode));
+	if (ret)
+		goto out;
+out:
+	return ret;
+}
+
+static errcode_t copy_file_chunk_tar(ext2_filsys fs, struct archive *archive,
+				     ext2_file_t e2_file, off_t start,
+				     off_t end, char *buf, char *zerobuf)
+{
+	off_t off, bpos;
+	ssize_t got, blen;
+	unsigned int written;
+	char *ptr;
+	errcode_t err = 0;
+
+	for (off = start; off < end; off += COPY_FILE_BUFLEN) {
+		got = dl_archive_read_data(archive, buf, COPY_FILE_BUFLEN);
+		if (got < 0) {
+			err = errno;
+			goto fail;
+		}
+		for (bpos = 0, ptr = buf; bpos < got; bpos += fs->blocksize) {
+			blen = fs->blocksize;
+			if (blen > got - bpos)
+				blen = got - bpos;
+			if (memcmp(ptr, zerobuf, blen) == 0) {
+				ptr += blen;
+				continue;
+			}
+			err = ext2fs_file_llseek(e2_file, off + bpos,
+						 EXT2_SEEK_SET, NULL);
+			if (err)
+				goto fail;
+			while (blen > 0) {
+				err = ext2fs_file_write(e2_file, ptr, blen,
+							&written);
+				if (err)
+					goto fail;
+				if (written == 0) {
+					err = EIO;
+					goto fail;
+				}
+				blen -= written;
+				ptr += written;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+fail:
+	return err;
+}
+static errcode_t copy_file_tar(ext2_filsys fs, struct archive *archive,
+			       const struct stat *statbuf, ext2_ino_t ino)
+{
+	ext2_file_t e2_file;
+	char *buf = NULL, *zerobuf = NULL;
+	errcode_t err, close_err;
+
+	err = ext2fs_file_open(fs, ino, EXT2_FILE_WRITE, &e2_file);
+	if (err)
+		return err;
+
+	err = ext2fs_get_mem(COPY_FILE_BUFLEN, &buf);
+	if (err)
+		goto out;
+
+	err = ext2fs_get_memzero(fs->blocksize, &zerobuf);
+	if (err)
+		goto out;
+
+	err = copy_file_chunk_tar(fs, archive, e2_file, 0, statbuf->st_size,
+				  buf, zerobuf);
+out:
+	ext2fs_free_mem(&zerobuf);
+	ext2fs_free_mem(&buf);
+	close_err = ext2fs_file_close(e2_file);
+	if (err == 0)
+		err = close_err;
+	return err;
+}
+
+static errcode_t do_write_internal_tar(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t cwd,
+				       struct archive *archive,
+				       const char *dest,
+				       const struct stat *statbuf)
+{
+	ext2_ino_t newfile;
+	errcode_t retval;
+	struct ext2_inode inode;
+	char *cp;
+
+	retval = ext2fs_new_inode(fs, cwd, 010755, 0, &newfile);
+	if (retval)
+		goto out;
+#ifdef DEBUGFS
+	printf("Allocated inode: %u\n", newfile);
+#endif
+	retval = ext2fs_link(fs, cwd, dest, newfile, EXT2_FT_REG_FILE);
+	if (retval == EXT2_ET_DIR_NO_SPACE) {
+		retval = ext2fs_expand_dir(fs, cwd);
+		if (retval)
+			goto out;
+		retval = ext2fs_link(fs, cwd, dest, newfile, EXT2_FT_REG_FILE);
+	}
+	if (retval)
+		goto out;
+	if (ext2fs_test_inode_bitmap2(fs->inode_map, newfile))
+		com_err(__func__, 0, "Warning: inode already set");
+	ext2fs_inode_alloc_stats2(fs, newfile, 1, 0);
+	memset(&inode, 0, sizeof(inode));
+	inode.i_mode = (statbuf->st_mode & ~S_IFMT) | LINUX_S_IFREG;
+	inode.i_atime = inode.i_ctime = inode.i_mtime = fs->now ? fs->now :
+								  time(0);
+	inode.i_links_count = 1;
+	retval = ext2fs_inode_size_set(fs, &inode, statbuf->st_size);
+	if (retval)
+		goto out;
+	if (ext2fs_has_feature_inline_data(fs->super)) {
+		inode.i_flags |= EXT4_INLINE_DATA_FL;
+	} else if (ext2fs_has_feature_extents(fs->super)) {
+		ext2_extent_handle_t handle;
+
+		inode.i_flags &= ~EXT4_EXTENTS_FL;
+		retval = ext2fs_extent_open2(fs, newfile, &inode, &handle);
+		if (retval)
+			goto out;
+		ext2fs_extent_free(handle);
+	}
+
+	retval = ext2fs_write_new_inode(fs, newfile, &inode);
+	if (retval)
+		goto out;
+	if (inode.i_flags & EXT4_INLINE_DATA_FL) {
+		retval = ext2fs_inline_data_init(fs, newfile);
+		if (retval)
+			goto out;
+	}
+	if (LINUX_S_ISREG(inode.i_mode)) {
+		retval = copy_file_tar(fs, archive, statbuf, newfile);
+		if (retval)
+			goto out;
+	}
+out:
+	return retval;
+}
+
+static errcode_t set_inode_xattr_tar(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t ino,
+				     struct archive_entry *entry)
+{
+	errcode_t retval, close_retval;
+	struct ext2_xattr_handle *handle;
+	ssize_t size;
+	const char *name;
+	const void *value;
+	size_t value_size;
+
+	if (no_copy_xattrs)
+		return 0;
+
+	size = dl_archive_entry_xattr_count(entry);
+	if (size == 0)
+		return 0;
+
+	retval = ext2fs_xattrs_open(fs, ino, &handle);
+	if (retval) {
+		if (retval == EXT2_ET_MISSING_EA_FEATURE)
+			return 0;
+		com_err(__func__, retval, _("while opening inode %u"), ino);
+		return retval;
+	}
+
+	retval = ext2fs_xattrs_read(handle);
+	if (retval) {
+		com_err(__func__, retval,
+			_("while reading xattrs for inode %u"), ino);
+		goto out;
+	}
+
+	dl_archive_entry_xattr_reset(entry);
+	while (dl_archive_entry_xattr_next(entry, &name, &value, &value_size) ==
+	       ARCHIVE_OK) {
+		if (strcmp(name, "security.capability") != 0)
+			continue;
+
+		retval = ext2fs_xattr_set(handle, name, value, value_size);
+		if (retval) {
+			com_err(__func__, retval,
+				_("while writing attribute \"%s\" to inode %u"),
+				name, ino);
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+out:
+	close_retval = ext2fs_xattrs_close(&handle);
+	if (close_retval) {
+		com_err(__func__, retval, _("while closing inode %u"), ino);
+		retval = retval ? retval : close_retval;
+	}
+	return retval;
+}
+
+static errcode_t handle_entry(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t root_ino,
+			      ext2_ino_t root, ext2_ino_t dirinode, char *name,
+			      struct archive *a, struct archive_entry *entry,
+			      const struct stat *st)
+{
+	errcode_t retval = 0;
+	char *ln_target;
+	ext2_ino_t tmpino;
+
+	switch (st->st_mode & S_IFMT) {
+	case S_IFCHR:
+	case S_IFBLK:
+	case S_IFIFO:
+	case S_IFSOCK:
+		retval = do_mknod_internal(fs, dirinode, name, st->st_mode,
+					   st->st_rdev);
+		if (retval) {
+			com_err(__func__, retval,
+				_("while creating special file "
+				  "\"%s\""),
+				name);
+			return 1;
+		}
+		break;
+	case S_IFLNK:
+		ln_target = calloc(
+			1, __round_up(strlen(dl_archive_entry_symlink(entry)),
+				      1024));
+		strcpy(ln_target, dl_archive_entry_symlink(entry));
+		retval = do_symlink_internal(fs, dirinode, name, ln_target,
+					     root);
+		free(ln_target);
+		if (retval) {
+			com_err(__func__, retval,
+				_("while writing symlink\"%s\""), name);
+			return 1;
+		}
+		break;
+	case S_IFREG:
+		retval = do_write_internal_tar(fs, dirinode, a, name, st);
+		if (retval) {
+			com_err(__func__, retval,
+				_("while writing file \"%s\""), name);
+			return 1;
+		}
+		break;
+	case S_IFDIR:
+		retval = do_mkdir_internal(fs, dirinode, name, root);
+		if (retval) {
+			com_err(__func__, retval, _("while making dir \"%s\""),
+				name);
+			return 1;
+		}
+		break;
+	default:
+		if (dl_archive_entry_hardlink(entry) != NULL) {
+			if (retval = __find_path(
+				    fs, root_ino,
+				    dl_archive_entry_hardlink(entry),
+				    &tmpino)) {
+				com_err(__func__, retval,
+					_("cannot find hardlink destination \"%s\" "
+					  "to create \"%s\""),
+					dl_archive_entry_hardlink(entry), name);
+				return 1;
+			}
+			retval = add_link(fs, dirinode, tmpino, name);
+			if (retval) {
+				com_err(__func__, retval, "while linking %s",
+					name);
+				return 1;
+			}
+		} else {
+			com_err(__func__, 0, _("ignoring entry \"%s\""),
+				dl_archive_entry_pathname(entry));
+		}
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+errcode_t __populate_fs_from_tar(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t root_ino,
+				 const char *source_tar, ext2_ino_t root,
+				 struct hdlinks_s *hdlinks,
+				 struct file_info *target,
+				 struct fs_ops_callbacks *fs_callbacks)
+{
+#ifndef HAVE_ARCHIVE_H
+	com_err(__func__, 0,
+		_("you need to compile e2fsprogs with libarchive to "
+		  "be able to process tarballs"));
+	return 1;
+#else
+	char *path2, *path3, *dir, *name;
+	unsigned int uid, gid, mode, dir_exists;
+	unsigned long ctime, mtime;
+	struct archive *a;
+	struct archive_entry *entry;
+	errcode_t retval = 0;
+	locale_t archive_locale;
+	locale_t old_locale;
+	ext2_ino_t dirinode, tmpino;
+	const struct stat *st;
+
+	if (!libarchive_available()) {
+		com_err(__func__, 0,
+			_("you need libarchive to be able to process tarballs"));
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	archive_locale = newlocale(LC_CTYPE_MASK, "", (locale_t)0);
+	old_locale = uselocale(archive_locale);
+	a = dl_archive_read_new();
+	if (a == NULL) {
+		retval = 1;
+		com_err(__func__, retval, _("while creating archive reader"));
+		goto out;
+	}
+	if (dl_archive_read_support_filter_all(a) != ARCHIVE_OK) {
+		retval = 1;
+		com_err(__func__, retval, _("while enabling decompression"));
+		goto out;
+	}
+	if (dl_archive_read_support_format_all(a) != ARCHIVE_OK) {
+		retval = 1;
+		com_err(__func__, retval, _("while enabling reader formats"));
+		goto out;
+	}
+
+	if ((retval = dl_archive_read_open_filename(a, source_tar, 4096))) {
+		com_err(__func__, retval, _("while opening \"%s\""),
+			dl_archive_error_string(a));
+		goto out;
+	}
+
+	for (;;) {
+		retval = dl_archive_read_next_header(a, &entry);
+		if (retval == ARCHIVE_EOF) {
+			retval = 0;
+			break;
+		}
+		if (retval != ARCHIVE_OK) {
+			com_err(__func__, retval,
+				_("cannot read archive header: \"%s\""),
+				dl_archive_error_string(a));
+			goto out;
+		}
+		path2 = strdup(dl_archive_entry_pathname(entry));
+		path3 = strdup(dl_archive_entry_pathname(entry));
+		name = basename(path2);
+		dir = dirname(path3);
+		if (retval = __find_path(fs, root_ino, dir, &dirinode)) {
+			com_err(__func__, retval,
+				_("cannot find directory \"%s\" to create \"%s\""),
+				dir, name);
+			goto out;
+		}
+
+		/*
+		 * Did we already create this file as the result of a repeated entry
+		 * in the tarball? Delete the existing one (except if it is a
+		 * directory) so that it can be re-created by handle_entry().
+		 */
+		dir_exists = 0;
+		st = dl_archive_entry_stat(entry);
+		retval = ext2fs_namei(fs, root, dirinode, name, &tmpino);
+		if (!retval) {
+			if ((st->st_mode & S_IFMT) == S_IFDIR) {
+				dir_exists = 1;
+			} else {
+				retval = ext2fs_unlink(fs, dirinode, name,
+						       tmpino, 0);
+				if (retval) {
+					com_err(__func__, retval,
+						_("failed to unlink \"%s/%s\""),
+						dir, name);
+					goto out;
+				}
+				retval = remove_inode(fs, tmpino);
+				if (retval) {
+					com_err(__func__, retval,
+						_("failed to remove inode of \"%s/%s\""),
+						dir, name);
+					goto out;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		/*
+		 * Create files, directories, symlinks etc referenced by this archive
+		 * entry unless this is an already existing directory
+		 */
+		if (!dir_exists) {
+			retval = handle_entry(fs, root_ino, root, dirinode,
+					      name, a, entry, st);
+			if (retval)
+				goto out;
+			retval =
+				ext2fs_namei(fs, root, dirinode, name, &tmpino);
+			if (retval) {
+				com_err(__func__, retval,
+					_("while looking up \"%s\""), name);
+				goto out;
+			}
+		}
+
+		/* set uid, gid, mode and time for the new (or re-created) inode */
+		retval = set_inode_extra(fs, tmpino, st);
+		if (retval) {
+			com_err(__func__, retval,
+				_("while setting inode for \"%s\""), name);
+			goto out;
+		}
+
+		retval = set_inode_xattr_tar(fs, tmpino, entry);
+		if (retval) {
+			com_err(__func__, retval,
+				_("while setting xattrs for \"%s\""), name);
+			goto out;
+		}
+
+		if (fs_callbacks && fs_callbacks->end_create_new_inode) {
+			retval = fs_callbacks->end_create_new_inode(
+				fs, target->path, name, dirinode, root,
+				st->st_mode & S_IFMT);
+			if (retval)
+				goto out;
+		}
+
+		free(path2);
+		free(path3);
+	}
+
+out:
+	dl_archive_read_close(a);
+	dl_archive_read_free(a);
+	uselocale(old_locale);
+	freelocale(archive_locale);
+	return retval;
+#endif
+}
diff --git a/misc/create_inode_libarchive.h b/misc/create_inode_libarchive.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..78c454e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/create_inode_libarchive.h
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#ifndef _CREATE_INODE_LIBARCHIVE_H
+#define _CREATE_INODE_LIBARCHIVE_H
+
+errcode_t __populate_fs_from_tar(ext2_filsys fs, ext2_ino_t root_ino,
+				 const char *source_tar, ext2_ino_t root,
+				 struct hdlinks_s *hdlinks,
+				 struct file_info *target,
+				 struct fs_ops_callbacks *fs_callbacks);
+
+#endif /* _CREATE_INODE_LIBARCHIVE_H */
diff --git a/misc/mke2fs.8.in b/misc/mke2fs.8.in
index 30f97bb5..744e9b11 100644
--- a/misc/mke2fs.8.in
+++ b/misc/mke2fs.8.in
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ mke2fs \- create an ext2/ext3/ext4 file system
 ]
 [
 .B \-d
-.I root-directory
+.I root-directory|tarball
 ]
 [
 .B \-D
@@ -239,9 +239,11 @@ enabled.  (See the
 man page for more details about bigalloc.)   The default cluster size if
 bigalloc is enabled is 16 times the block size.
 .TP
-.BI \-d " root-directory"
-Copy the contents of the given directory into the root directory of the
-file system.
+.BI \-d " root-directory|tarball"
+Copy the contents of the given directory or tarball into the root directory of the
+file system. Tarball input is only available if mke2fs was compiled with
+libarchive support enabled and if the libarchive shared library is available
+at run-time. The special value "-" will read a tarball from standard input.
 .TP
 .B \-D
 Use direct I/O when writing to the disk.  This avoids mke2fs dirtying a
diff --git a/misc/mke2fs.c b/misc/mke2fs.c
index 4a9c1b09..4ffa9748 100644
--- a/misc/mke2fs.c
+++ b/misc/mke2fs.c
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ static char *mount_dir;
 char *journal_device;
 static int sync_kludge;	/* Set using the MKE2FS_SYNC env. option */
 char **fs_types;
-const char *src_root_dir;  /* Copy files from the specified directory */
+const char *src_root;  /* Copy files from the specified directory or tarball */
 static char *undo_file;
 
 static int android_sparse_file; /* -E android_sparse */
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ static void usage(void)
 	"[-C cluster-size]\n\t[-i bytes-per-inode] [-I inode-size] "
 	"[-J journal-options]\n"
 	"\t[-G flex-group-size] [-N number-of-inodes] "
-	"[-d root-directory]\n"
+	"[-d root-directory|tarball]\n"
 	"\t[-m reserved-blocks-percentage] [-o creator-os]\n"
 	"\t[-g blocks-per-group] [-L volume-label] "
 	"[-M last-mounted-directory]\n\t[-O feature[,...]] "
@@ -1712,7 +1712,7 @@ profile_error:
 			}
 			break;
 		case 'd':
-			src_root_dir = optarg;
+			src_root = optarg;
 			break;
 		case 'D':
 			direct_io = 1;
@@ -3551,12 +3551,12 @@ no_journal:
 	retval = mk_hugefiles(fs, device_name);
 	if (retval)
 		com_err(program_name, retval, "while creating huge files");
-	/* Copy files from the specified directory */
-	if (src_root_dir) {
+	/* Copy files from the specified directory or tarball */
+	if (src_root) {
 		if (!quiet)
 			printf("%s", _("Copying files into the device: "));
 
-		retval = populate_fs(fs, EXT2_ROOT_INO, src_root_dir,
+		retval = populate_fs(fs, EXT2_ROOT_INO, src_root,
 				     EXT2_ROOT_INO);
 		if (retval) {
 			com_err(program_name, retval, "%s",
diff --git a/tests/m_rootgnutar/expect b/tests/m_rootgnutar/expect
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5a241b6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/m_rootgnutar/expect
@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+Creating regular file test.img
+Exit status is 0
+Filesystem volume name:   <none>
+Last mounted on:          <not available>
+Filesystem magic number:  0xEF53
+Filesystem revision #:    1 (dynamic)
+Filesystem features:      has_journal ext_attr resize_inode dir_index filetype extent 64bit flex_bg sparse_super huge_file dir_nlink extra_isize metadata_csum
+Default mount options:    (none)
+Filesystem state:         clean
+Errors behavior:          Continue
+Filesystem OS type:       Linux
+Inode count:              1024
+Block count:              16384
+Reserved block count:     819
+Overhead clusters:        1543
+Free blocks:              14791
+Free inodes:              1005
+First block:              1
+Block size:               1024
+Fragment size:            1024
+Group descriptor size:    64
+Reserved GDT blocks:      127
+Blocks per group:         8192
+Fragments per group:      8192
+Inodes per group:         512
+Inode blocks per group:   128
+Flex block group size:    16
+Mount count:              0
+Check interval:           15552000 (6 months)
+Reserved blocks uid:      0
+Reserved blocks gid:      0
+First inode:              11
+Inode size:	          256
+Required extra isize:     32
+Desired extra isize:      32
+Journal inode:            8
+Default directory hash:   half_md4
+Journal backup:           inode blocks
+Checksum type:            crc32c
+Journal features:         (none)
+Total journal size:       1024k
+Total journal blocks:     1024
+Max transaction length:   1024
+Fast commit length:       0
+Journal sequence:         0x00000001
+Journal start:            0
+
+
+Group 0: (Blocks 1-8192)
+  Primary superblock at 1, Group descriptors at 2-2
+  Reserved GDT blocks at 3-129
+  Block bitmap at 130 (+129)
+  Inode bitmap at 132 (+131)
+  Inode table at 134-261 (+133)
+  7753 free blocks, 493 free inodes, 5 directories, 493 unused inodes
+  Free blocks: 440-8192
+  Free inodes: 20-512
+Group 1: (Blocks 8193-16383) [INODE_UNINIT]
+  Backup superblock at 8193, Group descriptors at 8194-8194
+  Reserved GDT blocks at 8195-8321
+  Block bitmap at 131 (bg #0 + 130)
+  Inode bitmap at 133 (bg #0 + 132)
+  Inode table at 262-389 (bg #0 + 261)
+  7038 free blocks, 512 free inodes, 0 directories, 512 unused inodes
+  Free blocks: 9346-16383
+  Free inodes: 513-1024
+Exit status is 0
+debugfs: stat /test/emptyfile
+Inode: III   Type: regular    
+Size: 0
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 0
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+debugfs: stat /test/bigfile
+Inode: III   Type: regular    
+Size: 32768
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 64
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+debugfs: stat /test/zerofile
+Inode: III   Type: regular    
+Size: 1025
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 0
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+debugfs: stat /test/silly_bs_link
+Inode: III   Type: symlink    
+Size: 14
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 0
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+debugfs: stat /test/emptydir
+Inode: III   Type: directory    
+Size: 1024
+Links: 2   Blockcount: 2
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+debugfs: stat /test/dir
+Inode: III   Type: directory    
+Size: 1024
+Links: 2   Blockcount: 2
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+debugfs: stat /test/dir/file
+Inode: III   Type: regular    
+Size: 8
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 2
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+Exit status is 0
+debugfs: ex /test/emptyfile
+Level Entries       Logical      Physical Length Flags
+debugfs: ex /test/bigfile
+Level Entries       Logical      Physical Length Flags
+X 0/0 1/1 0-31 AAA-BBB 32 
+debugfs: ex /test/zerofile
+Level Entries       Logical      Physical Length Flags
+debugfs: ex /test/silly_bs_link
+/test/silly_bs_link: does not uses extent block maps
+debugfs: ex /test/emptydir
+Level Entries       Logical      Physical Length Flags
+X 0/0 1/1 0-0 AAA-BBB 1 
+debugfs: ex /test/dir
+Level Entries       Logical      Physical Length Flags
+X 0/0 1/1 0-0 AAA-BBB 1 
+debugfs: ex /test/dir/file
+Level Entries       Logical      Physical Length Flags
+X 0/0 1/1 0-0 AAA-BBB 1 
+Exit status is 0
+Exit status is 0
+Exit status is 0
+test/
+test/bigfile
+test/dir/
+test/dir/file
+test/emptydir/
+test/emptyfile
+test/silly_bs_link
+test/zerofile
+Exit status is 0
+Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
+Pass 2: Checking directory structure
+Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
+Pass 4: Checking reference counts
+Pass 5: Checking group summary information
+test.img: 19/1024 files (0.0% non-contiguous), 1593/16384 blocks
+Exit status is 0
+Exit status is 0
diff --git a/tests/m_rootgnutar/output.sed b/tests/m_rootgnutar/output.sed
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2e769678
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/m_rootgnutar/output.sed
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+s/^[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)\/[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)\/[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*-[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*[0-9]*[[:space:]]*-[[:space:]]*[0-9]*[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)/X \1\/\2 \3\/\4 \5-\6 AAA-BBB \7/g
+s/^[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)\/[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)\/[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*-[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*[0-9]*[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)/Y \1\/\2 \3\/\4 \5-\6 AAA \7/g
+s/Mode:.*$//g
+s/User:.*Size:/Size:/g
+s/^Inode: [0-9]*/Inode: III/g
diff --git a/tests/m_rootgnutar/script b/tests/m_rootgnutar/script
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5e93a3bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/m_rootgnutar/script
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+# vim: filetype=sh
+
+test_description="create fs image from GNU tarball"
+if ! test -x "$DEBUGFS_EXE"; then
+	echo "$test_name: $test_description: skipped (no debugfs)"
+	return 0
+fi
+if [ "$(grep -c 'define HAVE_ARCHIVE_H' ../lib/config.h)" -eq 0 ]; then
+	echo "$test_name: $test_description: skipped (no libarchive)"
+	exit 0
+fi
+
+MKFS_TAR="$TMPFILE.tar"
+MKFS_DIR="$TMPFILE.dir"
+OUT="$test_name.log"
+EXP="$test_dir/expect"
+
+# we put everything in a subdir because we cannot rdump the root as that would
+# require permissions to changing ownership of /lost+found
+rm -rf "$MKFS_DIR"
+mkdir -p "$MKFS_DIR/test"
+touch "$MKFS_DIR/test/emptyfile"
+dd if=/dev/zero bs=1024 count=32 2> /dev/null | tr '\0' 'a' > "$MKFS_DIR/test/bigfile"
+dd if=/dev/zero of="$MKFS_DIR/test/zerofile" bs=1 count=1 seek=1024 2> /dev/null
+ln -s /silly_bs_link "$MKFS_DIR/test/silly_bs_link"
+mkdir "$MKFS_DIR/test/emptydir"
+mkdir "$MKFS_DIR/test/dir"
+echo "will be overwritten" > "$MKFS_DIR/test/dir/file"
+
+# debugfs rdump does not preserve the timestamps when it extracts the
+# files so we ignore them by using tar --clamp-mtime
+# first write a partial tar
+tar --sort=name -C "$MKFS_DIR" --mtime="$DEBUGFS_EXE" --clamp-mtime --format=gnu -cf "$MKFS_TAR.dupl" test
+# now overwrite the contents of a file
+echo "Test me" > "$MKFS_DIR/test/dir/file"
+# and update the tar so that it contains two entries for the same file
+# we need this to test the code path that first unlinks and then overwrites an
+# existing file
+tar -C "$MKFS_DIR" --mtime="$DEBUGFS_EXE" --clamp-mtime --format=gnu -rf "$MKFS_TAR.dupl" test/dir/file
+# also add a duplicate directory entry because those must not be unlinked
+echo test | tar -C "$MKFS_DIR" --mtime="$DEBUGFS_EXE" --clamp-mtime --format=gnu -rf "$MKFS_TAR.dupl" -T -
+# also create a tarball of the directory with only one entry per file
+tar --sort=name -C "$MKFS_DIR" --mtime="$DEBUGFS_EXE" --clamp-mtime --format=gnu -cf "$MKFS_TAR.uniq" test
+rm -r "$MKFS_DIR"
+
+cat > "$TMPFILE.cmd1" << ENDL
+stat /test/emptyfile
+stat /test/bigfile
+stat /test/zerofile
+stat /test/silly_bs_link
+stat /test/emptydir
+stat /test/dir
+stat /test/dir/file
+ENDL
+
+cat > "$TMPFILE.cmd2" << ENDL
+ex /test/emptyfile
+ex /test/bigfile
+ex /test/zerofile
+ex /test/silly_bs_link
+ex /test/emptydir
+ex /test/dir
+ex /test/dir/file
+ENDL
+
+# Create two file systems, one for each tar that was created above. The
+# tarballs differ but should result in the same filesystem contents
+#
+for ext in uniq dupl; do
+	mkdir "$MKFS_DIR"
+	{
+		$MKE2FS -q -F -o Linux -T ext4 -O metadata_csum,64bit -E lazy_itable_init=1 -b 1024 -d "$MKFS_TAR.$ext" "$TMPFILE.$ext" 16384 2>&1;
+		echo Exit status is $?;
+		$DUMPE2FS "$TMPFILE.$ext" 2>&1;
+		echo Exit status is $?;
+		$DEBUGFS -f "$TMPFILE.cmd1" "$TMPFILE.$ext" 2>&1 | grep -E "(stat|Size:|Type:|Links:|Blockcount:)"
+		echo Exit status is $?;
+		$DEBUGFS -f "$TMPFILE.cmd2" "$TMPFILE.$ext" 2>&1;
+		echo Exit status is $?;
+		$DEBUGFS -R "dump /test/dir/file $TMPFILE.testme" "$TMPFILE.$ext" 2>&1;
+		echo Exit status is $?;
+		# extract the files and directories from the image and tar them
+		# again to make sure that a tarball from the image contents is
+		# bit-by-bit identical to the tarball the image was created
+		# from -- essentially this checks whether a roundtrip from tar
+		# to ext4 to tar remains identical
+		$DEBUGFS -R "rdump /test $MKFS_DIR" "$TMPFILE.$ext" 2>&1;
+		echo Exit status is $?;
+		# debugfs rdump does not preserve the timestamps when it extracts the
+		# files so we ignore them by using tar --clamp-mtime
+		tar --sort=name -C "$MKFS_DIR" --mtime="$DEBUGFS_EXE" --clamp-mtime --format=gnu -cvf "$TMPFILE.new.tar" test 2>&1;
+		echo Exit status is $?;
+		$FSCK -f -n "$TMPFILE.$ext" 2>&1;
+		echo Exit status is $?;
+		# independent from which tarball the ext4 image was created,
+		# the tarball created from the files in it should be bit-by-bit
+		# identical to the tarball without duplicate entries
+		cmp "$MKFS_TAR.uniq" "$TMPFILE.new.tar" 2>&1;
+		echo Exit status is $?;
+	} | sed -f "$cmd_dir/filter.sed" -f "$test_dir/output.sed" -e "s;$TMPFILE.$ext;test.img;" | {
+		# In the first pass, store the output and append to the log
+		# file. In the second pass, compare the output to the output
+		# to the one from the first.
+		case $ext in
+			uniq) tee "$TMPFILE.log" >> "$OUT";;
+			dupl) cmp - "$TMPFILE.log" >> "$OUT" 2>&1 || echo "cmp failed" >> "$OUT";;
+		esac
+	}
+	rm -r "$MKFS_DIR" "$TMPFILE.new.tar"
+done
+
+# Do the verification
+cmp -s "$OUT" "$EXP"
+status=$?
+
+if [ "$status" = 0 ] ; then
+	echo "$test_name: $test_description: ok"
+	touch "$test_name.ok"
+else
+	echo "$test_name: $test_description: failed"
+	diff $DIFF_OPTS "$EXP" "$OUT" > "$test_name.failed"
+fi
+
+rm -rf "$MKFS_TAR.dupl" "$MKFS_TAR.uniq" "$TMPFILE.cmd1" "$TMPFILE.cmd2" "$TMPFILE.log"
+unset MKFS_TAR MKFS_DIR OUT EXP
diff --git a/tests/m_rootpaxtar/expect b/tests/m_rootpaxtar/expect
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..54a2d4b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/m_rootpaxtar/expect
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+Filesystem volume name:   <none>
+Last mounted on:          <not available>
+Filesystem magic number:  0xEF53
+Filesystem revision #:    1 (dynamic)
+Filesystem features:      has_journal ext_attr resize_inode dir_index filetype extent 64bit flex_bg sparse_super huge_file dir_nlink extra_isize metadata_csum
+Default mount options:    (none)
+Filesystem state:         clean
+Errors behavior:          Continue
+Filesystem OS type:       Linux
+Inode count:              1024
+Block count:              16384
+Reserved block count:     819
+Overhead clusters:        1543
+Free blocks:              14827
+Free inodes:              1012
+First block:              1
+Block size:               1024
+Fragment size:            1024
+Group descriptor size:    64
+Reserved GDT blocks:      127
+Blocks per group:         8192
+Fragments per group:      8192
+Inodes per group:         512
+Inode blocks per group:   128
+Flex block group size:    16
+Mount count:              0
+Check interval:           15552000 (6 months)
+Reserved blocks uid:      0
+Reserved blocks gid:      0
+First inode:              11
+Inode size:	          256
+Required extra isize:     32
+Desired extra isize:      32
+Journal inode:            8
+Default directory hash:   half_md4
+Journal backup:           inode blocks
+Checksum type:            crc32c
+Journal features:         (none)
+Total journal size:       1024k
+Total journal blocks:     1024
+Max transaction length:   1024
+Fast commit length:       0
+Journal sequence:         0x00000001
+Journal start:            0
+
+
+Group 0: (Blocks 1-8192)
+  Primary superblock at 1, Group descriptors at 2-2
+  Reserved GDT blocks at 3-129
+  Block bitmap at 130 (+129)
+  Inode bitmap at 132 (+131)
+  Inode table at 134-261 (+133)
+  7789 free blocks, 500 free inodes, 2 directories, 500 unused inodes
+  Free blocks: 404-8192
+  Free inodes: 13-512
+Group 1: (Blocks 8193-16383) [INODE_UNINIT]
+  Backup superblock at 8193, Group descriptors at 8194-8194
+  Reserved GDT blocks at 8195-8321
+  Block bitmap at 131 (bg #0 + 130)
+  Inode bitmap at 133 (bg #0 + 132)
+  Inode table at 262-389 (bg #0 + 261)
+  7038 free blocks, 512 free inodes, 0 directories, 512 unused inodes
+  Free blocks: 9346-16383
+  Free inodes: 513-1024
+debugfs: stat /file
+Inode: III   Type: regular    
+Generation: 0    Version: 0x00000000:00000000
+Size: 0
+File ACL: 0
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 0
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+ ctime: 0x00000000:00000000 -- Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
+ atime: 0x00000000:00000000 -- Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
+ mtime: 0x00000000:00000000 -- Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
+Size of extra inode fields: 32
+Extended attributes:
+  security.capability (20) = 01 00 00 02 00 20 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
+EXTENTS:
+debugfs: ea_list /file
+Extended attributes:
+  security.capability (20) = 01 00 00 02 00 20 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
+Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
+Pass 2: Checking directory structure
+Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
+Pass 4: Checking reference counts
+Pass 5: Checking group summary information
+test.img: 12/1024 files (0.0% non-contiguous), 1557/16384 blocks
diff --git a/tests/m_rootpaxtar/mkpaxtar.pl b/tests/m_rootpaxtar/mkpaxtar.pl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9152828b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/m_rootpaxtar/mkpaxtar.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env perl
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+my @entries = (
+    # filename            mode      type content
+    ['./PaxHeaders/file', oct(644), 'x', "57 SCHILY.xattr.security.capability=\x01\0\0\x02\0\x20\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\x0a"],
+    ['file',              oct(644), 0,   ''],
+);
+
+my $num_entries = 0;
+
+foreach my $file (@entries) {
+    my ( $fname, $mode, $type, $content) = @{$file};
+    my $entry = pack(
+        'a100 a8 a8 a8 a12 a12 A8 a1 a100 a6 a2 a32 a32 a8 a8 a155 x12',
+        $fname,
+        sprintf( '%07o',  $mode ),
+        sprintf( '%07o',  0 ), # uid
+        sprintf( '%07o',  0 ), # gid
+        sprintf( '%011o', length $content ), # size
+        sprintf( '%011o', 0 ), # mtime
+        '',                    # checksum
+        $type,
+        '',                    # linkname
+        "ustar",               # magic
+        "00",                  # version
+        '',                    # username
+        '',                    # groupname
+        '',                    # dev major
+        '',                    # dev minor
+        '',                    # prefix
+    );
+
+    # compute and insert checksum
+    substr( $entry, 148, 7 ) =
+      sprintf( "%06o\0", unpack( "%16C*", $entry ) );
+    print $entry;
+    $num_entries += 1;
+
+    if (length $content) {
+	print(pack 'a512', $content);
+	$num_entries += 1;
+    }
+}
+
+# https://www.gnu.org/software/tar/manual/html_node/Standard.html
+#
+# Physically, an archive consists of a series of file entries terminated by an
+# end-of-archive entry, which consists of two 512 blocks of zero bytes. At the
+# end of the archive file there are two 512-byte blocks filled with binary
+# zeros as an end-of-file marker.
+
+print(pack 'a512', '');
+print(pack 'a512', '');
+$num_entries += 2;
+
+# https://www.gnu.org/software/tar/manual/html_section/tar_76.html
+#
+# Some devices requires that all write operations be a multiple of a certain
+# size, and so, tar pads the archive out to the next record boundary.
+#
+# The default blocking factor is 20. With a block size of 512 bytes, we get a
+# record size of 10240.
+
+for (my $i = $num_entries; $i < 20; $i++) {
+    print(pack 'a512', '');
+}
diff --git a/tests/m_rootpaxtar/output.sed b/tests/m_rootpaxtar/output.sed
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2e769678
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/m_rootpaxtar/output.sed
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+s/^[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)\/[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)\/[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*-[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*[0-9]*[[:space:]]*-[[:space:]]*[0-9]*[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)/X \1\/\2 \3\/\4 \5-\6 AAA-BBB \7/g
+s/^[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)\/[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)\/[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*-[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*[0-9]*[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)/Y \1\/\2 \3\/\4 \5-\6 AAA \7/g
+s/Mode:.*$//g
+s/User:.*Size:/Size:/g
+s/^Inode: [0-9]*/Inode: III/g
diff --git a/tests/m_rootpaxtar/script b/tests/m_rootpaxtar/script
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..41dc7c38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/m_rootpaxtar/script
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+# vim: filetype=sh
+
+test_description="create fs image from pax tarball with xattrs"
+if ! test -x $DEBUGFS_EXE; then
+	echo "$test_name: $test_description: skipped (no debugfs)"
+	return 0
+fi
+if [ "$(grep -c 'define HAVE_ARCHIVE_H' ../lib/config.h)" -eq 0 ]; then
+	echo "$test_name: skipped (no libarchive)"
+	exit 0
+fi
+
+OUT=$test_name.log
+EXP=$test_dir/expect
+
+perl $test_dir/mkpaxtar.pl \
+	| $MKE2FS -q -F -o Linux -T ext4 -O metadata_csum,64bit -E lazy_itable_init=1 -b 1024 -d - $TMPFILE 16384 > $OUT 2>&1
+
+$DUMPE2FS $TMPFILE >> $OUT 2>&1
+cat > $TMPFILE.cmd << ENDL
+stat /file
+ea_list /file
+ENDL
+$DEBUGFS -f $TMPFILE.cmd $TMPFILE 2>&1 | egrep -v '^(crtime|Inode checksum):' >> $OUT
+
+$FSCK -f -n $TMPFILE >> $OUT 2>&1
+
+sed -f $cmd_dir/filter.sed -f $test_dir/output.sed -e "s;$TMPFILE;test.img;" < $OUT > $OUT.tmp
+mv $OUT.tmp $OUT
+
+# Do the verification
+cmp -s $OUT $EXP
+status=$?
+
+if [ "$status" = 0 ] ; then
+	echo "$test_name: $test_description: ok"
+	touch $test_name.ok
+else
+        echo "$test_name: $test_description: failed"
+        diff $DIFF_OPTS $EXP $OUT > $test_name.failed
+fi
+
+rm -rf $TMPFILE.cmd
+unset OUT EXP
diff --git a/tests/m_roottar/expect b/tests/m_roottar/expect
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..78e86c55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/m_roottar/expect
@@ -0,0 +1,208 @@
+Filesystem volume name:   <none>
+Last mounted on:          <not available>
+Filesystem magic number:  0xEF53
+Filesystem revision #:    1 (dynamic)
+Filesystem features:      has_journal ext_attr resize_inode dir_index filetype extent 64bit flex_bg sparse_super huge_file dir_nlink extra_isize metadata_csum
+Default mount options:    (none)
+Filesystem state:         clean
+Errors behavior:          Continue
+Filesystem OS type:       Linux
+Inode count:              1024
+Block count:              16384
+Reserved block count:     819
+Overhead clusters:        1543
+Free blocks:              14824
+Free inodes:              998
+First block:              1
+Block size:               1024
+Fragment size:            1024
+Group descriptor size:    64
+Reserved GDT blocks:      127
+Blocks per group:         8192
+Fragments per group:      8192
+Inodes per group:         512
+Inode blocks per group:   128
+Flex block group size:    16
+Mount count:              0
+Check interval:           15552000 (6 months)
+Reserved blocks uid:      0
+Reserved blocks gid:      0
+First inode:              11
+Inode size:	          256
+Required extra isize:     32
+Desired extra isize:      32
+Journal inode:            8
+Default directory hash:   half_md4
+Journal backup:           inode blocks
+Checksum type:            crc32c
+Journal features:         (none)
+Total journal size:       1024k
+Total journal blocks:     1024
+Max transaction length:   1024
+Fast commit length:       0
+Journal sequence:         0x00000001
+Journal start:            0
+
+
+Group 0: (Blocks 1-8192)
+  Primary superblock at 1, Group descriptors at 2-2
+  Reserved GDT blocks at 3-129
+  Block bitmap at 130 (+129)
+  Inode bitmap at 132 (+131)
+  Inode table at 134-261 (+133)
+  7786 free blocks, 486 free inodes, 5 directories, 486 unused inodes
+  Free blocks: 407-8192
+  Free inodes: 27-512
+Group 1: (Blocks 8193-16383) [INODE_UNINIT]
+  Backup superblock at 8193, Group descriptors at 8194-8194
+  Reserved GDT blocks at 8195-8321
+  Block bitmap at 131 (bg #0 + 130)
+  Inode bitmap at 133 (bg #0 + 132)
+  Inode table at 262-389 (bg #0 + 261)
+  7038 free blocks, 512 free inodes, 0 directories, 512 unused inodes
+  Free blocks: 9346-16383
+  Free inodes: 513-1024
+debugfs: stat /dev/
+Inode: III   Type: directory    
+Generation: 0    Version: 0x00000000:00000000
+Size: 1024
+File ACL: 0
+Links: 4   Blockcount: 2
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+Size of extra inode fields: 32
+EXTENTS:
+(0):404
+debugfs: stat /dev/console
+Inode: III   Type: character special    
+Generation: 0    Version: 0x00000000:00000000
+Size: 0
+File ACL: 0
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 0
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+Size of extra inode fields: 32
+Device major/minor number: 05:01 (hex 05:01)
+debugfs: stat /dev/fd
+Inode: III   Type: symlink    
+Generation: 0    Version: 0x00000000:00000000
+Size: 13
+File ACL: 0
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 0
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+Size of extra inode fields: 32
+Fast link dest: "/proc/self/fd"
+debugfs: stat /dev/full
+Inode: III   Type: character special    
+Generation: 0    Version: 0x00000000:00000000
+Size: 0
+File ACL: 0
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 0
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+Size of extra inode fields: 32
+Device major/minor number: 01:07 (hex 01:07)
+debugfs: stat /dev/null
+Inode: III   Type: character special    
+Generation: 0    Version: 0x00000000:00000000
+Size: 0
+File ACL: 0
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 0
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+Size of extra inode fields: 32
+Device major/minor number: 01:03 (hex 01:03)
+debugfs: stat /dev/ptmx
+Inode: III   Type: character special    
+Generation: 0    Version: 0x00000000:00000000
+Size: 0
+File ACL: 0
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 0
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+Size of extra inode fields: 32
+Device major/minor number: 05:02 (hex 05:02)
+debugfs: stat /dev/pts/
+Inode: III   Type: directory    
+Generation: 0    Version: 0x00000000:00000000
+Size: 1024
+File ACL: 0
+Links: 2   Blockcount: 2
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+Size of extra inode fields: 32
+EXTENTS:
+(0):405
+debugfs: stat /dev/random
+Inode: III   Type: character special    
+Generation: 0    Version: 0x00000000:00000000
+Size: 0
+File ACL: 0
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 0
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+Size of extra inode fields: 32
+Device major/minor number: 01:08 (hex 01:08)
+debugfs: stat /dev/shm/
+Inode: III   Type: directory    
+Generation: 0    Version: 0x00000000:00000000
+Size: 1024
+File ACL: 0
+Links: 2   Blockcount: 2
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+Size of extra inode fields: 32
+EXTENTS:
+(0):406
+debugfs: stat /dev/stderr
+Inode: III   Type: symlink    
+Generation: 0    Version: 0x00000000:00000000
+Size: 15
+File ACL: 0
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 0
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+Size of extra inode fields: 32
+Fast link dest: "/proc/self/fd/2"
+debugfs: stat /dev/stdin
+Inode: III   Type: symlink    
+Generation: 0    Version: 0x00000000:00000000
+Size: 15
+File ACL: 0
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 0
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+Size of extra inode fields: 32
+Fast link dest: "/proc/self/fd/0"
+debugfs: stat /dev/stdout
+Inode: III   Type: symlink    
+Generation: 0    Version: 0x00000000:00000000
+Size: 15
+File ACL: 0
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 0
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+Size of extra inode fields: 32
+Fast link dest: "/proc/self/fd/1"
+debugfs: stat /dev/tty
+Inode: III   Type: character special    
+Generation: 0    Version: 0x00000000:00000000
+Size: 0
+File ACL: 0
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 0
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+Size of extra inode fields: 32
+Device major/minor number: 05:00 (hex 05:00)
+debugfs: stat /dev/urandom
+Inode: III   Type: character special    
+Generation: 0    Version: 0x00000000:00000000
+Size: 0
+File ACL: 0
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 0
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+Size of extra inode fields: 32
+Device major/minor number: 01:09 (hex 01:09)
+debugfs: stat /dev/zero
+Inode: III   Type: character special    
+Generation: 0    Version: 0x00000000:00000000
+Size: 0
+File ACL: 0
+Links: 1   Blockcount: 0
+Fragment:  Address: 0    Number: 0    Size: 0
+Size of extra inode fields: 32
+Device major/minor number: 01:05 (hex 01:05)
+Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
+Pass 2: Checking directory structure
+Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
+Pass 4: Checking reference counts
+Pass 5: Checking group summary information
+test.img: 26/1024 files (0.0% non-contiguous), 1560/16384 blocks
diff --git a/tests/m_roottar/mktar.pl b/tests/m_roottar/mktar.pl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3a555afe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/m_roottar/mktar.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env perl
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+# type codes:
+#   0 -> normal file
+#   1 -> hardlink
+#   2 -> symlink
+#   3 -> character special
+#   4 -> block special
+#   5 -> directory
+my @devfiles = (
+    # filename  mode      type link target        major  minor
+    ["",        oct(755), 5,   '',                undef, undef],
+    ["console", oct(666), 3,   '',                5,     1],
+    ["fd",      oct(777), 2,   '/proc/self/fd',   undef, undef],
+    ["full",    oct(666), 3,   '',                1,     7],
+    ["null",    oct(666), 3,   '',                1,     3],
+    ["ptmx",    oct(666), 3,   '',                5,     2],
+    ["pts/",    oct(755), 5,   '',                undef, undef],
+    ["random",  oct(666), 3,   '',                1,     8],
+    ["shm/",    oct(755), 5,   '',                undef, undef],
+    ["stderr",  oct(777), 2,   '/proc/self/fd/2', undef, undef],
+    ["stdin",   oct(777), 2,   '/proc/self/fd/0', undef, undef],
+    ["stdout",  oct(777), 2,   '/proc/self/fd/1', undef, undef],
+    ["tty",     oct(666), 3,   '',                5,     0],
+    ["urandom", oct(666), 3,   '',                1,     9],
+    ["zero",    oct(666), 3,   '',                1,     5],
+);
+
+my $mtime = time;
+if (exists $ENV{SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH}) {
+    $mtime = $ENV{SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH} + 0;
+}
+
+foreach my $file (@devfiles) {
+    my ( $fname, $mode, $type, $linkname, $devmajor, $devminor ) = @{$file};
+    my $entry = pack(
+        'a100 a8 a8 a8 a12 a12 A8 a1 a100 a8 a32 a32 a8 a8 a155 x12',
+        "./dev/$fname",
+        sprintf( '%07o',  $mode ),
+        sprintf( '%07o',  0 ),        # uid
+        sprintf( '%07o',  0 ),        # gid
+        sprintf( '%011o', 0 ),        # size
+        sprintf( '%011o', $mtime ),
+        '',                           # checksum
+        $type,
+        $linkname,
+        "ustar  ",
+        '',                           # username
+        '',                           # groupname
+        defined($devmajor) ? sprintf( '%07o', $devmajor ) : '',
+        defined($devminor) ? sprintf( '%07o', $devminor ) : '',
+        '',                           # prefix
+    );
+
+    # compute and insert checksum
+    substr( $entry, 148, 7 ) =
+      sprintf( "%06o\0", unpack( "%16C*", $entry ) );
+    print $entry;
+}
diff --git a/tests/m_roottar/output.sed b/tests/m_roottar/output.sed
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2e769678
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/m_roottar/output.sed
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+s/^[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)\/[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)\/[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*-[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*[0-9]*[[:space:]]*-[[:space:]]*[0-9]*[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)/X \1\/\2 \3\/\4 \5-\6 AAA-BBB \7/g
+s/^[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)\/[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)\/[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*-[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)[[:space:]]*[0-9]*[[:space:]]*\([0-9]*\)/Y \1\/\2 \3\/\4 \5-\6 AAA \7/g
+s/Mode:.*$//g
+s/User:.*Size:/Size:/g
+s/^Inode: [0-9]*/Inode: III/g
diff --git a/tests/m_roottar/script b/tests/m_roottar/script
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..701e8c83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/m_roottar/script
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+# vim: filetype=sh
+
+test_description="create fs image from tarball"
+if ! test -x "$DEBUGFS_EXE"; then
+	echo "$test_name: $test_description: skipped (no debugfs)"
+	return 0
+fi
+if [ "$(grep -c 'define HAVE_ARCHIVE_H' ../lib/config.h)" -eq 0 ]; then
+	echo "$test_name: skipped (no libarchive)"
+	exit 0
+fi
+
+OUT="$test_name.log"
+EXP="$test_dir/expect"
+
+perl "$test_dir/mktar.pl" \
+	| $MKE2FS -q -F -o Linux -T ext4 -O metadata_csum,64bit -E lazy_itable_init=1 -b 1024 -d - "$TMPFILE" 16384 > "$OUT" 2>&1
+
+$DUMPE2FS "$TMPFILE" >> "$OUT" 2>&1
+cat > "$TMPFILE.cmd" << 'ENDL'
+stat /dev/
+stat /dev/console
+stat /dev/fd
+stat /dev/full
+stat /dev/null
+stat /dev/ptmx
+stat /dev/pts/
+stat /dev/random
+stat /dev/shm/
+stat /dev/stderr
+stat /dev/stdin
+stat /dev/stdout
+stat /dev/tty
+stat /dev/urandom
+stat /dev/zero
+ENDL
+$DEBUGFS -f "$TMPFILE.cmd" "$TMPFILE" 2>&1 | grep -E -v "(time|checksum):" >> "$OUT"
+
+$FSCK -f -n "$TMPFILE" >> "$OUT" 2>&1
+
+sed -f "$cmd_dir/filter.sed" -f "$test_dir/output.sed" -e "s;$TMPFILE;test.img;" < "$OUT" > "$OUT.tmp"
+mv "$OUT.tmp" "$OUT"
+
+# Do the verification
+cmp -s "$OUT" "$EXP"
+status=$?
+
+if [ "$status" = 0 ] ; then
+	echo "$test_name: $test_description: ok"
+	touch "$test_name.ok"
+else
+	echo "$test_name: $test_description: failed"
+	diff $DIFF_OPTS "$EXP" "$OUT" > "$test_name.failed"
+fi
+
+rm -rf "$TMPFILE.cmd"
+unset OUT EXP
