To successfully follow the steps outlined in this article, you'll need:

• A CentOS 7 operating system installed.
• Superuser (root) privileges or the ability to use the sudo command.
• At least one available storage device (disk or partition) on which the Btrfs file system will be created.

Installing Btrfs Tools

1. Update the system and install necessary packages: Begin by updating your system and installing the required tools for working with Btrfs. In the terminal, execute the following commands:

   sudo yum update
   sudo yum install btrfs-progs
   ​

Creating a Btrfs File System

2. Identify the storage device: First, identify the device on which you want to create the Btrfs file system using the lsblk or fdisk -l command.

3. Create the file system: Assuming the device is named /dev/sdx, use the following command to create a Btrfs file system on this device:

   sudo mkfs.btrfs /dev/sdx
   

   Note: Replace /dev/sdx with the actual name of your device.

Mounting the Btrfs File System

4. Create a mount point: Before mounting the file system, create a mount point, for example, /mnt/btrfs:

   sudo mkdir /mnt/btrfs
   

5. Mount the file system: Mount the file system using the mount command:

   sudo mount /dev/sdx /mnt/btrfs
   ​

   For persistent mounting, add an entry to /etc/fstab.

Managing the Btrfs File System

• Working with Snapshots: Btrfs allows easy creation of snapshots of your data, useful for backup or system state restoration.

  sudo btrfs subvolume snapshot /mnt/btrfs /mnt/btrfs/snapshot_name
  

• Adding Devices to Btrfs: Btrfs supports easy capacity expansion by adding new devices to the existing file system.

  sudo btrfs device add /dev/sdy /mnt/btrfs
  sudo btrfs filesystem balance /mnt/btrfs
  

• Checking and Repairing the System: To check the consistency of the file system and repair any errors, you can use Btrfs tools:

  sudo btrfs check /dev/sdx
  sudo btrfs rescue super-recover /dev/sdx
  sudo btrfs filesystem repair /dev/sdx
  

Btrfs offers advanced features for data management and backup, making it a suitable choice for servers and systems requiring high levels of data integrity and flexibility. The above steps should provide a basic overview of how to create and manage a Btrfs file system on CentOS 7. For deeper understanding and advanced configurations, it's recommended to study the official Btrfs documentation.