crio-status info | grep -A 10 "storage" crio-status containers --id <id> # Shows container rootfs path The keyword "link" in the context of CRI file system tools refers to two distinct but related concepts: filesystem links (ln) and layer links (parent pointers) . Symbolic Links vs. Hard Links in Container Storage | Feature | Symbolic Link (symlink) | Hard Link | |---------|------------------------|------------| | Cross-filesystem | Yes | No | | Points to inode or path | Path | Inode | | Break if target deleted | Yes (dangling link) | No (file persists) | | Used in CRI for | Config file references, log paths | Deduplication of identical layers |

If your cluster uses containerd, ctr provides direct access to namespaces and snapshots.

/var/lib/containers/storage/overlay/<layer-id>/merged -> /var/lib/containers/storage/overlay/<layer-id>/../<parent-id>/merged Scenario 1: "No such file or directory" inside a container Even though the file exists in the image, the container cannot see it. This is often due to a broken symbolic link in a lower layer .