Kiran Rao

Setup a development workspace with a sparse bundle

A sparse bundle is a macOS file that stores the contents and structure of a full file system. When mounted, macOS will create a logical volume allowing you to access files the same way you would a USB stick or SSD partition. There are a number of advantages to having your development environment setup within a sparse bundle:

Create a sparse bundle

hdiutil create \
  -fs 'Case-sensitive APFS' \
  -size 100g \
  -volname "workspace" \
  ~/workspace.sparsebundle

Let’s break this down:

Double click your newly created file and voila! You now have a mounted disk image.