Workspaces are a way to manage ephemeral data. They allow users to create folders that are automatically deleted if they haven't been used for a certain period of time. This is a convenient method for handling temporary files and preventing clutter on file systems.

Workspaces uses ZFS to efficiently manage the creation, extension, and deletion of workspaces and supports optional email notifications for important events.

Before installing Workspaces, you must have Rust installed.
You also need to install the following system packages:

$ sudo apt install sqlite3 libsqlite3-dev libssl-dev pkg-config

Then install and build Workspaces:

$ make && sudo make install

You must manually modify the /etc/workspaces/workspaces.toml file, and you must have already set up a ZFS zpool.

To activate automatic deletion of old workspaces, enable the corresponding systemd timer:

$ sudo systemctl enable --now maintain-workspaces.timer

Note: The workspaces maintain command (triggered by the timer) requires admin (root) privileges.

Workspaces can optionally send notification emails for the following events:

• A workspace is created, extended, or manually expired
• A workspace is deleted after its retention period
• Periodic expiry reminders (based on your configured expiry_notifications schedule)

To enable this, configure the [smtp] section in /etc/workspaces/workspaces.toml and make sure each user sets up their personal email address once:

mkdir -p ~/.config
echo 'email = "user@example.org"' > ~/.config/workspaces.toml

If a user has not configured their email, the CLI will print a clear reminder with the exact command to fix it.

This tutorial will walk you through the process of using Workspaces, including creating a workspace, extending its expiry date, and manually expiring it.

Use the workspaces filesystems command to display the available filesystems:

$ workspaces filesystems
NAME  USED   FREE    TOTAL   DURATION  RETENTION
bulk  4805G  17391G  22196G       90d        30d
ssd      0G   5999G   5999G       30d         7d

To create a workspace named testws on the bulk filesystem with a ten-day expiry date:

$ workspaces create -f bulk -d 10 testws
Created workspace at /mnt/bulk/mvantreeck/testws

If SMTP is configured, you’ll also receive a short email confirmation.

Use workspaces list to view all available workspaces:

$ workspaces list
NAME    USER        FS    EXPIRY          SIZE  MOUNTPOINT
testws  mvantreeck  bulk  expires in  9d    0G  /mnt/bulk/mvantreeck/testws

To extend your workspace before it expires:

$ workspaces extend -f bulk -d 7 testws

You’ll receive an email confirming the new expiry date.

To manually expire a workspace that is no longer needed:

$ workspaces expire -f bulk testws

The workspace becomes read-only and will be deleted automatically later. An email notification is sent when it’s marked expired or scheduled for deletion.

Usually, your administrator will have configured automatic cleanup through the systemd timer. However, an admin can also run it manually:

# must be run as root
$ sudo workspaces maintain

This will delete expired workspaces beyond their retention date and send final deletion notifications.