diff --git a/fastboot/fastboot.cpp b/fastboot/fastboot.cpp
index 7994065..287285b 100644
--- a/fastboot/fastboot.cpp
+++ b/fastboot/fastboot.cpp
@@ -1780,7 +1780,6 @@
     }
 
     DetermineSlot();
-    CollectImages();
 
     CancelSnapshotIfNeeded();
 
@@ -2231,7 +2230,9 @@
                                       {"version", no_argument, 0, 0},
                                       {0, 0, 0, 0}};
 
-    serial = getenv("ANDROID_SERIAL");
+    serial = getenv("FASTBOOT_DEVICE");
+    if (!serial)
+        serial = getenv("ANDROID_SERIAL");
 
     int c;
     while ((c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "a::hls:S:vw", longopts, &longindex)) != -1) {
diff --git a/fastboot/fastboot_driver.h b/fastboot/fastboot_driver.h
index 3d6c7b0..6ac26ce 100644
--- a/fastboot/fastboot_driver.h
+++ b/fastboot/fastboot_driver.h
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #pragma once
 #include <cstdlib>
 #include <deque>
+#include <functional>
 #include <limits>
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
diff --git a/fastboot/storage.cpp b/fastboot/storage.cpp
index dc733b9..629ebc8 100644
--- a/fastboot/storage.cpp
+++ b/fastboot/storage.cpp
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #include <android-base/logging.h>
 
 #include <fstream>
+#include <iterator>
 
 #include "storage.h"
 #include "util.h"
@@ -62,4 +63,4 @@
         LOG(FATAL) << "Cannot create directory: " << home_fastboot_path_;
     }
     return FileLock(devices_lock_path_);
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/Android.bp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/Android.bp
index d3bd904..e931bec 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/Android.bp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/Android.bp
@@ -174,11 +174,13 @@
         "libsnapshot_cow_defaults",
     ],
     srcs: [
-        "libsnapshot_cow/cow_decompress.cpp",
-        "libsnapshot_cow/cow_reader.cpp",
-        "libsnapshot_cow/cow_writer.cpp",
-        "libsnapshot_cow/cow_format.cpp",
         "libsnapshot_cow/cow_compress.cpp",
+        "libsnapshot_cow/cow_decompress.cpp",
+        "libsnapshot_cow/cow_format.cpp",
+        "libsnapshot_cow/cow_reader.cpp",
+        "libsnapshot_cow/parser_v2.cpp",
+        "libsnapshot_cow/writer_base.cpp",
+        "libsnapshot_cow/writer_v2.cpp",
     ],
     host_supported: true,
     recovery_available: true,
@@ -370,7 +372,7 @@
         "libsnapshot_cow_defaults",
     ],
     srcs: [
-        "libsnapshot_cow/cow_api_test.cpp",
+        "libsnapshot_cow/test_v2.cpp",
     ],
     cflags: [
         "-D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64",
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_format.h b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_format.h
index c3ca00a..dd626bc 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_format.h
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_format.h
@@ -28,6 +28,13 @@
 
 static constexpr uint32_t kCowVersionManifest = 2;
 
+static constexpr uint32_t kMinCowVersion = 1;
+static constexpr uint32_t kMaxCowVersion = 2;
+
+// Normally, this should be kMaxCowVersion. When a new version is under testing
+// it may be the previous value of kMaxCowVersion.
+static constexpr uint32_t kDefaultCowVersion = 2;
+
 // This header appears as the first sequence of bytes in the COW. All fields
 // in the layout are little-endian encoded. The on-disk layout is:
 //
@@ -52,13 +59,15 @@
 // between writing the last operation/data pair, or the footer itself. In this
 // case, the safest way to proceed is to assume the last operation is faulty.
 
-struct CowHeader {
+struct CowHeaderPrefix {
     uint64_t magic;
     uint16_t major_version;
     uint16_t minor_version;
+    uint16_t header_size;  // size of CowHeader.
+} __attribute__((packed));
 
-    // Size of this struct.
-    uint16_t header_size;
+struct CowHeader {
+    CowHeaderPrefix prefix;
 
     // Size of footer struct
     uint16_t footer_size;
@@ -88,7 +97,7 @@
     // the compression type of that data (see constants below).
     uint8_t compression;
 
-    // Length of Footer Data. Currently 64 for both checksums
+    // Length of Footer Data. Currently 64.
     uint16_t data_length;
 
     // The amount of file space used by Cow operations
@@ -98,14 +107,6 @@
     uint64_t num_ops;
 } __attribute__((packed));
 
-struct CowFooterData {
-    // SHA256 checksums of Footer op
-    uint8_t footer_checksum[32];
-
-    // SHA256 of the operation sequence.
-    uint8_t ops_checksum[32];
-} __attribute__((packed));
-
 // Cow operations are currently fixed-size entries, but this may change if
 // needed.
 struct CowOperation {
@@ -167,7 +168,7 @@
 
 struct CowFooter {
     CowFooterOperation op;
-    CowFooterData data;
+    uint8_t unused[64];
 } __attribute__((packed));
 
 struct ScratchMetadata {
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_writer.h b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_writer.h
index c7b83a8..af2d3ef 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_writer.h
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_writer.h
@@ -1,16 +1,16 @@
-// Copyright (C) 2019 The Android Open Source Project
+// copyright (c) 2019 the android open source project
 //
-// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+// licensed under the apache license, version 2.0 (the "license");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the license.
+// you may obtain a copy of the license at
 //
-//      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//      http://www.apache.org/licenses/license-2.0
 //
-// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-// limitations under the License.
+// unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the license is distributed on an "as is" basis,
+// without warranties or conditions of any kind, either express or implied.
+// see the license for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the license.
 
 #pragma once
 
@@ -61,30 +61,28 @@
 // will occur in the sequence they were added to the COW.
 class ICowWriter {
   public:
-    explicit ICowWriter(const CowOptions& options) : options_(options) {}
-
     virtual ~ICowWriter() {}
 
     // Encode an operation that copies the contents of |old_block| to the
     // location of |new_block|. 'num_blocks' is the number of contiguous
     // COPY operations from |old_block| to |new_block|.
-    bool AddCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block, uint64_t num_blocks = 1);
+    virtual bool AddCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block, uint64_t num_blocks = 1) = 0;
 
     // Encode a sequence of raw blocks. |size| must be a multiple of the block size.
-    bool AddRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size);
+    virtual bool AddRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size) = 0;
 
     // Add a sequence of xor'd blocks. |size| must be a multiple of the block size.
-    bool AddXorBlocks(uint32_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size, uint32_t old_block,
-                      uint16_t offset);
+    virtual bool AddXorBlocks(uint32_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size,
+                              uint32_t old_block, uint16_t offset) = 0;
 
     // Encode a sequence of zeroed blocks. |size| must be a multiple of the block size.
-    bool AddZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks);
+    virtual bool AddZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) = 0;
 
     // Add a label to the op sequence.
-    bool AddLabel(uint64_t label);
+    virtual bool AddLabel(uint64_t label) = 0;
 
     // Add sequence data for op merging. Data is a list of the destination block numbers.
-    bool AddSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data);
+    virtual bool AddSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data) = 0;
 
     // Flush all pending writes. This must be called before closing the writer
     // to ensure that the correct headers and footers are written.
@@ -93,24 +91,8 @@
     // Return number of bytes the cow image occupies on disk.
     virtual uint64_t GetCowSize() = 0;
 
-    // Returns true if AddCopy() operations are supported.
-    virtual bool SupportsCopyOperation() const { return true; }
-
-    const CowOptions& options() { return options_; }
-
-  protected:
-    virtual bool EmitCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block, uint64_t num_blocks = 1) = 0;
-    virtual bool EmitRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size) = 0;
-    virtual bool EmitXorBlocks(uint32_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size,
-                               uint32_t old_block, uint16_t offset) = 0;
-    virtual bool EmitZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) = 0;
-    virtual bool EmitLabel(uint64_t label) = 0;
-    virtual bool EmitSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data) = 0;
-
-    bool ValidateNewBlock(uint64_t new_block);
-
-  protected:
-    CowOptions options_;
+    virtual uint32_t GetBlockSize() const = 0;
+    virtual std::optional<uint32_t> GetMaxBlocks() const = 0;
 };
 
 class CompressWorker {
@@ -149,98 +131,15 @@
                         std::vector<std::basic_string<uint8_t>>* compressed_data);
 };
 
-class CowWriter : public ICowWriter {
-  public:
-    explicit CowWriter(const CowOptions& options);
-    ~CowWriter();
+// Create an ICowWriter not backed by any file. This is useful for estimating
+// the final size of a cow file.
+std::unique_ptr<ICowWriter> CreateCowEstimator(uint32_t version, const CowOptions& options);
 
-    // Set up the writer.
-    // The file starts from the beginning.
-    //
-    // If fd is < 0, the CowWriter will be opened against /dev/null. This is for
-    // computing COW sizes without using storage space.
-    bool Initialize(android::base::unique_fd&& fd);
-    bool Initialize(android::base::borrowed_fd fd);
-    // Set up a writer, assuming that the given label is the last valid label.
-    // This will result in dropping any labels that occur after the given on, and will fail
-    // if the given label does not appear.
-    bool InitializeAppend(android::base::unique_fd&&, uint64_t label);
-    bool InitializeAppend(android::base::borrowed_fd fd, uint64_t label);
-
-    bool Finalize() override;
-
-    uint64_t GetCowSize() override;
-
-    uint32_t GetCowVersion() { return header_.major_version; }
-
-  protected:
-    virtual bool EmitCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block, uint64_t num_blocks = 1) override;
-    virtual bool EmitRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size) override;
-    virtual bool EmitXorBlocks(uint32_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size,
-                               uint32_t old_block, uint16_t offset) override;
-    virtual bool EmitZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) override;
-    virtual bool EmitLabel(uint64_t label) override;
-    virtual bool EmitSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data) override;
-
-  private:
-    bool EmitCluster();
-    bool EmitClusterIfNeeded();
-    bool EmitBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size, uint64_t old_block,
-                    uint16_t offset, uint8_t type);
-    void SetupHeaders();
-    void SetupWriteOptions();
-    bool ParseOptions();
-    bool OpenForWrite();
-    bool OpenForAppend(uint64_t label);
-    bool GetDataPos(uint64_t* pos);
-    bool WriteRawData(const void* data, size_t size);
-    bool WriteOperation(const CowOperation& op, const void* data = nullptr, size_t size = 0);
-    void AddOperation(const CowOperation& op);
-    void InitPos();
-    void InitBatchWrites();
-    void InitWorkers();
-    bool FlushCluster();
-
-    bool CompressBlocks(size_t num_blocks, const void* data);
-    bool SetFd(android::base::borrowed_fd fd);
-    bool Sync();
-    bool Truncate(off_t length);
-    bool EnsureSpaceAvailable(const uint64_t bytes_needed) const;
-
-  private:
-    android::base::unique_fd owned_fd_;
-    android::base::borrowed_fd fd_;
-    CowHeader header_{};
-    CowFooter footer_{};
-    CowCompressionAlgorithm compression_ = kCowCompressNone;
-    uint64_t current_op_pos_ = 0;
-    uint64_t next_op_pos_ = 0;
-    uint64_t next_data_pos_ = 0;
-    uint64_t current_data_pos_ = 0;
-    ssize_t total_data_written_ = 0;
-    uint32_t cluster_size_ = 0;
-    uint32_t current_cluster_size_ = 0;
-    uint64_t current_data_size_ = 0;
-    bool is_dev_null_ = false;
-    bool merge_in_progress_ = false;
-    bool is_block_device_ = false;
-    uint64_t cow_image_size_ = INT64_MAX;
-
-    int num_compress_threads_ = 1;
-    std::vector<std::unique_ptr<CompressWorker>> compress_threads_;
-    std::vector<std::future<bool>> threads_;
-    std::vector<std::basic_string<uint8_t>> compressed_buf_;
-    std::vector<std::basic_string<uint8_t>>::iterator buf_iter_;
-
-    std::vector<std::unique_ptr<CowOperation>> opbuffer_vec_;
-    std::vector<std::unique_ptr<uint8_t[]>> databuffer_vec_;
-    std::unique_ptr<struct iovec[]> cowop_vec_;
-    int op_vec_index_ = 0;
-
-    std::unique_ptr<struct iovec[]> data_vec_;
-    int data_vec_index_ = 0;
-    bool batch_write_ = false;
-};
+// Create an ICowWriter of the given version and options. If a label is given,
+// the writer is opened in append mode.
+std::unique_ptr<ICowWriter> CreateCowWriter(uint32_t version, const CowOptions& options,
+                                            android::base::unique_fd&& fd,
+                                            std::optional<uint64_t> label = {});
 
 }  // namespace snapshot
 }  // namespace android
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/mock_snapshot_writer.h b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/mock_snapshot_writer.h
index 29828bc..52e3a9c 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/mock_snapshot_writer.h
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/mock_snapshot_writer.h
@@ -23,33 +23,23 @@
   public:
     using FileDescriptor = ISnapshotWriter::FileDescriptor;
 
-    explicit MockSnapshotWriter(const CowOptions& options) : ISnapshotWriter(options) {}
-    MockSnapshotWriter() : ISnapshotWriter({}) {}
-
     MOCK_METHOD(bool, Finalize, (), (override));
 
     // Return number of bytes the cow image occupies on disk.
     MOCK_METHOD(uint64_t, GetCowSize, (), (override));
 
-    // Returns true if AddCopy() operations are supported.
-    MOCK_METHOD(bool, SupportsCopyOperation, (), (const override));
-
-    MOCK_METHOD(bool, EmitCopy, (uint64_t, uint64_t, uint64_t), (override));
-    MOCK_METHOD(bool, EmitRawBlocks, (uint64_t, const void*, size_t), (override));
-    MOCK_METHOD(bool, EmitXorBlocks, (uint32_t, const void*, size_t, uint32_t, uint16_t),
+    MOCK_METHOD(bool, AddCopy, (uint64_t, uint64_t, uint64_t), (override));
+    MOCK_METHOD(bool, AddRawBlocks, (uint64_t, const void*, size_t), (override));
+    MOCK_METHOD(bool, AddXorBlocks, (uint32_t, const void*, size_t, uint32_t, uint16_t),
                 (override));
-    MOCK_METHOD(bool, EmitZeroBlocks, (uint64_t, uint64_t), (override));
-    MOCK_METHOD(bool, EmitLabel, (uint64_t), (override));
-    MOCK_METHOD(bool, EmitSequenceData, (size_t, const uint32_t*), (override));
-
-    // Open the writer in write mode (no append).
+    MOCK_METHOD(bool, AddZeroBlocks, (uint64_t, uint64_t), (override));
+    MOCK_METHOD(bool, AddLabel, (uint64_t), (override));
+    MOCK_METHOD(bool, AddSequenceData, (size_t, const uint32_t*), (override));
     MOCK_METHOD(bool, Initialize, (), (override));
+    MOCK_METHOD(bool, InitializeAppend, (uint64_t), (override));
     MOCK_METHOD(bool, VerifyMergeOps, (), (override, const, noexcept));
-
-    // Open the writer in append mode, with the last label to resume
-    // from. See CowWriter::InitializeAppend.
-    MOCK_METHOD(bool, InitializeAppend, (uint64_t label), (override));
-
     MOCK_METHOD(std::unique_ptr<FileDescriptor>, OpenReader, (), (override));
+    MOCK_METHOD(uint32_t, GetBlockSize, (), (override, const));
+    MOCK_METHOD(std::optional<uint32_t>, GetMaxBlocks, (), (override, const));
 };
 }  // namespace android::snapshot
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/snapshot.h b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/snapshot.h
index 9eb89b6..ecf1d15 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/snapshot.h
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/snapshot.h
@@ -697,10 +697,6 @@
             LockedFile* lock, const std::optional<std::string>& source_device,
             const std::string& partition_name, const SnapshotStatus& status,
             const SnapshotPaths& paths);
-    std::unique_ptr<ISnapshotWriter> OpenKernelSnapshotWriter(
-            LockedFile* lock, const std::optional<std::string>& source_device,
-            const std::string& partition_name, const SnapshotStatus& status,
-            const SnapshotPaths& paths);
 
     // Map the base device, COW devices, and snapshot device.
     bool MapPartitionWithSnapshot(LockedFile* lock, CreateLogicalPartitionParams params,
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/snapshot_writer.h b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/snapshot_writer.h
index 0e3b1db..2653a60 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/snapshot_writer.h
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/snapshot_writer.h
@@ -31,13 +31,7 @@
   public:
     using FileDescriptor = chromeos_update_engine::FileDescriptor;
 
-    explicit ISnapshotWriter(const CowOptions& options);
-
-    // Set the source device. This is used for AddCopy() operations, if the
-    // underlying writer needs the original bytes (for example if backed by
-    // dm-snapshot or if writing directly to an unsnapshotted region). The
-    // device is only opened on the first operation that requires it.
-    void SetSourceDevice(const std::string& source_device);
+    virtual ~ISnapshotWriter() {}
 
     // Open the writer in write mode (no append).
     virtual bool Initialize() = 0;
@@ -47,15 +41,8 @@
     virtual bool InitializeAppend(uint64_t label) = 0;
 
     virtual std::unique_ptr<FileDescriptor> OpenReader() = 0;
+
     virtual bool VerifyMergeOps() const noexcept = 0;
-
-  protected:
-    android::base::borrowed_fd GetSourceFd();
-
-    std::optional<std::string> source_device_;
-
-  private:
-    android::base::unique_fd source_fd_;
 };
 
 // Send writes to a COW or a raw device directly, based on a threshold.
@@ -63,6 +50,8 @@
   public:
     CompressedSnapshotWriter(const CowOptions& options);
 
+    void SetSourceDevice(const std::string& source_device);
+
     // Sets the COW device; this is required.
     bool SetCowDevice(android::base::unique_fd&& cow_device);
 
@@ -70,56 +59,34 @@
     bool InitializeAppend(uint64_t label) override;
     bool Finalize() override;
     uint64_t GetCowSize() override;
+    uint32_t GetBlockSize() const override;
+    std::optional<uint32_t> GetMaxBlocks() const override;
     std::unique_ptr<FileDescriptor> OpenReader() override;
     bool VerifyMergeOps() const noexcept;
 
-  protected:
-    bool EmitCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block, uint64_t num_blocks = 1) override;
-    bool EmitRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size) override;
-    bool EmitXorBlocks(uint32_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size, uint32_t old_block,
-                       uint16_t offset) override;
-    bool EmitZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) override;
-    bool EmitLabel(uint64_t label) override;
-    bool EmitSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data) override;
+    bool AddCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block, uint64_t num_blocks = 1) override;
+    bool AddRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size) override;
+    bool AddXorBlocks(uint32_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size, uint32_t old_block,
+                      uint16_t offset) override;
+    bool AddZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) override;
+    bool AddLabel(uint64_t label) override;
+    bool AddSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data) override;
 
   private:
     std::unique_ptr<CowReader> OpenCowReader() const;
+    android::base::borrowed_fd GetSourceFd();
+
+    CowOptions options_;
+
+    // Set the source device. This is used for AddCopy() operations, if the
+    // underlying writer needs the original bytes (for example if backed by
+    // dm-snapshot or if writing directly to an unsnapshotted region). The
+    // device is only opened on the first operation that requires it.
+    std::optional<std::string> source_device_;
+    android::base::unique_fd source_fd_;
+
     android::base::unique_fd cow_device_;
-
-    std::unique_ptr<CowWriter> cow_;
-};
-
-// Write directly to a dm-snapshot device.
-class OnlineKernelSnapshotWriter final : public ISnapshotWriter {
-  public:
-    OnlineKernelSnapshotWriter(const CowOptions& options);
-
-    // Set the device used for all writes.
-    void SetSnapshotDevice(android::base::unique_fd&& snapshot_fd, uint64_t cow_size);
-
-    bool Initialize() override { return true; }
-    bool InitializeAppend(uint64_t) override { return true; }
-
-    bool Finalize() override;
-    uint64_t GetCowSize() override { return cow_size_; }
-    std::unique_ptr<FileDescriptor> OpenReader() override;
-
-    // Online kernel snapshot writer doesn't care about merge sequences.
-    // So ignore.
-    bool VerifyMergeOps() const noexcept override { return true; }
-
-  protected:
-    bool EmitRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size) override;
-    bool EmitZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) override;
-    bool EmitXorBlocks(uint32_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size, uint32_t old_block,
-                       uint16_t offset) override;
-    bool EmitCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block, uint64_t num_blocks = 1) override;
-    bool EmitLabel(uint64_t label) override;
-    bool EmitSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data) override;
-
-  private:
-    android::base::unique_fd snapshot_fd_;
-    uint64_t cow_size_ = 0;
+    std::unique_ptr<ICowWriter> cow_;
 };
 
 }  // namespace snapshot
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/cow_format.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/cow_format.cpp
index 2157d0f..ff3ccec 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/cow_format.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/cow_format.cpp
@@ -19,10 +19,13 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 
 #include <android-base/logging.h>
+#include "writer_v2.h"
 
 namespace android {
 namespace snapshot {
 
+using android::base::unique_fd;
+
 std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& os, CowOperation const& op) {
     os << "CowOperation(type:";
     if (op.type == kCowCopyOp)
@@ -103,5 +106,27 @@
     }
 }
 
+std::unique_ptr<ICowWriter> CreateCowWriter(uint32_t version, const CowOptions& options,
+                                            unique_fd&& fd, std::optional<uint64_t> label) {
+    std::unique_ptr<CowWriterBase> base;
+    switch (version) {
+        case 1:
+        case 2:
+            base = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, std::move(fd));
+            break;
+        default:
+            LOG(ERROR) << "Cannot create unknown cow version: " << version;
+            return nullptr;
+    }
+    if (!base->Initialize(label)) {
+        return nullptr;
+    }
+    return base;
+}
+
+std::unique_ptr<ICowWriter> CreateCowEstimator(uint32_t version, const CowOptions& options) {
+    return CreateCowWriter(version, options, unique_fd{-1}, std::nullopt);
+}
+
 }  // namespace snapshot
 }  // namespace android
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/cow_reader.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/cow_reader.cpp
index 6749cf1..c2a7fdb 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/cow_reader.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/cow_reader.cpp
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 #include <zlib.h>
 
 #include "cow_decompress.h"
-#include "libsnapshot/cow_format.h"
+#include "parser_v2.h"
 
 namespace android {
 namespace snapshot {
@@ -43,15 +43,6 @@
       reader_flag_(reader_flag),
       is_merge_(is_merge) {}
 
-static void SHA256(const void*, size_t, uint8_t[]) {
-#if 0
-    SHA256_CTX c;
-    SHA256_Init(&c);
-    SHA256_Update(&c, data, length);
-    SHA256_Final(out, &c);
-#endif
-}
-
 std::unique_ptr<CowReader> CowReader::CloneCowReader() {
     auto cow = std::make_unique<CowReader>();
     cow->owned_fd_.reset();
@@ -63,7 +54,6 @@
     cow->merge_op_start_ = merge_op_start_;
     cow->num_total_data_ops_ = num_total_data_ops_;
     cow->num_ordered_ops_to_merge_ = num_ordered_ops_to_merge_;
-    cow->has_seq_ops_ = has_seq_ops_;
     cow->data_loc_ = data_loc_;
     cow->block_pos_index_ = block_pos_index_;
     cow->is_merge_ = is_merge_;
@@ -101,217 +91,26 @@
 bool CowReader::Parse(android::base::borrowed_fd fd, std::optional<uint64_t> label) {
     fd_ = fd;
 
-    auto pos = lseek(fd_.get(), 0, SEEK_END);
-    if (pos < 0) {
-        PLOG(ERROR) << "lseek end failed";
-        return false;
-    }
-    fd_size_ = pos;
-
-    if (lseek(fd_.get(), 0, SEEK_SET) < 0) {
-        PLOG(ERROR) << "lseek header failed";
-        return false;
-    }
-    if (!android::base::ReadFully(fd_, &header_, sizeof(header_))) {
-        PLOG(ERROR) << "read header failed";
+    if (!ReadCowHeader(fd, &header_)) {
         return false;
     }
 
-    if (header_.magic != kCowMagicNumber) {
-        LOG(ERROR) << "Header Magic corrupted. Magic: " << header_.magic
-                   << "Expected: " << kCowMagicNumber;
-        return false;
-    }
-    if (header_.footer_size != sizeof(CowFooter)) {
-        LOG(ERROR) << "Footer size unknown, read " << header_.footer_size << ", expected "
-                   << sizeof(CowFooter);
-        return false;
-    }
-    if (header_.op_size != sizeof(CowOperation)) {
-        LOG(ERROR) << "Operation size unknown, read " << header_.op_size << ", expected "
-                   << sizeof(CowOperation);
-        return false;
-    }
-    if (header_.cluster_ops == 1) {
-        LOG(ERROR) << "Clusters must contain at least two operations to function.";
-        return false;
-    }
-    if (header_.op_size != sizeof(CowOperation)) {
-        LOG(ERROR) << "Operation size unknown, read " << header_.op_size << ", expected "
-                   << sizeof(CowOperation);
-        return false;
-    }
-    if (header_.cluster_ops == 1) {
-        LOG(ERROR) << "Clusters must contain at least two operations to function.";
+    CowParserV2 parser;
+    if (!parser.Parse(fd, header_, label)) {
         return false;
     }
 
-    if ((header_.major_version > kCowVersionMajor) || (header_.minor_version != kCowVersionMinor)) {
-        LOG(ERROR) << "Header version mismatch";
-        LOG(ERROR) << "Major version: " << header_.major_version
-                   << "Expected: " << kCowVersionMajor;
-        LOG(ERROR) << "Minor version: " << header_.minor_version
-                   << "Expected: " << kCowVersionMinor;
-        return false;
-    }
+    footer_ = parser.footer();
+    fd_size_ = parser.fd_size();
+    last_label_ = parser.last_label();
+    ops_ = std::move(parser.ops());
+    data_loc_ = parser.data_loc();
 
-    if (!ParseOps(label)) {
-        return false;
-    }
     // If we're resuming a write, we're not ready to merge
     if (label.has_value()) return true;
     return PrepMergeOps();
 }
 
-bool CowReader::ParseOps(std::optional<uint64_t> label) {
-    uint64_t pos;
-    auto data_loc = std::make_shared<std::unordered_map<uint64_t, uint64_t>>();
-
-    // Skip the scratch space
-    if (header_.major_version >= 2 && (header_.buffer_size > 0)) {
-        LOG(DEBUG) << " Scratch space found of size: " << header_.buffer_size;
-        size_t init_offset = header_.header_size + header_.buffer_size;
-        pos = lseek(fd_.get(), init_offset, SEEK_SET);
-        if (pos != init_offset) {
-            PLOG(ERROR) << "lseek ops failed";
-            return false;
-        }
-    } else {
-        pos = lseek(fd_.get(), header_.header_size, SEEK_SET);
-        if (pos != header_.header_size) {
-            PLOG(ERROR) << "lseek ops failed";
-            return false;
-        }
-        // Reading a v1 version of COW which doesn't have buffer_size.
-        header_.buffer_size = 0;
-    }
-    uint64_t data_pos = 0;
-
-    if (header_.cluster_ops) {
-        data_pos = pos + header_.cluster_ops * sizeof(CowOperation);
-    } else {
-        data_pos = pos + sizeof(CowOperation);
-    }
-
-    auto ops_buffer = std::make_shared<std::vector<CowOperation>>();
-    uint64_t current_op_num = 0;
-    uint64_t cluster_ops = header_.cluster_ops ?: 1;
-    bool done = false;
-
-    // Alternating op clusters and data
-    while (!done) {
-        uint64_t to_add = std::min(cluster_ops, (fd_size_ - pos) / sizeof(CowOperation));
-        if (to_add == 0) break;
-        ops_buffer->resize(current_op_num + to_add);
-        if (!android::base::ReadFully(fd_, &ops_buffer->data()[current_op_num],
-                                      to_add * sizeof(CowOperation))) {
-            PLOG(ERROR) << "read op failed";
-            return false;
-        }
-        // Parse current cluster to find start of next cluster
-        while (current_op_num < ops_buffer->size()) {
-            auto& current_op = ops_buffer->data()[current_op_num];
-            current_op_num++;
-            if (current_op.type == kCowXorOp) {
-                data_loc->insert({current_op.new_block, data_pos});
-            }
-            pos += sizeof(CowOperation) + GetNextOpOffset(current_op, header_.cluster_ops);
-            data_pos += current_op.data_length + GetNextDataOffset(current_op, header_.cluster_ops);
-
-            if (current_op.type == kCowClusterOp) {
-                break;
-            } else if (current_op.type == kCowLabelOp) {
-                last_label_ = {current_op.source};
-
-                // If we reach the requested label, stop reading.
-                if (label && label.value() == current_op.source) {
-                    done = true;
-                    break;
-                }
-            } else if (current_op.type == kCowFooterOp) {
-                footer_.emplace();
-                CowFooter* footer = &footer_.value();
-                memcpy(&footer_->op, &current_op, sizeof(footer->op));
-                off_t offs = lseek(fd_.get(), pos, SEEK_SET);
-                if (offs < 0 || pos != static_cast<uint64_t>(offs)) {
-                    PLOG(ERROR) << "lseek next op failed " << offs;
-                    return false;
-                }
-                if (!android::base::ReadFully(fd_, &footer->data, sizeof(footer->data))) {
-                    LOG(ERROR) << "Could not read COW footer";
-                    return false;
-                }
-
-                // Drop the footer from the op stream.
-                current_op_num--;
-                done = true;
-                break;
-            } else if (current_op.type == kCowSequenceOp) {
-                has_seq_ops_ = true;
-            }
-        }
-
-        // Position for next cluster read
-        off_t offs = lseek(fd_.get(), pos, SEEK_SET);
-        if (offs < 0 || pos != static_cast<uint64_t>(offs)) {
-            PLOG(ERROR) << "lseek next op failed " << offs;
-            return false;
-        }
-        ops_buffer->resize(current_op_num);
-    }
-
-    LOG(DEBUG) << "COW file read complete. Total ops: " << ops_buffer->size();
-    // To successfully parse a COW file, we need either:
-    //  (1) a label to read up to, and for that label to be found, or
-    //  (2) a valid footer.
-    if (label) {
-        if (!last_label_) {
-            LOG(ERROR) << "Did not find label " << label.value()
-                       << " while reading COW (no labels found)";
-            return false;
-        }
-        if (last_label_.value() != label.value()) {
-            LOG(ERROR) << "Did not find label " << label.value()
-                       << ", last label=" << last_label_.value();
-            return false;
-        }
-    } else if (!footer_) {
-        LOG(ERROR) << "No COW footer found";
-        return false;
-    }
-
-    uint8_t csum[32];
-    memset(csum, 0, sizeof(uint8_t) * 32);
-
-    if (footer_) {
-        if (ops_buffer->size() != footer_->op.num_ops) {
-            LOG(ERROR) << "num ops does not match, expected " << footer_->op.num_ops << ", found "
-                       << ops_buffer->size();
-            return false;
-        }
-        if (ops_buffer->size() * sizeof(CowOperation) != footer_->op.ops_size) {
-            LOG(ERROR) << "ops size does not match ";
-            return false;
-        }
-        SHA256(&footer_->op, sizeof(footer_->op), footer_->data.footer_checksum);
-        if (memcmp(csum, footer_->data.ops_checksum, sizeof(csum)) != 0) {
-            LOG(ERROR) << "ops checksum does not match";
-            return false;
-        }
-        SHA256(ops_buffer->data(), footer_->op.ops_size, csum);
-        if (memcmp(csum, footer_->data.ops_checksum, sizeof(csum)) != 0) {
-            LOG(ERROR) << "ops checksum does not match";
-            return false;
-        }
-    }
-
-    ops_ = ops_buffer;
-    ops_->shrink_to_fit();
-    data_loc_ = data_loc;
-
-    return true;
-}
-
 //
 // This sets up the data needed for MergeOpIter. MergeOpIter presents
 // data in the order we intend to merge in.
@@ -446,7 +245,8 @@
             continue;
         }
 
-        if (!has_seq_ops_ && IsOrderedOp(current_op)) {
+        // Sequence ops must be the first ops in the stream.
+        if (seq_ops_set.empty() && IsOrderedOp(current_op)) {
             merge_op_blocks->emplace_back(current_op.new_block);
         } else if (seq_ops_set.count(current_op.new_block) == 0) {
             other_ops.push_back(current_op.new_block);
@@ -718,8 +518,8 @@
 
 bool CowReader::GetRawBytes(uint64_t offset, void* buffer, size_t len, size_t* read) {
     // Validate the offset, taking care to acknowledge possible overflow of offset+len.
-    if (offset < header_.header_size || offset >= fd_size_ - sizeof(CowFooter) || len >= fd_size_ ||
-        offset + len > fd_size_ - sizeof(CowFooter)) {
+    if (offset < header_.prefix.header_size || offset >= fd_size_ - sizeof(CowFooter) ||
+        len >= fd_size_ || offset + len > fd_size_ - sizeof(CowFooter)) {
         LOG(ERROR) << "invalid data offset: " << offset << ", " << len << " bytes";
         return false;
     }
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/inspect_cow.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/inspect_cow.cpp
index 917cec4..c2c86ee 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/inspect_cow.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/inspect_cow.cpp
@@ -104,8 +104,9 @@
     if (reader.GetFooter(&footer)) has_footer = true;
 
     if (!opt.silent) {
-        std::cout << "Version: " << header.major_version << "." << header.minor_version << "\n";
-        std::cout << "Header size: " << header.header_size << "\n";
+        std::cout << "Version: " << header.prefix.major_version << "."
+                  << header.prefix.minor_version << "\n";
+        std::cout << "Header size: " << header.prefix.header_size << "\n";
         std::cout << "Footer size: " << header.footer_size << "\n";
         std::cout << "Block size: " << header.block_size << "\n";
         std::cout << "Merge ops: " << header.num_merge_ops << "\n";
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/parser_v2.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/parser_v2.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fdb5c59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/parser_v2.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,238 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2023 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+#include "parser_v2.h"
+
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+#include <android-base/file.h>
+#include <android-base/logging.h>
+
+namespace android {
+namespace snapshot {
+
+using android::base::borrowed_fd;
+
+bool ReadCowHeader(android::base::borrowed_fd fd, CowHeader* header) {
+    if (lseek(fd.get(), 0, SEEK_SET) < 0) {
+        PLOG(ERROR) << "lseek header failed";
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    memset(header, 0, sizeof(*header));
+
+    if (!android::base::ReadFully(fd, &header->prefix, sizeof(header->prefix))) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    if (header->prefix.magic != kCowMagicNumber) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "Header Magic corrupted. Magic: " << header->prefix.magic
+                   << "Expected: " << kCowMagicNumber;
+        return false;
+    }
+    if (header->prefix.header_size > sizeof(CowHeader)) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "Unknown CowHeader size (got " << header->prefix.header_size
+                   << " bytes, expected at most " << sizeof(CowHeader) << " bytes)";
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    if (lseek(fd.get(), 0, SEEK_SET) < 0) {
+        PLOG(ERROR) << "lseek header failed";
+        return false;
+    }
+    return android::base::ReadFully(fd, header, header->prefix.header_size);
+}
+
+bool CowParserV2::Parse(borrowed_fd fd, const CowHeader& header, std::optional<uint64_t> label) {
+    auto pos = lseek(fd.get(), 0, SEEK_END);
+    if (pos < 0) {
+        PLOG(ERROR) << "lseek end failed";
+        return false;
+    }
+    fd_size_ = pos;
+    header_ = header;
+
+    if (header_.footer_size != sizeof(CowFooter)) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "Footer size unknown, read " << header_.footer_size << ", expected "
+                   << sizeof(CowFooter);
+        return false;
+    }
+    if (header_.op_size != sizeof(CowOperation)) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "Operation size unknown, read " << header_.op_size << ", expected "
+                   << sizeof(CowOperation);
+        return false;
+    }
+    if (header_.cluster_ops == 1) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "Clusters must contain at least two operations to function.";
+        return false;
+    }
+    if (header_.op_size != sizeof(CowOperation)) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "Operation size unknown, read " << header_.op_size << ", expected "
+                   << sizeof(CowOperation);
+        return false;
+    }
+    if (header_.cluster_ops == 1) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "Clusters must contain at least two operations to function.";
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    if ((header_.prefix.major_version > kCowVersionMajor) ||
+        (header_.prefix.minor_version != kCowVersionMinor)) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "Header version mismatch, "
+                   << "major version: " << header_.prefix.major_version
+                   << ", expected: " << kCowVersionMajor
+                   << ", minor version: " << header_.prefix.minor_version
+                   << ", expected: " << kCowVersionMinor;
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    return ParseOps(fd, label);
+}
+
+bool CowParserV2::ParseOps(borrowed_fd fd, std::optional<uint64_t> label) {
+    uint64_t pos;
+    auto data_loc = std::make_shared<std::unordered_map<uint64_t, uint64_t>>();
+
+    // Skip the scratch space
+    if (header_.prefix.major_version >= 2 && (header_.buffer_size > 0)) {
+        LOG(DEBUG) << " Scratch space found of size: " << header_.buffer_size;
+        size_t init_offset = header_.prefix.header_size + header_.buffer_size;
+        pos = lseek(fd.get(), init_offset, SEEK_SET);
+        if (pos != init_offset) {
+            PLOG(ERROR) << "lseek ops failed";
+            return false;
+        }
+    } else {
+        pos = lseek(fd.get(), header_.prefix.header_size, SEEK_SET);
+        if (pos != header_.prefix.header_size) {
+            PLOG(ERROR) << "lseek ops failed";
+            return false;
+        }
+        // Reading a v1 version of COW which doesn't have buffer_size.
+        header_.buffer_size = 0;
+    }
+    uint64_t data_pos = 0;
+
+    if (header_.cluster_ops) {
+        data_pos = pos + header_.cluster_ops * sizeof(CowOperation);
+    } else {
+        data_pos = pos + sizeof(CowOperation);
+    }
+
+    auto ops_buffer = std::make_shared<std::vector<CowOperation>>();
+    uint64_t current_op_num = 0;
+    uint64_t cluster_ops = header_.cluster_ops ?: 1;
+    bool done = false;
+
+    // Alternating op clusters and data
+    while (!done) {
+        uint64_t to_add = std::min(cluster_ops, (fd_size_ - pos) / sizeof(CowOperation));
+        if (to_add == 0) break;
+        ops_buffer->resize(current_op_num + to_add);
+        if (!android::base::ReadFully(fd, &ops_buffer->data()[current_op_num],
+                                      to_add * sizeof(CowOperation))) {
+            PLOG(ERROR) << "read op failed";
+            return false;
+        }
+        // Parse current cluster to find start of next cluster
+        while (current_op_num < ops_buffer->size()) {
+            auto& current_op = ops_buffer->data()[current_op_num];
+            current_op_num++;
+            if (current_op.type == kCowXorOp) {
+                data_loc->insert({current_op.new_block, data_pos});
+            }
+            pos += sizeof(CowOperation) + GetNextOpOffset(current_op, header_.cluster_ops);
+            data_pos += current_op.data_length + GetNextDataOffset(current_op, header_.cluster_ops);
+
+            if (current_op.type == kCowClusterOp) {
+                break;
+            } else if (current_op.type == kCowLabelOp) {
+                last_label_ = {current_op.source};
+
+                // If we reach the requested label, stop reading.
+                if (label && label.value() == current_op.source) {
+                    done = true;
+                    break;
+                }
+            } else if (current_op.type == kCowFooterOp) {
+                footer_.emplace();
+                CowFooter* footer = &footer_.value();
+                memcpy(&footer_->op, &current_op, sizeof(footer->op));
+                off_t offs = lseek(fd.get(), pos, SEEK_SET);
+                if (offs < 0 || pos != static_cast<uint64_t>(offs)) {
+                    PLOG(ERROR) << "lseek next op failed " << offs;
+                    return false;
+                }
+                if (!android::base::ReadFully(fd, &footer->unused, sizeof(footer->unused))) {
+                    LOG(ERROR) << "Could not read COW footer";
+                    return false;
+                }
+
+                // Drop the footer from the op stream.
+                current_op_num--;
+                done = true;
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Position for next cluster read
+        off_t offs = lseek(fd.get(), pos, SEEK_SET);
+        if (offs < 0 || pos != static_cast<uint64_t>(offs)) {
+            PLOG(ERROR) << "lseek next op failed " << offs;
+            return false;
+        }
+        ops_buffer->resize(current_op_num);
+    }
+
+    LOG(DEBUG) << "COW file read complete. Total ops: " << ops_buffer->size();
+    // To successfully parse a COW file, we need either:
+    //  (1) a label to read up to, and for that label to be found, or
+    //  (2) a valid footer.
+    if (label) {
+        if (!last_label_) {
+            LOG(ERROR) << "Did not find label " << label.value()
+                       << " while reading COW (no labels found)";
+            return false;
+        }
+        if (last_label_.value() != label.value()) {
+            LOG(ERROR) << "Did not find label " << label.value()
+                       << ", last label=" << last_label_.value();
+            return false;
+        }
+    } else if (!footer_) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "No COW footer found";
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    uint8_t csum[32];
+    memset(csum, 0, sizeof(uint8_t) * 32);
+
+    if (footer_) {
+        if (ops_buffer->size() != footer_->op.num_ops) {
+            LOG(ERROR) << "num ops does not match, expected " << footer_->op.num_ops << ", found "
+                       << ops_buffer->size();
+            return false;
+        }
+        if (ops_buffer->size() * sizeof(CowOperation) != footer_->op.ops_size) {
+            LOG(ERROR) << "ops size does not match ";
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    ops_ = ops_buffer;
+    ops_->shrink_to_fit();
+    data_loc_ = data_loc;
+    return true;
+}
+
+}  // namespace snapshot
+}  // namespace android
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/parser_v2.h b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/parser_v2.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..afcf687
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/parser_v2.h
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2023 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+#pragma once
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+
+#include <memory>
+#include <optional>
+#include <unordered_map>
+#include <vector>
+
+#include <android-base/unique_fd.h>
+#include <libsnapshot/cow_format.h>
+
+namespace android {
+namespace snapshot {
+
+class CowParserV2 {
+  public:
+    bool Parse(android::base::borrowed_fd fd, const CowHeader& header,
+               std::optional<uint64_t> label = {});
+
+    const CowHeader& header() const { return header_; }
+    const std::optional<CowFooter>& footer() const { return footer_; }
+    std::shared_ptr<std::vector<CowOperation>> ops() { return ops_; }
+    std::shared_ptr<std::unordered_map<uint64_t, uint64_t>> data_loc() const { return data_loc_; }
+    uint64_t fd_size() const { return fd_size_; }
+    const std::optional<uint64_t>& last_label() const { return last_label_; }
+
+  private:
+    bool ParseOps(android::base::borrowed_fd fd, std::optional<uint64_t> label);
+
+    CowHeader header_ = {};
+    std::optional<CowFooter> footer_;
+    std::shared_ptr<std::vector<CowOperation>> ops_;
+    std::shared_ptr<std::unordered_map<uint64_t, uint64_t>> data_loc_;
+    uint64_t fd_size_;
+    std::optional<uint64_t> last_label_;
+};
+
+bool ReadCowHeader(android::base::borrowed_fd fd, CowHeader* header);
+
+}  // namespace snapshot
+}  // namespace android
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/cow_api_test.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/test_v2.cpp
similarity index 89%
rename from fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/cow_api_test.cpp
rename to fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/test_v2.cpp
index edc9d65..120b2c0 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/cow_api_test.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/test_v2.cpp
@@ -25,7 +25,9 @@
 #include <libsnapshot/cow_reader.h>
 #include <libsnapshot/cow_writer.h>
 #include "cow_decompress.h"
+#include "writer_v2.h"
 
+using android::base::unique_fd;
 using testing::AssertionFailure;
 using testing::AssertionResult;
 using testing::AssertionSuccess;
@@ -42,6 +44,8 @@
 
     virtual void TearDown() override { cow_ = nullptr; }
 
+    unique_fd GetCowFd() { return unique_fd{dup(cow_->fd)}; }
+
     std::unique_ptr<TemporaryFile> cow_;
 };
 
@@ -53,9 +57,9 @@
 TEST_F(CowTest, CopyContiguous) {
     CowOptions options;
     options.cluster_ops = 0;
-    CowWriter writer(options);
+    CowWriterV2 writer(options, GetCowFd());
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize());
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(10, 1000, 100));
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Finalize());
@@ -65,9 +69,9 @@
     ASSERT_TRUE(reader.Parse(cow_->fd));
 
     const auto& header = reader.GetHeader();
-    ASSERT_EQ(header.magic, kCowMagicNumber);
-    ASSERT_EQ(header.major_version, kCowVersionMajor);
-    ASSERT_EQ(header.minor_version, kCowVersionMinor);
+    ASSERT_EQ(header.prefix.magic, kCowMagicNumber);
+    ASSERT_EQ(header.prefix.major_version, kCowVersionMajor);
+    ASSERT_EQ(header.prefix.minor_version, kCowVersionMinor);
     ASSERT_EQ(header.block_size, options.block_size);
 
     CowFooter footer;
@@ -96,9 +100,9 @@
 TEST_F(CowTest, ReadWrite) {
     CowOptions options;
     options.cluster_ops = 0;
-    CowWriter writer(options);
+    CowWriterV2 writer(options, GetCowFd());
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize());
 
     std::string data = "This is some data, believe it";
     data.resize(options.block_size, '\0');
@@ -114,9 +118,9 @@
     ASSERT_TRUE(reader.Parse(cow_->fd));
 
     const auto& header = reader.GetHeader();
-    ASSERT_EQ(header.magic, kCowMagicNumber);
-    ASSERT_EQ(header.major_version, kCowVersionMajor);
-    ASSERT_EQ(header.minor_version, kCowVersionMinor);
+    ASSERT_EQ(header.prefix.magic, kCowMagicNumber);
+    ASSERT_EQ(header.prefix.major_version, kCowVersionMajor);
+    ASSERT_EQ(header.prefix.minor_version, kCowVersionMinor);
     ASSERT_EQ(header.block_size, options.block_size);
 
     CowFooter footer;
@@ -175,9 +179,9 @@
 TEST_F(CowTest, ReadWriteXor) {
     CowOptions options;
     options.cluster_ops = 0;
-    CowWriter writer(options);
+    CowWriterV2 writer(options, GetCowFd());
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize());
 
     std::string data = "This is some data, believe it";
     data.resize(options.block_size, '\0');
@@ -193,9 +197,9 @@
     ASSERT_TRUE(reader.Parse(cow_->fd));
 
     const auto& header = reader.GetHeader();
-    ASSERT_EQ(header.magic, kCowMagicNumber);
-    ASSERT_EQ(header.major_version, kCowVersionMajor);
-    ASSERT_EQ(header.minor_version, kCowVersionMinor);
+    ASSERT_EQ(header.prefix.magic, kCowMagicNumber);
+    ASSERT_EQ(header.prefix.major_version, kCowVersionMajor);
+    ASSERT_EQ(header.prefix.minor_version, kCowVersionMinor);
     ASSERT_EQ(header.block_size, options.block_size);
 
     CowFooter footer;
@@ -256,9 +260,9 @@
     CowOptions options;
     options.cluster_ops = 0;
     options.compression = "gz";
-    CowWriter writer(options);
+    CowWriterV2 writer(options, GetCowFd());
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize());
 
     std::string data = "This is some data, believe it";
     data.resize(options.block_size, '\0');
@@ -296,9 +300,9 @@
     options.compression = GetParam();
     options.num_compress_threads = 2;
 
-    CowWriter writer(options);
+    CowWriterV2 writer(options, GetCowFd());
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize());
 
     std::string xor_data = "This is test data-1. Testing xor";
     xor_data.resize(options.block_size, '\0');
@@ -374,9 +378,9 @@
     options.num_compress_threads = 1;
     options.cluster_ops = 0;
 
-    CowWriter writer(options);
+    CowWriterV2 writer(options, GetCowFd());
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize());
 
     std::string data = "Testing replace ops without batch writes";
     data.resize(options.block_size * 1024, '\0');
@@ -497,9 +501,9 @@
     CowOptions options;
     options.compression = "gz";
     options.cluster_ops = 2;
-    CowWriter writer(options);
+    CowWriterV2 writer(options, GetCowFd());
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize());
 
     std::string data = "This is some data, believe it";
     data.resize(options.block_size, '\0');
@@ -562,9 +566,9 @@
     CowOptions options;
     options.compression = "gz";
     options.cluster_ops = 0;
-    CowWriter writer(options);
+    CowWriterV2 writer(options, GetCowFd());
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize());
 
     std::string data = "This is some data, believe it";
     data.resize(options.block_size * 2, '\0');
@@ -595,12 +599,12 @@
 TEST_F(CowTest, GetSize) {
     CowOptions options;
     options.cluster_ops = 0;
-    CowWriter writer(options);
+    CowWriterV2 writer(options, GetCowFd());
     if (ftruncate(cow_->fd, 0) < 0) {
         perror("Fails to set temp file size");
         FAIL();
     }
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize());
 
     std::string data = "This is some data, believe it";
     data.resize(options.block_size, '\0');
@@ -621,8 +625,8 @@
 TEST_F(CowTest, AppendLabelSmall) {
     CowOptions options;
     options.cluster_ops = 0;
-    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize());
 
     std::string data = "This is some data, believe it";
     data.resize(options.block_size, '\0');
@@ -632,8 +636,8 @@
 
     ASSERT_EQ(lseek(cow_->fd, 0, SEEK_SET), 0);
 
-    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->InitializeAppend(cow_->fd, 3));
+    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize({3}));
 
     std::string data2 = "More data!";
     data2.resize(options.block_size, '\0');
@@ -688,8 +692,8 @@
 TEST_F(CowTest, AppendLabelMissing) {
     CowOptions options;
     options.cluster_ops = 0;
-    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize());
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddLabel(0));
     std::string data = "This is some data, believe it";
@@ -701,9 +705,9 @@
 
     ASSERT_EQ(lseek(cow_->fd, 0, SEEK_SET), 0);
 
-    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_FALSE(writer->InitializeAppend(cow_->fd, 1));
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->InitializeAppend(cow_->fd, 0));
+    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_FALSE(writer->Initialize({1}));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize({0}));
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddZeroBlocks(51, 1));
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
@@ -740,8 +744,8 @@
 TEST_F(CowTest, AppendExtendedCorrupted) {
     CowOptions options;
     options.cluster_ops = 0;
-    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize());
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddLabel(5));
 
@@ -763,8 +767,8 @@
 
     ASSERT_EQ(lseek(cow_->fd, 0, SEEK_SET), 0);
 
-    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->InitializeAppend(cow_->fd, 5));
+    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize({5}));
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
 
@@ -791,8 +795,8 @@
 TEST_F(CowTest, AppendbyLabel) {
     CowOptions options;
     options.cluster_ops = 0;
-    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize());
 
     std::string data = "This is some data, believe it";
     data.resize(options.block_size * 2, '\0');
@@ -810,9 +814,9 @@
 
     ASSERT_EQ(lseek(cow_->fd, 0, SEEK_SET), 0);
 
-    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_FALSE(writer->InitializeAppend(cow_->fd, 12));
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->InitializeAppend(cow_->fd, 5));
+    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_FALSE(writer->Initialize({12}));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize({5}));
 
     // This should drop label 6
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
@@ -879,8 +883,8 @@
 TEST_F(CowTest, ClusterTest) {
     CowOptions options;
     options.cluster_ops = 4;
-    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize());
 
     std::string data = "This is some data, believe it";
     data.resize(options.block_size, '\0');
@@ -976,16 +980,16 @@
 TEST_F(CowTest, ClusterAppendTest) {
     CowOptions options;
     options.cluster_ops = 3;
-    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize());
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddLabel(50));
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());  // Adds a cluster op, should be dropped on append
 
     ASSERT_EQ(lseek(cow_->fd, 0, SEEK_SET), 0);
 
-    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->InitializeAppend(cow_->fd, 50));
+    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize({50}));
 
     std::string data2 = "More data!";
     data2.resize(options.block_size, '\0');
@@ -1037,8 +1041,8 @@
 TEST_F(CowTest, AppendAfterFinalize) {
     CowOptions options;
     options.cluster_ops = 0;
-    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize());
 
     std::string data = "This is some data, believe it";
     data.resize(options.block_size, '\0');
@@ -1058,8 +1062,8 @@
     ASSERT_TRUE(reader.Parse(cow_->fd));
 }
 
-AssertionResult WriteDataBlock(CowWriter* writer, uint64_t new_block, std::string data) {
-    data.resize(writer->options().block_size, '\0');
+AssertionResult WriteDataBlock(ICowWriter* writer, uint64_t new_block, std::string data) {
+    data.resize(writer->GetBlockSize(), '\0');
     if (!writer->AddRawBlocks(new_block, data.data(), data.size())) {
         return AssertionFailure() << "Failed to add raw block";
     }
@@ -1088,8 +1092,8 @@
 TEST_F(CowTest, ResumeMidCluster) {
     CowOptions options;
     options.cluster_ops = 7;
-    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize());
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(WriteDataBlock(writer.get(), 1, "Block 1"));
     ASSERT_TRUE(WriteDataBlock(writer.get(), 2, "Block 2"));
@@ -1099,8 +1103,8 @@
     ASSERT_TRUE(WriteDataBlock(writer.get(), 4, "Block 4"));
     ASSERT_EQ(lseek(cow_->fd, 0, SEEK_SET), 0);
 
-    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->InitializeAppend(cow_->fd, 1));
+    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize({1}));
     ASSERT_TRUE(WriteDataBlock(writer.get(), 4, "Block 4"));
     ASSERT_TRUE(WriteDataBlock(writer.get(), 5, "Block 5"));
     ASSERT_TRUE(WriteDataBlock(writer.get(), 6, "Block 6"));
@@ -1145,8 +1149,8 @@
     CowOptions options;
     int cluster_ops = 5;
     options.cluster_ops = cluster_ops;
-    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize());
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(WriteDataBlock(writer.get(), 1, "Block 1"));
     ASSERT_TRUE(WriteDataBlock(writer.get(), 2, "Block 2"));
@@ -1160,8 +1164,8 @@
     ASSERT_TRUE(WriteDataBlock(writer.get(), 8, "Block 8"));
     ASSERT_EQ(lseek(cow_->fd, 0, SEEK_SET), 0);
 
-    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->InitializeAppend(cow_->fd, 1));
+    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize({1}));
     ASSERT_TRUE(WriteDataBlock(writer.get(), 4, "Block 4"));
     ASSERT_TRUE(WriteDataBlock(writer.get(), 5, "Block 5"));
     ASSERT_TRUE(WriteDataBlock(writer.get(), 6, "Block 6"));
@@ -1205,8 +1209,8 @@
 TEST_F(CowTest, DeleteMidCluster) {
     CowOptions options;
     options.cluster_ops = 7;
-    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize());
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(WriteDataBlock(writer.get(), 1, "Block 1"));
     ASSERT_TRUE(WriteDataBlock(writer.get(), 2, "Block 2"));
@@ -1218,8 +1222,8 @@
     ASSERT_TRUE(WriteDataBlock(writer.get(), 6, "Block 6"));
     ASSERT_EQ(lseek(cow_->fd, 0, SEEK_SET), 0);
 
-    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->InitializeAppend(cow_->fd, 1));
+    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize({1}));
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
     ASSERT_EQ(lseek(cow_->fd, 0, SEEK_SET), 0);
 
@@ -1255,14 +1259,14 @@
 
 TEST_F(CowTest, BigSeqOp) {
     CowOptions options;
-    CowWriter writer(options);
+    CowWriterV2 writer(options, GetCowFd());
     const int seq_len = std::numeric_limits<uint16_t>::max() / sizeof(uint32_t) + 1;
     uint32_t sequence[seq_len];
     for (int i = 0; i < seq_len; i++) {
         sequence[i] = i + 1;
     }
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize());
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddSequenceData(seq_len, sequence));
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddZeroBlocks(1, seq_len));
@@ -1287,14 +1291,14 @@
 
 TEST_F(CowTest, MissingSeqOp) {
     CowOptions options;
-    CowWriter writer(options);
+    CowWriterV2 writer(options, GetCowFd());
     const int seq_len = 10;
     uint32_t sequence[seq_len];
     for (int i = 0; i < seq_len; i++) {
         sequence[i] = i + 1;
     }
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize());
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddSequenceData(seq_len, sequence));
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddZeroBlocks(1, seq_len - 1));
@@ -1308,14 +1312,14 @@
 
 TEST_F(CowTest, ResumeSeqOp) {
     CowOptions options;
-    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
+    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
     const int seq_len = 10;
     uint32_t sequence[seq_len];
     for (int i = 0; i < seq_len; i++) {
         sequence[i] = i + 1;
     }
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize());
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddSequenceData(seq_len, sequence));
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddZeroBlocks(1, seq_len / 2));
@@ -1328,8 +1332,8 @@
     auto itr = reader->GetRevMergeOpIter();
     ASSERT_TRUE(itr->AtEnd());
 
-    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->InitializeAppend(cow_->fd, 1));
+    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize({1}));
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddZeroBlocks(1 + seq_len / 2, seq_len / 2));
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
 
@@ -1358,10 +1362,10 @@
     CowOptions options;
     options.cluster_ops = 5;
     options.num_merge_ops = 1;
-    CowWriter writer(options);
+    CowWriterV2 writer(options, GetCowFd());
     uint32_t sequence[] = {2, 10, 6, 7, 3, 5};
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize());
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddSequenceData(6, sequence));
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(6, 13));
@@ -1408,9 +1412,9 @@
     CowOptions options;
     options.cluster_ops = 5;
     options.num_merge_ops = 1;
-    CowWriter writer(options);
+    CowWriterV2 writer(options, GetCowFd());
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize());
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(2, 11));
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(10, 12));
@@ -1459,10 +1463,10 @@
     options.num_merge_ops = 1;
     std::string data = "This is some data, believe it";
     data.resize(options.block_size, '\0');
-    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
+    auto writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
     CowReader reader;
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize());
 
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(3, 2));
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(2, 1));
@@ -1471,14 +1475,14 @@
     ASSERT_TRUE(reader.Parse(cow_->fd));
     ASSERT_TRUE(reader.VerifyMergeOps());
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->InitializeAppend(cow_->fd, 1));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize({1}));
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(4, 2));
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
     ASSERT_TRUE(reader.Parse(cow_->fd));
     ASSERT_FALSE(reader.VerifyMergeOps());
 
-    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize(cow_->fd));
+    writer = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options, GetCowFd());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Initialize());
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(2, 1));
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddXorBlocks(3, &data, data.size(), 1, 1));
     ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/writer_base.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/writer_base.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..22e63d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/writer_base.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,163 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2023 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#include "writer_base.h"
+
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <linux/fs.h>
+#include <sys/ioctl.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+#include <android-base/logging.h>
+
+// The info messages here are spammy, but as useful for update_engine. Disable
+// them when running on the host.
+#ifdef __ANDROID__
+#define LOG_INFO LOG(INFO)
+#else
+#define LOG_INFO LOG(VERBOSE)
+#endif
+
+namespace android {
+namespace snapshot {
+
+using android::base::borrowed_fd;
+using android::base::unique_fd;
+
+namespace {
+std::string GetFdPath(borrowed_fd fd) {
+    const auto fd_path = "/proc/self/fd/" + std::to_string(fd.get());
+    std::string file_path(512, '\0');
+    const auto err = readlink(fd_path.c_str(), file_path.data(), file_path.size());
+    if (err <= 0) {
+        PLOG(ERROR) << "Failed to determine path for fd " << fd.get();
+        file_path.clear();
+    } else {
+        file_path.resize(err);
+    }
+    return file_path;
+}
+}  // namespace
+
+CowWriterBase::CowWriterBase(const CowOptions& options, unique_fd&& fd)
+    : options_(options), fd_(std::move(fd)) {}
+
+bool CowWriterBase::InitFd() {
+    if (fd_.get() < 0) {
+        fd_.reset(open("/dev/null", O_RDWR | O_CLOEXEC));
+        if (fd_ < 0) {
+            PLOG(ERROR) << "open /dev/null failed";
+            return false;
+        }
+        is_dev_null_ = true;
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    struct stat stat {};
+    if (fstat(fd_.get(), &stat) < 0) {
+        PLOG(ERROR) << "fstat failed";
+        return false;
+    }
+    const auto file_path = GetFdPath(fd_);
+    is_block_device_ = S_ISBLK(stat.st_mode);
+    if (is_block_device_) {
+        uint64_t size_in_bytes = 0;
+        if (ioctl(fd_.get(), BLKGETSIZE64, &size_in_bytes)) {
+            PLOG(ERROR) << "Failed to get total size for: " << fd_.get();
+            return false;
+        }
+        cow_image_size_ = size_in_bytes;
+        LOG_INFO << "COW image " << file_path << " has size " << size_in_bytes;
+    } else {
+        LOG_INFO << "COW image " << file_path
+                 << " is not a block device, assuming unlimited space.";
+    }
+    return true;
+}
+
+bool CowWriterBase::AddCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block, uint64_t num_blocks) {
+    CHECK(num_blocks != 0);
+
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < num_blocks; i++) {
+        if (!ValidateNewBlock(new_block + i)) {
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    return EmitCopy(new_block, old_block, num_blocks);
+}
+
+bool CowWriterBase::AddRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size) {
+    if (size % options_.block_size != 0) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "AddRawBlocks: size " << size << " is not a multiple of "
+                   << options_.block_size;
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    uint64_t num_blocks = size / options_.block_size;
+    uint64_t last_block = new_block_start + num_blocks - 1;
+    if (!ValidateNewBlock(last_block)) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    return EmitRawBlocks(new_block_start, data, size);
+}
+
+bool CowWriterBase::AddXorBlocks(uint32_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size,
+                                 uint32_t old_block, uint16_t offset) {
+    if (size % options_.block_size != 0) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "AddRawBlocks: size " << size << " is not a multiple of "
+                   << options_.block_size;
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    uint64_t num_blocks = size / options_.block_size;
+    uint64_t last_block = new_block_start + num_blocks - 1;
+    if (!ValidateNewBlock(last_block)) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    if (offset >= options_.block_size) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "AddXorBlocks: offset " << offset << " is not less than "
+                   << options_.block_size;
+    }
+    return EmitXorBlocks(new_block_start, data, size, old_block, offset);
+}
+
+bool CowWriterBase::AddZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) {
+    uint64_t last_block = new_block_start + num_blocks - 1;
+    if (!ValidateNewBlock(last_block)) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    return EmitZeroBlocks(new_block_start, num_blocks);
+}
+
+bool CowWriterBase::AddLabel(uint64_t label) {
+    return EmitLabel(label);
+}
+
+bool CowWriterBase::AddSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data) {
+    return EmitSequenceData(num_ops, data);
+}
+
+bool CowWriterBase::ValidateNewBlock(uint64_t new_block) {
+    if (options_.max_blocks && new_block >= options_.max_blocks.value()) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "New block " << new_block << " exceeds maximum block count "
+                   << options_.max_blocks.value();
+        return false;
+    }
+    return true;
+}
+
+}  // namespace snapshot
+}  // namespace android
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/writer_base.h b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/writer_base.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8fa9065
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/writer_base.h
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2023 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <libsnapshot/cow_writer.h>
+
+namespace android {
+namespace snapshot {
+
+class CowWriterBase : public ICowWriter {
+  public:
+    CowWriterBase(const CowOptions& options, android::base::unique_fd&& fd);
+    virtual ~CowWriterBase() {}
+
+    // Set up the writer.
+    // The file starts from the beginning.
+    //
+    // If fd is < 0, the CowWriter will be opened against /dev/null. This is for
+    // computing COW sizes without using storage space.
+    //
+    // If a label is given, any operations after the given label will be dropped.
+    // If the given label is not found, Initialize will fail.
+    virtual bool Initialize(std::optional<uint64_t> label = {}) = 0;
+
+    bool AddCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block, uint64_t num_blocks = 1) override;
+    bool AddRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size) override;
+    bool AddXorBlocks(uint32_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size, uint32_t old_block,
+                      uint16_t offset) override;
+    bool AddZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) override;
+    bool AddLabel(uint64_t label) override;
+    bool AddSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data) override;
+    uint32_t GetBlockSize() const override { return options_.block_size; }
+    std::optional<uint32_t> GetMaxBlocks() const override { return options_.max_blocks; }
+
+    const CowOptions& options() const { return options_; }
+
+  protected:
+    virtual bool EmitCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block, uint64_t num_blocks = 1) = 0;
+    virtual bool EmitRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size) = 0;
+    virtual bool EmitXorBlocks(uint32_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size,
+                               uint32_t old_block, uint16_t offset) = 0;
+    virtual bool EmitZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) = 0;
+    virtual bool EmitLabel(uint64_t label) = 0;
+    virtual bool EmitSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data) = 0;
+
+    bool InitFd();
+    bool ValidateNewBlock(uint64_t new_block);
+
+    CowOptions options_;
+    CowHeader header_{};
+
+    android::base::unique_fd fd_;
+    bool is_dev_null_ = false;
+    bool is_block_device_ = false;
+    uint64_t cow_image_size_ = INT64_MAX;
+};
+
+}  // namespace snapshot
+}  // namespace android
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/cow_writer.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/writer_v2.cpp
similarity index 73%
rename from fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/cow_writer.cpp
rename to fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/writer_v2.cpp
index 0e18979..b6603da 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/cow_writer.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/writer_v2.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@
 #include <sys/ioctl.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
+#include "writer_v2.h"
+
 // The info messages here are spammy, but as useful for update_engine. Disable
 // them when running on the host.
 #ifdef __ANDROID__
@@ -48,104 +50,17 @@
 namespace android {
 namespace snapshot {
 
-namespace {
-std::string GetFdPath(int fd) {
-    const auto fd_path = "/proc/self/fd/" + std::to_string(fd);
-    std::string file_path(512, '\0');
-    const auto err = readlink(fd_path.c_str(), file_path.data(), file_path.size());
-    if (err <= 0) {
-        PLOG(ERROR) << "Failed to determine path for fd " << fd;
-        file_path.clear();
-    } else {
-        file_path.resize(err);
-    }
-    return file_path;
-}
-}  // namespace
-
 static_assert(sizeof(off_t) == sizeof(uint64_t));
 
-using android::base::borrowed_fd;
 using android::base::unique_fd;
 
-bool ICowWriter::AddCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block, uint64_t num_blocks) {
-    CHECK(num_blocks != 0);
-
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < num_blocks; i++) {
-        if (!ValidateNewBlock(new_block + i)) {
-            return false;
-        }
-    }
-
-    return EmitCopy(new_block, old_block, num_blocks);
-}
-
-bool ICowWriter::AddRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size) {
-    if (size % options_.block_size != 0) {
-        LOG(ERROR) << "AddRawBlocks: size " << size << " is not a multiple of "
-                   << options_.block_size;
-        return false;
-    }
-
-    uint64_t num_blocks = size / options_.block_size;
-    uint64_t last_block = new_block_start + num_blocks - 1;
-    if (!ValidateNewBlock(last_block)) {
-        return false;
-    }
-    return EmitRawBlocks(new_block_start, data, size);
-}
-
-bool ICowWriter::AddXorBlocks(uint32_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size,
-                              uint32_t old_block, uint16_t offset) {
-    if (size % options_.block_size != 0) {
-        LOG(ERROR) << "AddRawBlocks: size " << size << " is not a multiple of "
-                   << options_.block_size;
-        return false;
-    }
-
-    uint64_t num_blocks = size / options_.block_size;
-    uint64_t last_block = new_block_start + num_blocks - 1;
-    if (!ValidateNewBlock(last_block)) {
-        return false;
-    }
-    if (offset >= options_.block_size) {
-        LOG(ERROR) << "AddXorBlocks: offset " << offset << " is not less than "
-                   << options_.block_size;
-    }
-    return EmitXorBlocks(new_block_start, data, size, old_block, offset);
-}
-
-bool ICowWriter::AddZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) {
-    uint64_t last_block = new_block_start + num_blocks - 1;
-    if (!ValidateNewBlock(last_block)) {
-        return false;
-    }
-    return EmitZeroBlocks(new_block_start, num_blocks);
-}
-
-bool ICowWriter::AddLabel(uint64_t label) {
-    return EmitLabel(label);
-}
-
-bool ICowWriter::AddSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data) {
-    return EmitSequenceData(num_ops, data);
-}
-
-bool ICowWriter::ValidateNewBlock(uint64_t new_block) {
-    if (options_.max_blocks && new_block >= options_.max_blocks.value()) {
-        LOG(ERROR) << "New block " << new_block << " exceeds maximum block count "
-                   << options_.max_blocks.value();
-        return false;
-    }
-    return true;
-}
-
-CowWriter::CowWriter(const CowOptions& options) : ICowWriter(options), fd_(-1) {
+CowWriterV2::CowWriterV2(const CowOptions& options, unique_fd&& fd)
+    : CowWriterBase(options, std::move(fd)) {
     SetupHeaders();
     SetupWriteOptions();
 }
 
-CowWriter::~CowWriter() {
+CowWriterV2::~CowWriterV2() {
     for (size_t i = 0; i < compress_threads_.size(); i++) {
         CompressWorker* worker = compress_threads_[i].get();
         if (worker) {
@@ -164,7 +79,7 @@
     compress_threads_.clear();
 }
 
-void CowWriter::SetupWriteOptions() {
+void CowWriterV2::SetupWriteOptions() {
     num_compress_threads_ = options_.num_compress_threads;
 
     if (!num_compress_threads_) {
@@ -184,12 +99,12 @@
     }
 }
 
-void CowWriter::SetupHeaders() {
+void CowWriterV2::SetupHeaders() {
     header_ = {};
-    header_.magic = kCowMagicNumber;
-    header_.major_version = kCowVersionMajor;
-    header_.minor_version = kCowVersionMinor;
-    header_.header_size = sizeof(CowHeader);
+    header_.prefix.magic = kCowMagicNumber;
+    header_.prefix.major_version = kCowVersionMajor;
+    header_.prefix.minor_version = kCowVersionMinor;
+    header_.prefix.header_size = sizeof(CowHeader);
     header_.footer_size = sizeof(CowFooter);
     header_.op_size = sizeof(CowOperation);
     header_.block_size = options_.block_size;
@@ -201,7 +116,7 @@
     footer_.op.type = kCowFooterOp;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::ParseOptions() {
+bool CowWriterV2::ParseOptions() {
     auto algorithm = CompressionAlgorithmFromString(options_.compression);
     if (!algorithm) {
         LOG(ERROR) << "unrecognized compression: " << options_.compression;
@@ -216,42 +131,7 @@
     return true;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::SetFd(android::base::borrowed_fd fd) {
-    if (fd.get() < 0) {
-        owned_fd_.reset(open("/dev/null", O_RDWR | O_CLOEXEC));
-        if (owned_fd_ < 0) {
-            PLOG(ERROR) << "open /dev/null failed";
-            return false;
-        }
-        fd_ = owned_fd_;
-        is_dev_null_ = true;
-    } else {
-        fd_ = fd;
-
-        struct stat stat {};
-        if (fstat(fd.get(), &stat) < 0) {
-            PLOG(ERROR) << "fstat failed";
-            return false;
-        }
-        const auto file_path = GetFdPath(fd.get());
-        is_block_device_ = S_ISBLK(stat.st_mode);
-        if (is_block_device_) {
-            uint64_t size_in_bytes = 0;
-            if (ioctl(fd.get(), BLKGETSIZE64, &size_in_bytes)) {
-                PLOG(ERROR) << "Failed to get total size for: " << fd.get();
-                return false;
-            }
-            cow_image_size_ = size_in_bytes;
-            LOG_INFO << "COW image " << file_path << " has size " << size_in_bytes;
-        } else {
-            LOG_INFO << "COW image " << file_path
-                     << " is not a block device, assuming unlimited space.";
-        }
-    }
-    return true;
-}
-
-void CowWriter::InitBatchWrites() {
+void CowWriterV2::InitBatchWrites() {
     if (batch_write_) {
         cowop_vec_ = std::make_unique<struct iovec[]>(header_.cluster_ops);
         data_vec_ = std::make_unique<struct iovec[]>(header_.cluster_ops);
@@ -277,7 +157,7 @@
     LOG_INFO << "Batch writes: " << batch_write;
 }
 
-void CowWriter::InitWorkers() {
+void CowWriterV2::InitWorkers() {
     if (num_compress_threads_ <= 1) {
         LOG_INFO << "Not creating new threads for compression.";
         return;
@@ -291,44 +171,27 @@
     LOG_INFO << num_compress_threads_ << " thread used for compression";
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::Initialize(unique_fd&& fd) {
-    owned_fd_ = std::move(fd);
-    return Initialize(borrowed_fd{owned_fd_});
-}
-
-bool CowWriter::Initialize(borrowed_fd fd) {
-    if (!SetFd(fd) || !ParseOptions()) {
+bool CowWriterV2::Initialize(std::optional<uint64_t> label) {
+    if (!InitFd() || !ParseOptions()) {
         return false;
     }
-
-    if (!OpenForWrite()) {
-        return false;
+    if (!label) {
+        if (!OpenForWrite()) {
+            return false;
+        }
+    } else {
+        if (!OpenForAppend(*label)) {
+            return false;
+        }
     }
 
-    InitWorkers();
+    if (!compress_threads_.size()) {
+        InitWorkers();
+    }
     return true;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::InitializeAppend(android::base::unique_fd&& fd, uint64_t label) {
-    owned_fd_ = std::move(fd);
-    return InitializeAppend(android::base::borrowed_fd{owned_fd_}, label);
-}
-
-bool CowWriter::InitializeAppend(android::base::borrowed_fd fd, uint64_t label) {
-    if (!SetFd(fd) || !ParseOptions()) {
-        return false;
-    }
-
-    bool ret = OpenForAppend(label);
-
-    if (ret && !compress_threads_.size()) {
-        InitWorkers();
-    }
-
-    return ret;
-}
-
-void CowWriter::InitPos() {
+void CowWriterV2::InitPos() {
     next_op_pos_ = sizeof(header_) + header_.buffer_size;
     cluster_size_ = header_.cluster_ops * sizeof(CowOperation);
     if (header_.cluster_ops) {
@@ -340,7 +203,7 @@
     current_data_size_ = 0;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::OpenForWrite() {
+bool CowWriterV2::OpenForWrite() {
     // This limitation is tied to the data field size in CowOperation.
     if (header_.block_size > std::numeric_limits<uint16_t>::max()) {
         LOG(ERROR) << "Block size is too large";
@@ -388,7 +251,7 @@
     return true;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::OpenForAppend(uint64_t label) {
+bool CowWriterV2::OpenForAppend(uint64_t label) {
     auto reader = std::make_unique<CowReader>();
     std::queue<CowOperation> toAdd;
 
@@ -424,7 +287,7 @@
     return EmitClusterIfNeeded();
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::EmitCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block, uint64_t num_blocks) {
+bool CowWriterV2::EmitCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block, uint64_t num_blocks) {
     CHECK(!merge_in_progress_);
 
     for (size_t i = 0; i < num_blocks; i++) {
@@ -440,16 +303,16 @@
     return true;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::EmitRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size) {
+bool CowWriterV2::EmitRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size) {
     return EmitBlocks(new_block_start, data, size, 0, 0, kCowReplaceOp);
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::EmitXorBlocks(uint32_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size,
-                              uint32_t old_block, uint16_t offset) {
+bool CowWriterV2::EmitXorBlocks(uint32_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size,
+                                uint32_t old_block, uint16_t offset) {
     return EmitBlocks(new_block_start, data, size, old_block, offset, kCowXorOp);
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::CompressBlocks(size_t num_blocks, const void* data) {
+bool CowWriterV2::CompressBlocks(size_t num_blocks, const void* data) {
     size_t num_threads = (num_blocks == 1) ? 1 : num_compress_threads_;
     size_t num_blocks_per_thread = num_blocks / num_threads;
     const uint8_t* iter = reinterpret_cast<const uint8_t*>(data);
@@ -483,8 +346,8 @@
     return true;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::EmitBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size,
-                           uint64_t old_block, uint16_t offset, uint8_t type) {
+bool CowWriterV2::EmitBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size,
+                             uint64_t old_block, uint16_t offset, uint8_t type) {
     CHECK(!merge_in_progress_);
     const uint8_t* iter = reinterpret_cast<const uint8_t*>(data);
 
@@ -558,7 +421,7 @@
     return true;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::EmitZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) {
+bool CowWriterV2::EmitZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) {
     CHECK(!merge_in_progress_);
     for (uint64_t i = 0; i < num_blocks; i++) {
         CowOperation op = {};
@@ -570,7 +433,7 @@
     return true;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::EmitLabel(uint64_t label) {
+bool CowWriterV2::EmitLabel(uint64_t label) {
     CHECK(!merge_in_progress_);
     CowOperation op = {};
     op.type = kCowLabelOp;
@@ -578,7 +441,7 @@
     return WriteOperation(op) && Sync();
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::EmitSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data) {
+bool CowWriterV2::EmitSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data) {
     CHECK(!merge_in_progress_);
     size_t to_add = 0;
     size_t max_ops = (header_.block_size * 2) / sizeof(uint32_t);
@@ -598,7 +461,7 @@
     return true;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::EmitCluster() {
+bool CowWriterV2::EmitCluster() {
     CowOperation op = {};
     op.type = kCowClusterOp;
     // Next cluster starts after remainder of current cluster and the next data block.
@@ -606,7 +469,7 @@
     return WriteOperation(op);
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::EmitClusterIfNeeded() {
+bool CowWriterV2::EmitClusterIfNeeded() {
     // If there isn't room for another op and the cluster end op, end the current cluster
     if (cluster_size_ && cluster_size_ < current_cluster_size_ + 2 * sizeof(CowOperation)) {
         if (!EmitCluster()) return false;
@@ -614,18 +477,7 @@
     return true;
 }
 
-// TODO: Fix compilation issues when linking libcrypto library
-// when snapuserd is compiled as part of ramdisk.
-static void SHA256(const void*, size_t, uint8_t[]) {
-#if 0
-    SHA256_CTX c;
-    SHA256_Init(&c);
-    SHA256_Update(&c, data, length);
-    SHA256_Final(out, &c);
-#endif
-}
-
-bool CowWriter::Finalize() {
+bool CowWriterV2::Finalize() {
     if (!FlushCluster()) {
         LOG(ERROR) << "Finalize: FlushCluster() failed";
         return false;
@@ -665,10 +517,8 @@
         PLOG(ERROR) << "Failed to seek to footer position.";
         return false;
     }
-    memset(&footer_.data.ops_checksum, 0, sizeof(uint8_t) * 32);
-    memset(&footer_.data.footer_checksum, 0, sizeof(uint8_t) * 32);
+    memset(&footer_.unused, 0, sizeof(footer_.unused));
 
-    SHA256(&footer_.op, sizeof(footer_.op), footer_.data.footer_checksum);
     // Write out footer at end of file
     if (!android::base::WriteFully(fd_, reinterpret_cast<const uint8_t*>(&footer_),
                                    sizeof(footer_))) {
@@ -701,7 +551,7 @@
     return Sync();
 }
 
-uint64_t CowWriter::GetCowSize() {
+uint64_t CowWriterV2::GetCowSize() {
     if (current_data_size_ > 0) {
         return next_data_pos_ + sizeof(footer_);
     } else {
@@ -709,7 +559,7 @@
     }
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::GetDataPos(uint64_t* pos) {
+bool CowWriterV2::GetDataPos(uint64_t* pos) {
     off_t offs = lseek(fd_.get(), 0, SEEK_CUR);
     if (offs < 0) {
         PLOG(ERROR) << "lseek failed";
@@ -719,7 +569,7 @@
     return true;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::EnsureSpaceAvailable(const uint64_t bytes_needed) const {
+bool CowWriterV2::EnsureSpaceAvailable(const uint64_t bytes_needed) const {
     if (bytes_needed > cow_image_size_) {
         LOG(ERROR) << "No space left on COW device. Required: " << bytes_needed
                    << ", available: " << cow_image_size_;
@@ -729,7 +579,7 @@
     return true;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::FlushCluster() {
+bool CowWriterV2::FlushCluster() {
     ssize_t ret;
 
     if (op_vec_index_) {
@@ -758,7 +608,7 @@
     return true;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::WriteOperation(const CowOperation& op, const void* data, size_t size) {
+bool CowWriterV2::WriteOperation(const CowOperation& op, const void* data, size_t size) {
     if (!EnsureSpaceAvailable(next_op_pos_ + sizeof(op))) {
         return false;
     }
@@ -806,7 +656,7 @@
     return EmitClusterIfNeeded();
 }
 
-void CowWriter::AddOperation(const CowOperation& op) {
+void CowWriterV2::AddOperation(const CowOperation& op) {
     footer_.op.num_ops++;
 
     if (op.type == kCowClusterOp) {
@@ -821,14 +671,14 @@
     next_op_pos_ += sizeof(CowOperation) + GetNextOpOffset(op, header_.cluster_ops);
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::WriteRawData(const void* data, const size_t size) {
+bool CowWriterV2::WriteRawData(const void* data, const size_t size) {
     if (!android::base::WriteFullyAtOffset(fd_, data, size, next_data_pos_)) {
         return false;
     }
     return true;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::Sync() {
+bool CowWriterV2::Sync() {
     if (is_dev_null_) {
         return true;
     }
@@ -839,7 +689,7 @@
     return true;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::Truncate(off_t length) {
+bool CowWriterV2::Truncate(off_t length) {
     if (is_dev_null_ || is_block_device_) {
         return true;
     }
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/writer_v2.h b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/writer_v2.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..809ae57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/writer_v2.h
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2023 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include "writer_base.h"
+
+namespace android {
+namespace snapshot {
+
+class CowWriterV2 : public CowWriterBase {
+  public:
+    explicit CowWriterV2(const CowOptions& options, android::base::unique_fd&& fd);
+    ~CowWriterV2() override;
+
+    bool Initialize(std::optional<uint64_t> label = {}) override;
+    bool Finalize() override;
+    uint64_t GetCowSize() override;
+
+  protected:
+    virtual bool EmitCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block, uint64_t num_blocks = 1) override;
+    virtual bool EmitRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size) override;
+    virtual bool EmitXorBlocks(uint32_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size,
+                               uint32_t old_block, uint16_t offset) override;
+    virtual bool EmitZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) override;
+    virtual bool EmitLabel(uint64_t label) override;
+    virtual bool EmitSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data) override;
+
+  private:
+    bool EmitCluster();
+    bool EmitClusterIfNeeded();
+    bool EmitBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size, uint64_t old_block,
+                    uint16_t offset, uint8_t type);
+    void SetupHeaders();
+    void SetupWriteOptions();
+    bool ParseOptions();
+    bool OpenForWrite();
+    bool OpenForAppend(uint64_t label);
+    bool GetDataPos(uint64_t* pos);
+    bool WriteRawData(const void* data, size_t size);
+    bool WriteOperation(const CowOperation& op, const void* data = nullptr, size_t size = 0);
+    void AddOperation(const CowOperation& op);
+    void InitPos();
+    void InitBatchWrites();
+    void InitWorkers();
+    bool FlushCluster();
+
+    bool CompressBlocks(size_t num_blocks, const void* data);
+    bool Sync();
+    bool Truncate(off_t length);
+    bool EnsureSpaceAvailable(const uint64_t bytes_needed) const;
+
+  private:
+    CowFooter footer_{};
+    CowCompressionAlgorithm compression_ = kCowCompressNone;
+    uint64_t current_op_pos_ = 0;
+    uint64_t next_op_pos_ = 0;
+    uint64_t next_data_pos_ = 0;
+    uint64_t current_data_pos_ = 0;
+    ssize_t total_data_written_ = 0;
+    uint32_t cluster_size_ = 0;
+    uint32_t current_cluster_size_ = 0;
+    uint64_t current_data_size_ = 0;
+    bool merge_in_progress_ = false;
+
+    int num_compress_threads_ = 1;
+    std::vector<std::unique_ptr<CompressWorker>> compress_threads_;
+    std::vector<std::future<bool>> threads_;
+    std::vector<std::basic_string<uint8_t>> compressed_buf_;
+    std::vector<std::basic_string<uint8_t>>::iterator buf_iter_;
+
+    std::vector<std::unique_ptr<CowOperation>> opbuffer_vec_;
+    std::vector<std::unique_ptr<uint8_t[]>> databuffer_vec_;
+    std::unique_ptr<struct iovec[]> cowop_vec_;
+    int op_vec_index_ = 0;
+
+    std::unique_ptr<struct iovec[]> data_vec_;
+    int data_vec_index_ = 0;
+    bool batch_write_ = false;
+};
+
+}  // namespace snapshot
+}  // namespace android
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot.cpp
index 2661482..5920bc2 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot.cpp
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@
 #include <android/snapshot/snapshot.pb.h>
 #include <libsnapshot/snapshot_stats.h>
 #include "device_info.h"
+#include "libsnapshot_cow/writer_v2.h"
 #include "partition_cow_creator.h"
 #include "snapshot_metadata_updater.h"
 #include "snapshot_reader.h"
@@ -3202,39 +3203,20 @@
     CHECK(current_metadata->GetBlockDevicePartitionName(0) == LP_METADATA_DEFAULT_PARTITION_NAME &&
           target_metadata->GetBlockDevicePartitionName(0) == LP_METADATA_DEFAULT_PARTITION_NAME);
 
-    std::map<std::string, SnapshotStatus> all_snapshot_status;
-
-    // In case of error, automatically delete devices that are created along the way.
-    // Note that "lock" is destroyed after "created_devices", so it is safe to use |lock| for
-    // these devices.
-    AutoDeviceList created_devices;
-
     const auto& dap_metadata = manifest.dynamic_partition_metadata();
-    CowOptions options;
-    CowWriter writer(options);
-    bool cow_format_support = true;
-    if (dap_metadata.cow_version() < writer.GetCowVersion()) {
-        cow_format_support = false;
-    }
-
-    LOG(INFO) << " dap_metadata.cow_version(): " << dap_metadata.cow_version()
-              << " writer.GetCowVersion(): " << writer.GetCowVersion();
-
-    // Deduce supported features.
-    bool userspace_snapshots = CanUseUserspaceSnapshots();
-    bool legacy_compression = GetLegacyCompressionEnabledProperty();
 
     std::string vabc_disable_reason;
     if (!dap_metadata.vabc_enabled()) {
         vabc_disable_reason = "not enabled metadata";
     } else if (device_->IsRecovery()) {
         vabc_disable_reason = "recovery";
-    } else if (!cow_format_support) {
-        vabc_disable_reason = "cow format not supported";
     } else if (!KernelSupportsCompressedSnapshots()) {
         vabc_disable_reason = "kernel missing userspace block device support";
     }
 
+    // Deduce supported features.
+    bool userspace_snapshots = CanUseUserspaceSnapshots();
+    bool legacy_compression = GetLegacyCompressionEnabledProperty();
     if (!vabc_disable_reason.empty()) {
         if (userspace_snapshots) {
             LOG(INFO) << "Userspace snapshots disabled: " << vabc_disable_reason;
@@ -3246,6 +3228,16 @@
         legacy_compression = false;
     }
 
+    if (legacy_compression || userspace_snapshots) {
+        if (dap_metadata.cow_version() < kMinCowVersion ||
+            dap_metadata.cow_version() > kMaxCowVersion) {
+            LOG(ERROR) << "Manifest cow version is out of bounds (got: "
+                       << dap_metadata.cow_version() << ", min: " << kMinCowVersion
+                       << ", max: " << kMaxCowVersion << ")";
+            return Return::Error();
+        }
+    }
+
     const bool using_snapuserd = userspace_snapshots || legacy_compression;
     if (!using_snapuserd) {
         LOG(INFO) << "Using legacy Virtual A/B (dm-snapshot)";
@@ -3278,6 +3270,11 @@
         cow_creator.batched_writes = dap_metadata.vabc_feature_set().batch_writes();
     }
 
+    // In case of error, automatically delete devices that are created along the way.
+    // Note that "lock" is destroyed after "created_devices", so it is safe to use |lock| for
+    // these devices.
+    AutoDeviceList created_devices;
+    std::map<std::string, SnapshotStatus> all_snapshot_status;
     auto ret = CreateUpdateSnapshotsInternal(lock.get(), manifest, &cow_creator, &created_devices,
                                              &all_snapshot_status);
     if (!ret.is_ok()) {
@@ -3561,8 +3558,8 @@
             }
             options.compression = it->second.compression_algorithm();
 
-            CowWriter writer(options);
-            if (!writer.Initialize(fd) || !writer.Finalize()) {
+            CowWriterV2 writer(options, std::move(fd));
+            if (!writer.Initialize(std::nullopt) || !writer.Finalize()) {
                 LOG(ERROR) << "Could not initialize COW device for " << target_partition->name();
                 return Return::Error();
             }
@@ -3651,12 +3648,13 @@
         return nullptr;
     }
 
-    if (status.using_snapuserd()) {
-        return OpenCompressedSnapshotWriter(lock.get(), source_device, params.GetPartitionName(),
-                                            status, paths);
+    if (!status.using_snapuserd()) {
+        LOG(ERROR) << "Can only create snapshot writers with userspace or compressed snapshots";
+        return nullptr;
     }
-    return OpenKernelSnapshotWriter(lock.get(), source_device, params.GetPartitionName(), status,
-                                    paths);
+
+    return OpenCompressedSnapshotWriter(lock.get(), source_device, params.GetPartitionName(),
+                                        status, paths);
 #endif
 }
 
@@ -3704,34 +3702,6 @@
 
     return writer;
 }
-
-std::unique_ptr<ISnapshotWriter> SnapshotManager::OpenKernelSnapshotWriter(
-        LockedFile* lock, const std::optional<std::string>& source_device,
-        [[maybe_unused]] const std::string& partition_name, const SnapshotStatus& status,
-        const SnapshotPaths& paths) {
-    CHECK(lock);
-
-    CowOptions cow_options;
-    cow_options.max_blocks = {status.device_size() / cow_options.block_size};
-
-    auto writer = std::make_unique<OnlineKernelSnapshotWriter>(cow_options);
-
-    std::string path = paths.snapshot_device.empty() ? paths.target_device : paths.snapshot_device;
-    unique_fd fd(open(path.c_str(), O_RDWR | O_CLOEXEC));
-    if (fd < 0) {
-        PLOG(ERROR) << "open failed: " << path;
-        return nullptr;
-    }
-
-    if (source_device) {
-        writer->SetSourceDevice(*source_device);
-    }
-
-    uint64_t cow_size = status.cow_partition_size() + status.cow_file_size();
-    writer->SetSnapshotDevice(std::move(fd), cow_size);
-
-    return writer;
-}
 #endif  // !defined(LIBSNAPSHOT_NO_COW_WRITE)
 
 bool SnapshotManager::UnmapUpdateSnapshot(const std::string& target_partition_name) {
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot_test.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot_test.cpp
index d45dac1..dac1b77 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot_test.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot_test.cpp
@@ -643,21 +643,38 @@
 TEST_F(SnapshotTest, Merge) {
     ASSERT_TRUE(AcquireLock());
 
-    static const uint64_t kDeviceSize = 1024 * 1024;
-
-    std::unique_ptr<ISnapshotWriter> writer;
-    ASSERT_TRUE(PrepareOneSnapshot(kDeviceSize, &writer));
-
-    bool userspace_snapshots = sm->UpdateUsesUserSnapshots(lock_.get());
-
-    // Release the lock.
-    lock_ = nullptr;
+    static constexpr uint64_t kDeviceSize = 1024 * 1024;
+    static constexpr uint32_t kBlockSize = 4096;
 
     std::string test_string = "This is a test string.";
-    test_string.resize(writer->options().block_size);
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddRawBlocks(0, test_string.data(), test_string.size()));
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
-    writer = nullptr;
+    test_string.resize(kBlockSize);
+
+    bool userspace_snapshots = false;
+    if (snapuserd_required_) {
+        std::unique_ptr<ISnapshotWriter> writer;
+        ASSERT_TRUE(PrepareOneSnapshot(kDeviceSize, &writer));
+
+        userspace_snapshots = sm->UpdateUsesUserSnapshots(lock_.get());
+
+        // Release the lock.
+        lock_ = nullptr;
+
+        ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddRawBlocks(0, test_string.data(), test_string.size()));
+        ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
+        writer = nullptr;
+    } else {
+        ASSERT_TRUE(PrepareOneSnapshot(kDeviceSize));
+
+        // Release the lock.
+        lock_ = nullptr;
+
+        std::string path;
+        ASSERT_TRUE(dm_.GetDmDevicePathByName("test_partition_b", &path));
+
+        unique_fd fd(open(path.c_str(), O_WRONLY));
+        ASSERT_GE(fd, 0);
+        ASSERT_TRUE(android::base::WriteFully(fd, test_string.data(), test_string.size()));
+    }
 
     // Done updating.
     ASSERT_TRUE(sm->FinishedSnapshotWrites(false));
@@ -1203,13 +1220,13 @@
         SHA256_CTX ctx;
         SHA256_Init(&ctx);
 
-        if (!writer->options().max_blocks) {
+        if (!writer->GetMaxBlocks()) {
             LOG(ERROR) << "CowWriter must specify maximum number of blocks";
             return false;
         }
-        const auto num_blocks = writer->options().max_blocks.value();
+        const auto num_blocks = writer->GetMaxBlocks().value();
 
-        const auto block_size = writer->options().block_size;
+        const auto block_size = writer->GetBlockSize();
         std::string block(block_size, '\0');
         for (uint64_t i = 0; i < num_blocks; i++) {
             if (!ReadFully(rand, block.data(), block.size())) {
@@ -1237,13 +1254,13 @@
         if (auto res = MapUpdateSnapshot(name, &writer); !res) {
             return res;
         }
-        if (!writer->options().max_blocks || !*writer->options().max_blocks) {
+        if (!writer->GetMaxBlocks() || !*writer->GetMaxBlocks()) {
             return AssertionFailure() << "No max blocks set for " << name << " writer";
         }
 
-        uint64_t src_block = (old_size / writer->options().block_size) - 1;
+        uint64_t src_block = (old_size / writer->GetBlockSize()) - 1;
         uint64_t dst_block = 0;
-        uint64_t max_blocks = *writer->options().max_blocks;
+        uint64_t max_blocks = *writer->GetMaxBlocks();
         while (dst_block < max_blocks && dst_block < src_block) {
             if (!writer->AddCopy(dst_block, src_block)) {
                 return AssertionFailure() << "Unable to add copy for " << name << " for blocks "
@@ -2634,6 +2651,24 @@
     ASSERT_EQ(UpdateState::MergeCompleted, init->ProcessUpdateState());
 }
 
+TEST_F(SnapshotUpdateTest, BadCowVersion) {
+    if (!snapuserd_required_) {
+        GTEST_SKIP() << "VABC only";
+    }
+
+    ASSERT_TRUE(sm->BeginUpdate());
+
+    auto dynamic_partition_metadata = manifest_.mutable_dynamic_partition_metadata();
+    dynamic_partition_metadata->set_cow_version(kMinCowVersion - 1);
+    ASSERT_FALSE(sm->CreateUpdateSnapshots(manifest_));
+
+    dynamic_partition_metadata->set_cow_version(kMaxCowVersion + 1);
+    ASSERT_FALSE(sm->CreateUpdateSnapshots(manifest_));
+
+    dynamic_partition_metadata->set_cow_version(kMaxCowVersion);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(sm->CreateUpdateSnapshots(manifest_));
+}
+
 class FlashAfterUpdateTest : public SnapshotUpdateTest,
                              public WithParamInterface<std::tuple<uint32_t, bool>> {
   public:
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot_writer.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot_writer.cpp
index 82a7fd7..0ea424c 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot_writer.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot_writer.cpp
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include <android-base/file.h>
 #include <android-base/logging.h>
 #include <payload_consumer/file_descriptor.h>
+#include "libsnapshot_cow/writer_v2.h"
 #include "snapshot_reader.h"
 
 namespace android {
@@ -28,13 +29,11 @@
 using android::base::unique_fd;
 using chromeos_update_engine::FileDescriptor;
 
-ISnapshotWriter::ISnapshotWriter(const CowOptions& options) : ICowWriter(options) {}
-
-void ISnapshotWriter::SetSourceDevice(const std::string& source_device) {
+void CompressedSnapshotWriter::SetSourceDevice(const std::string& source_device) {
     source_device_ = {source_device};
 }
 
-borrowed_fd ISnapshotWriter::GetSourceFd() {
+borrowed_fd CompressedSnapshotWriter::GetSourceFd() {
     if (!source_device_) {
         LOG(ERROR) << "Attempted to read from source device but none was set";
         return borrowed_fd{-1};
@@ -50,12 +49,10 @@
     return source_fd_;
 }
 
-CompressedSnapshotWriter::CompressedSnapshotWriter(const CowOptions& options)
-    : ISnapshotWriter(options) {}
+CompressedSnapshotWriter::CompressedSnapshotWriter(const CowOptions& options) : options_(options) {}
 
 bool CompressedSnapshotWriter::SetCowDevice(android::base::unique_fd&& cow_device) {
     cow_device_ = std::move(cow_device);
-    cow_ = std::make_unique<CowWriter>(options_);
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -106,137 +103,76 @@
         reader->SetSourceDevice(*source_device_);
     }
 
-    const auto& cow_options = options();
-    if (cow_options.max_blocks) {
-        reader->SetBlockDeviceSize(*cow_options.max_blocks * cow_options.block_size);
+    if (options_.max_blocks) {
+        reader->SetBlockDeviceSize(*options_.max_blocks * options_.block_size);
     }
 
     return reader;
 }
 
-bool CompressedSnapshotWriter::EmitCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block,
-                                        uint64_t num_blocks) {
+bool CompressedSnapshotWriter::AddCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block,
+                                       uint64_t num_blocks) {
     return cow_->AddCopy(new_block, old_block, num_blocks);
 }
 
-bool CompressedSnapshotWriter::EmitRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data,
-                                             size_t size) {
+bool CompressedSnapshotWriter::AddRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data,
+                                            size_t size) {
     return cow_->AddRawBlocks(new_block_start, data, size);
 }
 
-bool CompressedSnapshotWriter::EmitXorBlocks(uint32_t new_block_start, const void* data,
-                                             size_t size, uint32_t old_block, uint16_t offset) {
+bool CompressedSnapshotWriter::AddXorBlocks(uint32_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t size,
+                                            uint32_t old_block, uint16_t offset) {
     return cow_->AddXorBlocks(new_block_start, data, size, old_block, offset);
 }
 
-bool CompressedSnapshotWriter::EmitZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) {
+bool CompressedSnapshotWriter::AddZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) {
     return cow_->AddZeroBlocks(new_block_start, num_blocks);
 }
 
-bool CompressedSnapshotWriter::EmitLabel(uint64_t label) {
+bool CompressedSnapshotWriter::AddLabel(uint64_t label) {
     return cow_->AddLabel(label);
 }
 
-bool CompressedSnapshotWriter::EmitSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data) {
+bool CompressedSnapshotWriter::AddSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data) {
     return cow_->AddSequenceData(num_ops, data);
 }
 
 bool CompressedSnapshotWriter::Initialize() {
-    return cow_->Initialize(cow_device_);
+    unique_fd cow_fd(dup(cow_device_.get()));
+    if (cow_fd < 0) {
+        PLOG(ERROR) << "dup COW device";
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    auto cow = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options_, std::move(cow_fd));
+    if (!cow->Initialize(std::nullopt)) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    cow_ = std::move(cow);
+    return true;
 }
 
 bool CompressedSnapshotWriter::InitializeAppend(uint64_t label) {
-    return cow_->InitializeAppend(cow_device_, label);
-}
-
-OnlineKernelSnapshotWriter::OnlineKernelSnapshotWriter(const CowOptions& options)
-    : ISnapshotWriter(options) {}
-
-void OnlineKernelSnapshotWriter::SetSnapshotDevice(android::base::unique_fd&& snapshot_fd,
-                                                   uint64_t cow_size) {
-    snapshot_fd_ = std::move(snapshot_fd);
-    cow_size_ = cow_size;
-}
-
-bool OnlineKernelSnapshotWriter::Finalize() {
-    if (fsync(snapshot_fd_.get()) < 0) {
-        PLOG(ERROR) << "fsync";
-        return false;
-    }
-    return true;
-}
-
-bool OnlineKernelSnapshotWriter::EmitRawBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data,
-                                               size_t size) {
-    uint64_t offset = new_block_start * options_.block_size;
-    if (lseek(snapshot_fd_.get(), offset, SEEK_SET) < 0) {
-        PLOG(ERROR) << "EmitRawBlocks lseek to offset " << offset;
-        return false;
-    }
-    if (!android::base::WriteFully(snapshot_fd_, data, size)) {
-        PLOG(ERROR) << "EmitRawBlocks write";
-        return false;
-    }
-    return true;
-}
-
-bool OnlineKernelSnapshotWriter::EmitXorBlocks(uint32_t, const void*, size_t, uint32_t, uint16_t) {
-    LOG(ERROR) << "EmitXorBlocks not implemented.";
-    return false;
-}
-
-bool OnlineKernelSnapshotWriter::EmitZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) {
-    std::string zeroes(options_.block_size, 0);
-    for (uint64_t i = 0; i < num_blocks; i++) {
-        if (!EmitRawBlocks(new_block_start + i, zeroes.data(), zeroes.size())) {
-            return false;
-        }
-    }
-    return true;
-}
-
-bool OnlineKernelSnapshotWriter::EmitCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block,
-                                          uint64_t num_blocks) {
-    auto source_fd = GetSourceFd();
-    if (source_fd < 0) {
+    unique_fd cow_fd(dup(cow_device_.get()));
+    if (cow_fd < 0) {
+        PLOG(ERROR) << "dup COW device";
         return false;
     }
 
-    CHECK(num_blocks != 0);
-
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < num_blocks; i++) {
-        std::string buffer(options_.block_size, 0);
-        uint64_t offset = (old_block + i) * options_.block_size;
-        if (!android::base::ReadFullyAtOffset(source_fd, buffer.data(), buffer.size(), offset)) {
-            PLOG(ERROR) << "EmitCopy read";
-            return false;
-        }
-        if (!EmitRawBlocks(new_block + i, buffer.data(), buffer.size())) {
-            PLOG(ERROR) << "EmitRawBlocks failed";
-            return false;
-        }
+    auto cow = std::make_unique<CowWriterV2>(options_, std::move(cow_fd));
+    if (!cow->Initialize(label)) {
+        return false;
     }
-
+    cow_ = std::move(cow);
     return true;
 }
 
-bool OnlineKernelSnapshotWriter::EmitLabel(uint64_t) {
-    // Not Needed
-    return true;
+uint32_t CompressedSnapshotWriter::GetBlockSize() const {
+    return cow_->GetBlockSize();
 }
 
-bool OnlineKernelSnapshotWriter::EmitSequenceData(size_t, const uint32_t*) {
-    // Not Needed
-    return true;
-}
-
-std::unique_ptr<FileDescriptor> OnlineKernelSnapshotWriter::OpenReader() {
-    unique_fd fd(dup(snapshot_fd_.get()));
-    if (fd < 0) {
-        PLOG(ERROR) << "dup2 failed in OpenReader";
-        return nullptr;
-    }
-    return std::make_unique<ReadFdFileDescriptor>(std::move(fd));
+std::optional<uint32_t> CompressedSnapshotWriter::GetMaxBlocks() const {
+    return cow_->GetMaxBlocks();
 }
 
 }  // namespace snapshot
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/dm-snapshot-merge/cow_snapuserd_test.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/dm-snapshot-merge/cow_snapuserd_test.cpp
index 3c4ab2e..737c480 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/dm-snapshot-merge/cow_snapuserd_test.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/dm-snapshot-merge/cow_snapuserd_test.cpp
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@
     void SimulateDaemonRestart();
     void StartMerge();
 
+    std::unique_ptr<ICowWriter> CreateCowDeviceInternal();
     void CreateCowDevice();
     void CreateCowDeviceOrderedOps();
     void CreateCowDeviceOrderedOpsInverted();
@@ -164,6 +165,7 @@
 
   private:
     void InitMetadata();
+    std::unique_ptr<ICowWriter> CreateCowDeviceInternal();
     void CreateCowDevice();
     void CreateCowPartialFilledArea();
 
@@ -258,6 +260,19 @@
     }
 }
 
+std::unique_ptr<ICowWriter> CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceInternal() {
+    std::string path = android::base::GetExecutableDirectory();
+    cow_system_ = std::make_unique<TemporaryFile>(path);
+
+    CowOptions options;
+    options.compression = "gz";
+
+    unique_fd fd(cow_system_->fd);
+    cow_system_->fd = -1;
+
+    return CreateCowWriter(kDefaultCowVersion, options, std::move(fd));
+}
+
 void CowSnapuserdTest::ReadLastBlock() {
     unique_fd rnd_fd;
     total_base_size_ = BLOCK_SZ * 2;
@@ -280,9 +295,6 @@
     base_loop_ = std::make_unique<LoopDevice>(base_fd_, 10s);
     ASSERT_TRUE(base_loop_->valid());
 
-    std::string path = android::base::GetExecutableDirectory();
-    cow_system_ = std::make_unique<TemporaryFile>(path);
-
     std::unique_ptr<uint8_t[]> random_buffer_1_ = std::make_unique<uint8_t[]>(total_base_size_);
     loff_t offset = 0;
 
@@ -294,16 +306,13 @@
         offset += BLOCK_SZ;
     }
 
-    CowOptions options;
-    options.compression = "gz";
-    CowWriter writer(options);
+    auto writer = CreateCowDeviceInternal();
+    ASSERT_NE(writer, nullptr);
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_system_->fd));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddRawBlocks(0, random_buffer_1_.get(), BLOCK_SZ));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddRawBlocks(1, (char*)random_buffer_1_.get() + BLOCK_SZ, BLOCK_SZ));
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddRawBlocks(0, random_buffer_1_.get(), BLOCK_SZ));
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddRawBlocks(1, (char*)random_buffer_1_.get() + BLOCK_SZ, BLOCK_SZ));
-
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Finalize());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
 
     SetDeviceControlName();
 
@@ -381,22 +390,16 @@
 }
 
 void CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceWithCopyOverlap_2() {
-    std::string path = android::base::GetExecutableDirectory();
-    cow_system_ = std::make_unique<TemporaryFile>(path);
+    auto writer = CreateCowDeviceInternal();
+    ASSERT_NE(writer, nullptr);
 
-    CowOptions options;
-    options.compression = "gz";
-    CowWriter writer(options);
-
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_system_->fd));
-
-    size_t num_blocks = size_ / options.block_size;
+    size_t num_blocks = size_ / writer->GetBlockSize();
     size_t x = num_blocks;
     size_t blk_src_copy = 0;
 
     // Create overlapping copy operations
     while (1) {
-        ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(blk_src_copy, blk_src_copy + 1));
+        ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(blk_src_copy, blk_src_copy + 1));
         x -= 1;
         if (x == 1) {
             break;
@@ -405,7 +408,7 @@
     }
 
     // Flush operations
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Finalize());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
 
     // Construct the buffer required for validation
     orig_buffer_ = std::make_unique<uint8_t[]>(total_base_size_);
@@ -433,22 +436,16 @@
 }
 
 void CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceWithCopyOverlap_1() {
-    std::string path = android::base::GetExecutableDirectory();
-    cow_system_ = std::make_unique<TemporaryFile>(path);
+    auto writer = CreateCowDeviceInternal();
+    ASSERT_NE(writer, nullptr);
 
-    CowOptions options;
-    options.compression = "gz";
-    CowWriter writer(options);
-
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_system_->fd));
-
-    size_t num_blocks = size_ / options.block_size;
+    size_t num_blocks = size_ / writer->GetBlockSize();
     size_t x = num_blocks;
     size_t blk_src_copy = num_blocks - 1;
 
     // Create overlapping copy operations
     while (1) {
-        ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(blk_src_copy + 1, blk_src_copy));
+        ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(blk_src_copy + 1, blk_src_copy));
         x -= 1;
         if (x == 0) {
             ASSERT_EQ(blk_src_copy, 0);
@@ -458,7 +455,7 @@
     }
 
     // Flush operations
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Finalize());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
 
     // Construct the buffer required for validation
     orig_buffer_ = std::make_unique<uint8_t[]>(total_base_size_);
@@ -468,10 +465,11 @@
               true);
 
     // Merged operations
-    ASSERT_EQ(android::base::ReadFullyAtOffset(base_fd_, orig_buffer_.get(), options.block_size, 0),
+    ASSERT_EQ(android::base::ReadFullyAtOffset(base_fd_, orig_buffer_.get(), writer->GetBlockSize(),
+                                               0),
               true);
     ASSERT_EQ(android::base::ReadFullyAtOffset(
-                      base_fd_, (char*)orig_buffer_.get() + options.block_size, size_, 0),
+                      base_fd_, (char*)orig_buffer_.get() + writer->GetBlockSize(), size_, 0),
               true);
 }
 
@@ -479,8 +477,8 @@
     unique_fd rnd_fd;
     loff_t offset = 0;
 
-    std::string path = android::base::GetExecutableDirectory();
-    cow_system_ = std::make_unique<TemporaryFile>(path);
+    auto writer = CreateCowDeviceInternal();
+    ASSERT_NE(writer, nullptr);
 
     rnd_fd.reset(open("/dev/random", O_RDONLY));
     ASSERT_TRUE(rnd_fd > 0);
@@ -495,13 +493,7 @@
         offset += 1_MiB;
     }
 
-    CowOptions options;
-    options.compression = "gz";
-    CowWriter writer(options);
-
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_system_->fd));
-
-    size_t num_blocks = size_ / options.block_size;
+    size_t num_blocks = size_ / writer->GetBlockSize();
     size_t blk_end_copy = num_blocks * 3;
     size_t source_blk = num_blocks - 1;
     size_t blk_src_copy = blk_end_copy - 1;
@@ -509,7 +501,7 @@
 
     size_t x = num_blocks;
     while (1) {
-        ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(source_blk, blk_src_copy));
+        ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(source_blk, blk_src_copy));
         x -= 1;
         if (x == 0) {
             break;
@@ -519,12 +511,12 @@
     }
 
     for (size_t i = num_blocks; i > 0; i--) {
-        ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddXorBlocks(num_blocks + i - 1,
-                                        &random_buffer_1_.get()[options.block_size * (i - 1)],
-                                        options.block_size, 2 * num_blocks + i - 1, xor_offset));
+        ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddXorBlocks(
+                num_blocks + i - 1, &random_buffer_1_.get()[writer->GetBlockSize() * (i - 1)],
+                writer->GetBlockSize(), 2 * num_blocks + i - 1, xor_offset));
     }
     // Flush operations
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Finalize());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
     // Construct the buffer required for validation
     orig_buffer_ = std::make_unique<uint8_t[]>(total_base_size_);
     // Read the entire base device
@@ -542,8 +534,8 @@
     unique_fd rnd_fd;
     loff_t offset = 0;
 
-    std::string path = android::base::GetExecutableDirectory();
-    cow_system_ = std::make_unique<TemporaryFile>(path);
+    auto writer = CreateCowDeviceInternal();
+    ASSERT_NE(writer, nullptr);
 
     rnd_fd.reset(open("/dev/random", O_RDONLY));
     ASSERT_TRUE(rnd_fd > 0);
@@ -559,20 +551,14 @@
     }
     memset(random_buffer_1_.get(), 0, size_);
 
-    CowOptions options;
-    options.compression = "gz";
-    CowWriter writer(options);
-
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_system_->fd));
-
-    size_t num_blocks = size_ / options.block_size;
+    size_t num_blocks = size_ / writer->GetBlockSize();
     size_t x = num_blocks;
     size_t source_blk = 0;
     size_t blk_src_copy = 2 * num_blocks;
     uint16_t xor_offset = 5;
 
     while (1) {
-        ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(source_blk, blk_src_copy));
+        ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(source_blk, blk_src_copy));
 
         x -= 1;
         if (x == 0) {
@@ -582,10 +568,10 @@
         blk_src_copy += 1;
     }
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddXorBlocks(num_blocks, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_, 2 * num_blocks,
-                                    xor_offset));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddXorBlocks(num_blocks, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_, 2 * num_blocks,
+                                     xor_offset));
     // Flush operations
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Finalize());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
     // Construct the buffer required for validation
     orig_buffer_ = std::make_unique<uint8_t[]>(total_base_size_);
     // Read the entire base device
@@ -603,8 +589,8 @@
     unique_fd rnd_fd;
     loff_t offset = 0;
 
-    std::string path = android::base::GetExecutableDirectory();
-    cow_system_ = std::make_unique<TemporaryFile>(path);
+    auto writer = CreateCowDeviceInternal();
+    ASSERT_NE(writer, nullptr);
 
     rnd_fd.reset(open("/dev/random", O_RDONLY));
     ASSERT_TRUE(rnd_fd > 0);
@@ -619,13 +605,7 @@
         offset += 1_MiB;
     }
 
-    CowOptions options;
-    options.compression = "gz";
-    CowWriter writer(options);
-
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_system_->fd));
-
-    size_t num_blocks = size_ / options.block_size;
+    size_t num_blocks = size_ / writer->GetBlockSize();
     size_t blk_end_copy = num_blocks * 2;
     size_t source_blk = num_blocks - 1;
     size_t blk_src_copy = blk_end_copy - 1;
@@ -639,11 +619,11 @@
     for (int i = 0; i < num_blocks; i++) {
         sequence[num_blocks + i] = 5 * num_blocks - 1 - i;
     }
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddSequenceData(2 * num_blocks, sequence));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddSequenceData(2 * num_blocks, sequence));
 
     size_t x = num_blocks;
     while (1) {
-        ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(source_blk, blk_src_copy));
+        ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(source_blk, blk_src_copy));
         x -= 1;
         if (x == 0) {
             break;
@@ -655,24 +635,24 @@
     source_blk = num_blocks;
     blk_src_copy = blk_end_copy;
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddRawBlocks(source_blk, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddRawBlocks(source_blk, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_));
 
     size_t blk_zero_copy_start = source_blk + num_blocks;
     size_t blk_zero_copy_end = blk_zero_copy_start + num_blocks;
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddZeroBlocks(blk_zero_copy_start, num_blocks));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddZeroBlocks(blk_zero_copy_start, num_blocks));
 
     size_t blk_random2_replace_start = blk_zero_copy_end;
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddRawBlocks(blk_random2_replace_start, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddRawBlocks(blk_random2_replace_start, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_));
 
     size_t blk_xor_start = blk_random2_replace_start + num_blocks;
     size_t xor_offset = BLOCK_SZ / 2;
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddXorBlocks(blk_xor_start, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_, num_blocks,
-                                    xor_offset));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddXorBlocks(blk_xor_start, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_, num_blocks,
+                                     xor_offset));
 
     // Flush operations
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Finalize());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
     // Construct the buffer required for validation
     orig_buffer_ = std::make_unique<uint8_t[]>(total_base_size_);
     std::string zero_buffer(size_, 0);
@@ -902,29 +882,36 @@
     ASSERT_TRUE(Merge());
 }
 
-void CowSnapuserdMetadataTest::CreateCowPartialFilledArea() {
+std::unique_ptr<ICowWriter> CowSnapuserdMetadataTest::CreateCowDeviceInternal() {
     std::string path = android::base::GetExecutableDirectory();
     cow_system_ = std::make_unique<TemporaryFile>(path);
 
     CowOptions options;
     options.compression = "gz";
-    CowWriter writer(options);
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_system_->fd));
+    unique_fd fd(cow_system_->fd);
+    cow_system_->fd = -1;
+
+    return CreateCowWriter(kDefaultCowVersion, options, std::move(fd));
+}
+
+void CowSnapuserdMetadataTest::CreateCowPartialFilledArea() {
+    auto writer = CreateCowDeviceInternal();
+    ASSERT_NE(writer, nullptr);
 
     // Area 0 is completely filled with 256 exceptions
     for (int i = 0; i < 256; i++) {
-        ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(i, 256 + i));
+        ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(i, 256 + i));
     }
 
     // Area 1 is partially filled with 2 copy ops and 10 zero ops
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(500, 1000));
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(501, 1001));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(500, 1000));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(501, 1001));
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddZeroBlocks(300, 10));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddZeroBlocks(300, 10));
 
     // Flush operations
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Finalize());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
 }
 
 void CowSnapuserdMetadataTest::ValidatePartialFilledArea() {
@@ -956,8 +943,8 @@
     unique_fd rnd_fd;
     loff_t offset = 0;
 
-    std::string path = android::base::GetExecutableDirectory();
-    cow_system_ = std::make_unique<TemporaryFile>(path);
+    auto writer = CreateCowDeviceInternal();
+    ASSERT_NE(writer, nullptr);
 
     rnd_fd.reset(open("/dev/random", O_RDONLY));
     ASSERT_TRUE(rnd_fd > 0);
@@ -972,50 +959,44 @@
         offset += 1_MiB;
     }
 
-    CowOptions options;
-    options.compression = "gz";
-    CowWriter writer(options);
-
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_system_->fd));
-
-    size_t num_blocks = size_ / options.block_size;
+    size_t num_blocks = size_ / writer->GetBlockSize();
 
     // Overlapping region. This has to be split
     // into two batch operations
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(23, 20));
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(22, 19));
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(21, 18));
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(20, 17));
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(19, 16));
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(18, 15));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(23, 20));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(22, 19));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(21, 18));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(20, 17));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(19, 16));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(18, 15));
 
     // Contiguous region but blocks in ascending order
     // Daemon has to ensure that these blocks are merged
     // in a batch
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(50, 75));
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(51, 76));
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(52, 77));
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(53, 78));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(50, 75));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(51, 76));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(52, 77));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(53, 78));
 
     // Dis-contiguous region
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(110, 130));
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(105, 125));
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(100, 120));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(110, 130));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(105, 125));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(100, 120));
 
     // Overlap
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(25, 30));
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(30, 31));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(25, 30));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(30, 31));
 
     size_t source_blk = num_blocks;
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddRawBlocks(source_blk, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddRawBlocks(source_blk, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_));
 
     size_t blk_zero_copy_start = source_blk + num_blocks;
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddZeroBlocks(blk_zero_copy_start, num_blocks));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddZeroBlocks(blk_zero_copy_start, num_blocks));
 
     // Flush operations
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Finalize());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
 }
 
 void CowSnapuserdMetadataTest::InitMetadata() {
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/dm-snapshot-merge/snapuserd.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/dm-snapshot-merge/snapuserd.cpp
index efa43b7..da9bd11 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/dm-snapshot-merge/snapuserd.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/dm-snapshot-merge/snapuserd.cpp
@@ -628,8 +628,8 @@
 bool Snapuserd::MmapMetadata() {
     const auto& header = reader_->GetHeader();
 
-    if (header.major_version >= 2 && header.buffer_size > 0) {
-        total_mapped_addr_length_ = header.header_size + BUFFER_REGION_DEFAULT_SIZE;
+    if (header.prefix.major_version >= 2 && header.buffer_size > 0) {
+        total_mapped_addr_length_ = header.prefix.header_size + BUFFER_REGION_DEFAULT_SIZE;
         read_ahead_feature_ = true;
     } else {
         // mmap the first 4k page - older COW format
@@ -823,7 +823,7 @@
 uint64_t Snapuserd::GetBufferMetadataOffset() {
     const auto& header = reader_->GetHeader();
 
-    size_t size = header.header_size + sizeof(BufferState);
+    size_t size = header.prefix.header_size + sizeof(BufferState);
     return size;
 }
 
@@ -845,7 +845,7 @@
 size_t Snapuserd::GetBufferDataOffset() {
     const auto& header = reader_->GetHeader();
 
-    return (header.header_size + GetBufferMetadataSize());
+    return (header.prefix.header_size + GetBufferMetadataSize());
 }
 
 /*
@@ -862,7 +862,7 @@
     const auto& header = reader_->GetHeader();
 
     struct BufferState* ra_state =
-            reinterpret_cast<struct BufferState*>((char*)mapped_addr_ + header.header_size);
+            reinterpret_cast<struct BufferState*>((char*)mapped_addr_ + header.prefix.header_size);
     return ra_state;
 }
 
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_core.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_core.cpp
index a519639..8e1212b 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_core.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_core.cpp
@@ -240,9 +240,9 @@
 bool SnapshotHandler::MmapMetadata() {
     const auto& header = reader_->GetHeader();
 
-    total_mapped_addr_length_ = header.header_size + BUFFER_REGION_DEFAULT_SIZE;
+    total_mapped_addr_length_ = header.prefix.header_size + BUFFER_REGION_DEFAULT_SIZE;
 
-    if (header.major_version >= 2 && header.buffer_size > 0) {
+    if (header.prefix.major_version >= 2 && header.buffer_size > 0) {
         scratch_space_ = true;
     }
 
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@
 uint64_t SnapshotHandler::GetBufferMetadataOffset() {
     const auto& header = reader_->GetHeader();
 
-    return (header.header_size + sizeof(BufferState));
+    return (header.prefix.header_size + sizeof(BufferState));
 }
 
 /*
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@
 size_t SnapshotHandler::GetBufferDataOffset() {
     const auto& header = reader_->GetHeader();
 
-    return (header.header_size + GetBufferMetadataSize());
+    return (header.prefix.header_size + GetBufferMetadataSize());
 }
 
 /*
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@
     const auto& header = reader_->GetHeader();
 
     struct BufferState* ra_state =
-            reinterpret_cast<struct BufferState*>((char*)mapped_addr_ + header.header_size);
+            reinterpret_cast<struct BufferState*>((char*)mapped_addr_ + header.prefix.header_size);
     return ra_state;
 }
 
@@ -448,5 +448,9 @@
     return android::base::GetBoolProperty("ro.virtual_ab.io_uring.enabled", false);
 }
 
+bool SnapshotHandler::CheckPartitionVerification() {
+    return update_verify_->CheckPartitionVerification();
+}
+
 }  // namespace snapshot
 }  // namespace android
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_core.h b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_core.h
index 777aa07..c16ad24 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_core.h
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_core.h
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@
 #include <snapuserd/snapuserd_buffer.h>
 #include <snapuserd/snapuserd_kernel.h>
 #include <storage_literals/storage_literals.h>
+#include "snapuserd_readahead.h"
+#include "snapuserd_verify.h"
 
 namespace android {
 namespace snapshot {
@@ -96,112 +98,6 @@
         : merge_state_(state), num_ios_in_progress(n_ios) {}
 };
 
-class ReadAhead {
-  public:
-    ReadAhead(const std::string& cow_device, const std::string& backing_device,
-              const std::string& misc_name, std::shared_ptr<SnapshotHandler> snapuserd);
-    bool RunThread();
-
-  private:
-    void InitializeRAIter();
-    bool RAIterDone();
-    void RAIterNext();
-    void RAResetIter(uint64_t num_blocks);
-    const CowOperation* GetRAOpIter();
-
-    void InitializeBuffer();
-    bool InitReader();
-    bool InitializeFds();
-
-    void CloseFds() { backing_store_fd_ = {}; }
-
-    bool ReadAheadIOStart();
-    int PrepareNextReadAhead(uint64_t* source_offset, int* pending_ops,
-                             std::vector<uint64_t>& blocks,
-                             std::vector<const CowOperation*>& xor_op_vec);
-    bool ReconstructDataFromCow();
-    void CheckOverlap(const CowOperation* cow_op);
-
-    bool ReadAheadAsyncIO();
-    bool ReapIoCompletions(int pending_ios_to_complete);
-    bool ReadXorData(size_t block_index, size_t xor_op_index,
-                     std::vector<const CowOperation*>& xor_op_vec);
-    void ProcessXorData(size_t& block_xor_index, size_t& xor_index,
-                        std::vector<const CowOperation*>& xor_op_vec, void* buffer,
-                        loff_t& buffer_offset);
-    void UpdateScratchMetadata();
-
-    bool ReadAheadSyncIO();
-    bool InitializeIouring();
-    void FinalizeIouring();
-
-    void* read_ahead_buffer_;
-    void* metadata_buffer_;
-
-    std::unique_ptr<ICowOpIter> cowop_iter_;
-
-    std::string cow_device_;
-    std::string backing_store_device_;
-    std::string misc_name_;
-
-    unique_fd cow_fd_;
-    unique_fd backing_store_fd_;
-
-    std::shared_ptr<SnapshotHandler> snapuserd_;
-    std::unique_ptr<CowReader> reader_;
-
-    std::unordered_set<uint64_t> dest_blocks_;
-    std::unordered_set<uint64_t> source_blocks_;
-    bool overlap_;
-    std::vector<uint64_t> blocks_;
-    int total_blocks_merged_ = 0;
-    std::unique_ptr<uint8_t[]> ra_temp_buffer_;
-    std::unique_ptr<uint8_t[]> ra_temp_meta_buffer_;
-    BufferSink bufsink_;
-
-    uint64_t total_ra_blocks_completed_ = 0;
-    bool read_ahead_async_ = false;
-    // Queue depth of 8 seems optimal. We don't want
-    // to have a huge depth as it may put more memory pressure
-    // on the kernel worker threads given that we use
-    // IOSQE_ASYNC flag - ASYNC flags can potentially
-    // result in EINTR; Since we don't restart
-    // syscalls and fallback to synchronous I/O, we
-    // don't want huge queue depth
-    int queue_depth_ = 8;
-    std::unique_ptr<struct io_uring> ring_;
-};
-
-class UpdateVerify {
-  public:
-    UpdateVerify(const std::string& misc_name);
-    void VerifyUpdatePartition();
-    bool CheckPartitionVerification();
-
-  private:
-    enum class UpdateVerifyState {
-        VERIFY_UNKNOWN,
-        VERIFY_FAILED,
-        VERIFY_SUCCESS,
-    };
-
-    std::string misc_name_;
-    UpdateVerifyState state_;
-    std::mutex m_lock_;
-    std::condition_variable m_cv_;
-
-    int kMinThreadsToVerify = 1;
-    int kMaxThreadsToVerify = 4;
-    uint64_t kThresholdSize = 512_MiB;
-    uint64_t kBlockSizeVerify = 1_MiB;
-
-    bool IsBlockAligned(uint64_t read_size) { return ((read_size & (BLOCK_SZ - 1)) == 0); }
-    void UpdatePartitionVerificationState(UpdateVerifyState state);
-    bool VerifyPartition(const std::string& partition_name, const std::string& dm_block_device);
-    bool VerifyBlocks(const std::string& partition_name, const std::string& dm_block_device,
-                      off_t offset, int skip_blocks, uint64_t dev_sz);
-};
-
 class Worker {
   public:
     Worker(const std::string& cow_device, const std::string& backing_device,
@@ -383,7 +279,7 @@
     MERGE_GROUP_STATE ProcessMergingBlock(uint64_t new_block, void* buffer);
 
     bool IsIouringSupported();
-    bool CheckPartitionVerification() { return update_verify_->CheckPartitionVerification(); }
+    bool CheckPartitionVerification();
 
   private:
     bool ReadMetadata();
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_readahead.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_readahead.cpp
index 17f1f0e..af24286 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_readahead.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_readahead.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
+#include "snapuserd_readahead.h"
+
 #include "snapuserd_core.h"
 
 namespace android {
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_readahead.h b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_readahead.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5e94de0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_readahead.h
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2023 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <stddef.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
+
+#include <memory>
+#include <string>
+#include <unordered_set>
+#include <vector>
+
+#include <android-base/unique_fd.h>
+#include <libsnapshot/cow_reader.h>
+#include <liburing.h>
+#include <snapuserd/snapuserd_buffer.h>
+
+namespace android {
+namespace snapshot {
+
+class SnapshotHandler;
+
+class ReadAhead {
+  public:
+    ReadAhead(const std::string& cow_device, const std::string& backing_device,
+              const std::string& misc_name, std::shared_ptr<SnapshotHandler> snapuserd);
+    bool RunThread();
+
+  private:
+    void InitializeRAIter();
+    bool RAIterDone();
+    void RAIterNext();
+    void RAResetIter(uint64_t num_blocks);
+    const CowOperation* GetRAOpIter();
+
+    void InitializeBuffer();
+    bool InitReader();
+    bool InitializeFds();
+
+    void CloseFds() { backing_store_fd_ = {}; }
+
+    bool ReadAheadIOStart();
+    int PrepareNextReadAhead(uint64_t* source_offset, int* pending_ops,
+                             std::vector<uint64_t>& blocks,
+                             std::vector<const CowOperation*>& xor_op_vec);
+    bool ReconstructDataFromCow();
+    void CheckOverlap(const CowOperation* cow_op);
+
+    bool ReadAheadAsyncIO();
+    bool ReapIoCompletions(int pending_ios_to_complete);
+    bool ReadXorData(size_t block_index, size_t xor_op_index,
+                     std::vector<const CowOperation*>& xor_op_vec);
+    void ProcessXorData(size_t& block_xor_index, size_t& xor_index,
+                        std::vector<const CowOperation*>& xor_op_vec, void* buffer,
+                        loff_t& buffer_offset);
+    void UpdateScratchMetadata();
+
+    bool ReadAheadSyncIO();
+    bool InitializeIouring();
+    void FinalizeIouring();
+
+    void* read_ahead_buffer_;
+    void* metadata_buffer_;
+
+    std::unique_ptr<ICowOpIter> cowop_iter_;
+
+    std::string cow_device_;
+    std::string backing_store_device_;
+    std::string misc_name_;
+
+    android::base::unique_fd cow_fd_;
+    android::base::unique_fd backing_store_fd_;
+
+    std::shared_ptr<SnapshotHandler> snapuserd_;
+    std::unique_ptr<CowReader> reader_;
+
+    std::unordered_set<uint64_t> dest_blocks_;
+    std::unordered_set<uint64_t> source_blocks_;
+    bool overlap_;
+    std::vector<uint64_t> blocks_;
+    int total_blocks_merged_ = 0;
+    std::unique_ptr<uint8_t[]> ra_temp_buffer_;
+    std::unique_ptr<uint8_t[]> ra_temp_meta_buffer_;
+    BufferSink bufsink_;
+
+    uint64_t total_ra_blocks_completed_ = 0;
+    bool read_ahead_async_ = false;
+    // Queue depth of 8 seems optimal. We don't want
+    // to have a huge depth as it may put more memory pressure
+    // on the kernel worker threads given that we use
+    // IOSQE_ASYNC flag - ASYNC flags can potentially
+    // result in EINTR; Since we don't restart
+    // syscalls and fallback to synchronous I/O, we
+    // don't want huge queue depth
+    int queue_depth_ = 8;
+    std::unique_ptr<struct io_uring> ring_;
+};
+
+}  // namespace snapshot
+}  // namespace android
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_test.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_test.cpp
index 57f9e7a..efe0c14 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_test.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_test.cpp
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@
 
     void SimulateDaemonRestart();
 
+    std::unique_ptr<ICowWriter> CreateCowDeviceInternal();
     void CreateCowDevice();
     void CreateCowDeviceOrderedOps();
     void CreateCowDeviceOrderedOpsInverted();
@@ -277,23 +278,30 @@
     ASSERT_EQ(memcmp(snapuserd_buffer.get(), (char*)orig_buffer_.get() + (size_ * 4), size_), 0);
 }
 
-void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceWithCopyOverlap_2() {
+std::unique_ptr<ICowWriter> SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceInternal() {
     std::string path = android::base::GetExecutableDirectory();
     cow_system_ = std::make_unique<TemporaryFile>(path);
 
     CowOptions options;
     options.compression = "gz";
-    CowWriter writer(options);
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_system_->fd));
+    unique_fd fd(cow_system_->fd);
+    cow_system_->fd = -1;
 
-    size_t num_blocks = size_ / options.block_size;
+    return CreateCowWriter(kDefaultCowVersion, options, std::move(fd));
+}
+
+void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceWithCopyOverlap_2() {
+    auto writer = CreateCowDeviceInternal();
+    ASSERT_NE(writer, nullptr);
+
+    size_t num_blocks = size_ / writer->GetBlockSize();
     size_t x = num_blocks;
     size_t blk_src_copy = 0;
 
     // Create overlapping copy operations
     while (1) {
-        ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(blk_src_copy, blk_src_copy + 1));
+        ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(blk_src_copy, blk_src_copy + 1));
         x -= 1;
         if (x == 1) {
             break;
@@ -302,7 +310,7 @@
     }
 
     // Flush operations
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Finalize());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
 
     // Construct the buffer required for validation
     orig_buffer_ = std::make_unique<uint8_t[]>(total_base_size_);
@@ -330,22 +338,16 @@
 }
 
 void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceWithCopyOverlap_1() {
-    std::string path = android::base::GetExecutableDirectory();
-    cow_system_ = std::make_unique<TemporaryFile>(path);
+    auto writer = CreateCowDeviceInternal();
+    ASSERT_NE(writer, nullptr);
 
-    CowOptions options;
-    options.compression = "gz";
-    CowWriter writer(options);
-
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_system_->fd));
-
-    size_t num_blocks = size_ / options.block_size;
+    size_t num_blocks = size_ / writer->GetBlockSize();
     size_t x = num_blocks;
     size_t blk_src_copy = num_blocks - 1;
 
     // Create overlapping copy operations
     while (1) {
-        ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(blk_src_copy + 1, blk_src_copy));
+        ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(blk_src_copy + 1, blk_src_copy));
         x -= 1;
         if (x == 0) {
             ASSERT_EQ(blk_src_copy, 0);
@@ -355,7 +357,7 @@
     }
 
     // Flush operations
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Finalize());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
 
     // Construct the buffer required for validation
     orig_buffer_ = std::make_unique<uint8_t[]>(total_base_size_);
@@ -365,10 +367,11 @@
               true);
 
     // Merged operations
-    ASSERT_EQ(android::base::ReadFullyAtOffset(base_fd_, orig_buffer_.get(), options.block_size, 0),
+    ASSERT_EQ(android::base::ReadFullyAtOffset(base_fd_, orig_buffer_.get(), writer->GetBlockSize(),
+                                               0),
               true);
     ASSERT_EQ(android::base::ReadFullyAtOffset(
-                      base_fd_, (char*)orig_buffer_.get() + options.block_size, size_, 0),
+                      base_fd_, (char*)orig_buffer_.get() + writer->GetBlockSize(), size_, 0),
               true);
 }
 
@@ -376,8 +379,8 @@
     unique_fd rnd_fd;
     loff_t offset = 0;
 
-    std::string path = android::base::GetExecutableDirectory();
-    cow_system_ = std::make_unique<TemporaryFile>(path);
+    auto writer = CreateCowDeviceInternal();
+    ASSERT_NE(writer, nullptr);
 
     rnd_fd.reset(open("/dev/random", O_RDONLY));
     ASSERT_TRUE(rnd_fd > 0);
@@ -392,13 +395,7 @@
         offset += 1_MiB;
     }
 
-    CowOptions options;
-    options.compression = "gz";
-    CowWriter writer(options);
-
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_system_->fd));
-
-    size_t num_blocks = size_ / options.block_size;
+    size_t num_blocks = size_ / writer->GetBlockSize();
     size_t blk_end_copy = num_blocks * 3;
     size_t source_blk = num_blocks - 1;
     size_t blk_src_copy = blk_end_copy - 1;
@@ -406,7 +403,7 @@
 
     size_t x = num_blocks;
     while (1) {
-        ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(source_blk, blk_src_copy));
+        ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(source_blk, blk_src_copy));
         x -= 1;
         if (x == 0) {
             break;
@@ -416,12 +413,12 @@
     }
 
     for (size_t i = num_blocks; i > 0; i--) {
-        ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddXorBlocks(num_blocks + i - 1,
-                                        &random_buffer_1_.get()[options.block_size * (i - 1)],
-                                        options.block_size, 2 * num_blocks + i - 1, xor_offset));
+        ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddXorBlocks(
+                num_blocks + i - 1, &random_buffer_1_.get()[writer->GetBlockSize() * (i - 1)],
+                writer->GetBlockSize(), 2 * num_blocks + i - 1, xor_offset));
     }
     // Flush operations
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Finalize());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
     // Construct the buffer required for validation
     orig_buffer_ = std::make_unique<uint8_t[]>(total_base_size_);
     // Read the entire base device
@@ -439,8 +436,8 @@
     unique_fd rnd_fd;
     loff_t offset = 0;
 
-    std::string path = android::base::GetExecutableDirectory();
-    cow_system_ = std::make_unique<TemporaryFile>(path);
+    auto writer = CreateCowDeviceInternal();
+    ASSERT_NE(writer, nullptr);
 
     rnd_fd.reset(open("/dev/random", O_RDONLY));
     ASSERT_TRUE(rnd_fd > 0);
@@ -456,20 +453,14 @@
     }
     memset(random_buffer_1_.get(), 0, size_);
 
-    CowOptions options;
-    options.compression = "gz";
-    CowWriter writer(options);
-
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_system_->fd));
-
-    size_t num_blocks = size_ / options.block_size;
+    size_t num_blocks = size_ / writer->GetBlockSize();
     size_t x = num_blocks;
     size_t source_blk = 0;
     size_t blk_src_copy = 2 * num_blocks;
     uint16_t xor_offset = 5;
 
     while (1) {
-        ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(source_blk, blk_src_copy));
+        ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(source_blk, blk_src_copy));
 
         x -= 1;
         if (x == 0) {
@@ -479,10 +470,10 @@
         blk_src_copy += 1;
     }
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddXorBlocks(num_blocks, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_, 2 * num_blocks,
-                                    xor_offset));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddXorBlocks(num_blocks, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_, 2 * num_blocks,
+                                     xor_offset));
     // Flush operations
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Finalize());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
     // Construct the buffer required for validation
     orig_buffer_ = std::make_unique<uint8_t[]>(total_base_size_);
     // Read the entire base device
@@ -500,8 +491,8 @@
     unique_fd rnd_fd;
     loff_t offset = 0;
 
-    std::string path = android::base::GetExecutableDirectory();
-    cow_system_ = std::make_unique<TemporaryFile>(path);
+    auto writer = CreateCowDeviceInternal();
+    ASSERT_NE(writer, nullptr);
 
     rnd_fd.reset(open("/dev/random", O_RDONLY));
     ASSERT_TRUE(rnd_fd > 0);
@@ -516,13 +507,7 @@
         offset += 1_MiB;
     }
 
-    CowOptions options;
-    options.compression = "gz";
-    CowWriter writer(options);
-
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Initialize(cow_system_->fd));
-
-    size_t num_blocks = size_ / options.block_size;
+    size_t num_blocks = size_ / writer->GetBlockSize();
     size_t blk_end_copy = num_blocks * 2;
     size_t source_blk = num_blocks - 1;
     size_t blk_src_copy = blk_end_copy - 1;
@@ -536,11 +521,11 @@
     for (int i = 0; i < num_blocks; i++) {
         sequence[num_blocks + i] = 5 * num_blocks - 1 - i;
     }
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddSequenceData(2 * num_blocks, sequence));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddSequenceData(2 * num_blocks, sequence));
 
     size_t x = num_blocks;
     while (1) {
-        ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddCopy(source_blk, blk_src_copy));
+        ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddCopy(source_blk, blk_src_copy));
         x -= 1;
         if (x == 0) {
             break;
@@ -552,24 +537,24 @@
     source_blk = num_blocks;
     blk_src_copy = blk_end_copy;
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddRawBlocks(source_blk, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddRawBlocks(source_blk, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_));
 
     size_t blk_zero_copy_start = source_blk + num_blocks;
     size_t blk_zero_copy_end = blk_zero_copy_start + num_blocks;
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddZeroBlocks(blk_zero_copy_start, num_blocks));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddZeroBlocks(blk_zero_copy_start, num_blocks));
 
     size_t blk_random2_replace_start = blk_zero_copy_end;
 
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddRawBlocks(blk_random2_replace_start, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddRawBlocks(blk_random2_replace_start, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_));
 
     size_t blk_xor_start = blk_random2_replace_start + num_blocks;
     size_t xor_offset = BLOCK_SZ / 2;
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.AddXorBlocks(blk_xor_start, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_, num_blocks,
-                                    xor_offset));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->AddXorBlocks(blk_xor_start, random_buffer_1_.get(), size_, num_blocks,
+                                     xor_offset));
 
     // Flush operations
-    ASSERT_TRUE(writer.Finalize());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(writer->Finalize());
     // Construct the buffer required for validation
     orig_buffer_ = std::make_unique<uint8_t[]>(total_base_size_);
     std::string zero_buffer(size_, 0);
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_verify.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_verify.cpp
index 18c1dfc..6817340 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_verify.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_verify.cpp
@@ -14,12 +14,14 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-#include "snapuserd_core.h"
+#include "snapuserd_verify.h"
 
 #include <android-base/chrono_utils.h>
 #include <android-base/scopeguard.h>
 #include <android-base/strings.h>
 
+#include "snapuserd_core.h"
+
 namespace android {
 namespace snapshot {
 
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_verify.h b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_verify.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d07d2f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_verify.h
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2023 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+//
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <sys/types.h>
+
+#include <condition_variable>
+#include <mutex>
+#include <string>
+
+#include <snapuserd/snapuserd_kernel.h>
+#include <storage_literals/storage_literals.h>
+
+namespace android {
+namespace snapshot {
+
+using namespace android::storage_literals;
+
+class UpdateVerify {
+  public:
+    UpdateVerify(const std::string& misc_name);
+    void VerifyUpdatePartition();
+    bool CheckPartitionVerification();
+
+  private:
+    enum class UpdateVerifyState {
+        VERIFY_UNKNOWN,
+        VERIFY_FAILED,
+        VERIFY_SUCCESS,
+    };
+
+    std::string misc_name_;
+    UpdateVerifyState state_;
+    std::mutex m_lock_;
+    std::condition_variable m_cv_;
+
+    int kMinThreadsToVerify = 1;
+    int kMaxThreadsToVerify = 4;
+    uint64_t kThresholdSize = 512_MiB;
+    uint64_t kBlockSizeVerify = 1_MiB;
+
+    bool IsBlockAligned(uint64_t read_size) { return ((read_size & (BLOCK_SZ - 1)) == 0); }
+    void UpdatePartitionVerificationState(UpdateVerifyState state);
+    bool VerifyPartition(const std::string& partition_name, const std::string& dm_block_device);
+    bool VerifyBlocks(const std::string& partition_name, const std::string& dm_block_device,
+                      off_t offset, int skip_blocks, uint64_t dev_sz);
+};
+
+}  // namespace snapshot
+}  // namespace android
diff --git a/fs_mgr/tests/vts_fs_test.cpp b/fs_mgr/tests/vts_fs_test.cpp
index bb2ceb9..4d771fa 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/tests/vts_fs_test.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/tests/vts_fs_test.cpp
@@ -55,6 +55,21 @@
 }
 
 TEST(fs, PartitionTypes) {
+    // Requirements only apply to Android 13+, 5.10+ devices.
+    int vsr_level = GetVsrLevel();
+    if (vsr_level < __ANDROID_API_T__) {
+        GTEST_SKIP();
+    }
+
+    struct utsname uts;
+    ASSERT_EQ(uname(&uts), 0);
+
+    unsigned int major, minor;
+    ASSERT_EQ(sscanf(uts.release, "%u.%u", &major, &minor), 2);
+    if (major < 5 || (major == 5 && minor < 10)) {
+        GTEST_SKIP();
+    }
+
     android::fs_mgr::Fstab fstab;
     ASSERT_TRUE(android::fs_mgr::ReadFstabFromFile("/proc/mounts", &fstab));
 
@@ -64,12 +79,7 @@
     ASSERT_TRUE(android::base::Readlink("/dev/block/by-name/super", &super_bdev));
     ASSERT_TRUE(android::base::Readlink("/dev/block/by-name/userdata", &userdata_bdev));
 
-    int vsr_level = GetVsrLevel();
-
-    std::vector<std::string> must_be_f2fs;
-    if (vsr_level >= __ANDROID_API_T__) {
-        must_be_f2fs.emplace_back("/data");
-    }
+    std::vector<std::string> must_be_f2fs = {"/data"};
     if (vsr_level >= __ANDROID_API_U__) {
         must_be_f2fs.emplace_back("/metadata");
     }
@@ -98,17 +108,13 @@
             continue;
         }
 
-        if (vsr_level < __ANDROID_API_T__) {
-            continue;
-        }
-        if (vsr_level == __ANDROID_API_T__ && parent_bdev != super_bdev) {
-            // Only check for dynamic partitions at this VSR level.
-            continue;
-        }
-
         if (entry.flags & MS_RDONLY) {
-            std::vector<std::string> allowed = {"erofs", "ext4", "f2fs"};
+            if (parent_bdev != super_bdev) {
+                // Ignore non-AOSP partitions (eg anything outside of super).
+                continue;
+            }
 
+            std::vector<std::string> allowed = {"erofs", "ext4", "f2fs"};
             EXPECT_NE(std::find(allowed.begin(), allowed.end(), entry.fs_type), allowed.end())
                     << entry.mount_point;
         } else {
diff --git a/init/README.md b/init/README.md
index 6bdff4a..5fced19 100644
--- a/init/README.md
+++ b/init/README.md
@@ -344,11 +344,14 @@
   intended to be used with the `exec_start` builtin for any must-have checks during boot.
 
 `restart_period <seconds>`
-> If a non-oneshot service exits, it will be restarted at its start time plus
-  this period. It defaults to 5s to rate limit crashing services.
-  This can be increased for services that are meant to run periodically. For
-  example, it may be set to 3600 to indicate that the service should run every hour
-  or 86400 to indicate that the service should run every day.
+> If a non-oneshot service exits, it will be restarted at its previous start time plus this period.
+  The default value is 5s. This can be used to implement periodic services together with the
+  `timeout_period` command below. For example, it may be set to 3600 to indicate that the service
+  should run every hour or 86400 to indicate that the service should run every day. This can be set
+  to a value shorter than 5s for example 0, but the minimum 5s delay is enforced if the restart was
+  due to a crash. This is to rate limit persistentally crashing services. In other words,
+  `<seconds>` smaller than 5 is respected only when the service exits deliverately and successfully
+  (i.e. by calling exit(0)).
 
 `rlimit <resource> <cur> <max>`
 > This applies the given rlimit to the service. rlimits are inherited by child
diff --git a/init/reboot.cpp b/init/reboot.cpp
index 27a7876..3351c4c 100644
--- a/init/reboot.cpp
+++ b/init/reboot.cpp
@@ -680,8 +680,8 @@
                            << "': " << result.error();
             }
             s->SetShutdownCritical();
-        } else if (do_shutdown_animation) {
-            continue;
+        } else if (do_shutdown_animation && s->classnames().count("animation") > 0) {
+            // Need these for shutdown animations.
         } else if (s->IsShutdownCritical()) {
             // Start shutdown critical service if not started.
             if (auto result = s->Start(); !result.ok()) {
diff --git a/init/service.cpp b/init/service.cpp
index c152081..2945708 100644
--- a/init/service.cpp
+++ b/init/service.cpp
@@ -308,6 +308,7 @@
     pid_ = 0;
     flags_ &= (~SVC_RUNNING);
     start_order_ = 0;
+    was_last_exit_ok_ = siginfo.si_code == CLD_EXITED && siginfo.si_status == 0;
 
     // Oneshot processes go into the disabled state on exit,
     // except when manually restarted.
@@ -361,7 +362,8 @@
     // If we crash > 4 times in 'fatal_crash_window_' minutes or before boot_completed,
     // reboot into bootloader or set crashing property
     boot_clock::time_point now = boot_clock::now();
-    if (((flags_ & SVC_CRITICAL) || is_process_updatable) && !(flags_ & SVC_RESTART)) {
+    if (((flags_ & SVC_CRITICAL) || is_process_updatable) && !(flags_ & SVC_RESTART) &&
+        !was_last_exit_ok_) {
         bool boot_completed = GetBoolProperty("sys.boot_completed", false);
         if (now < time_crashed_ + fatal_crash_window_ || !boot_completed) {
             if (++crash_count_ > 4) {
diff --git a/init/service.h b/init/service.h
index ce7c0da..b858eef 100644
--- a/init/service.h
+++ b/init/service.h
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 
+#include <algorithm>
 #include <chrono>
 #include <memory>
 #include <optional>
@@ -115,6 +116,7 @@
     pid_t pid() const { return pid_; }
     android::base::boot_clock::time_point time_started() const { return time_started_; }
     int crash_count() const { return crash_count_; }
+    int was_last_exit_ok() const { return was_last_exit_ok_; }
     uid_t uid() const { return proc_attr_.uid(); }
     gid_t gid() const { return proc_attr_.gid; }
     int namespace_flags() const { return namespaces_.flags; }
@@ -130,7 +132,15 @@
     bool process_cgroup_empty() const { return process_cgroup_empty_; }
     unsigned long start_order() const { return start_order_; }
     void set_sigstop(bool value) { sigstop_ = value; }
-    std::chrono::seconds restart_period() const { return restart_period_; }
+    std::chrono::seconds restart_period() const {
+        // If the service exited abnormally or due to timeout, late limit the restart even if
+        // restart_period is set to a very short value.
+        // If not, i.e. restart after a deliberate and successful exit, respect the period.
+        if (!was_last_exit_ok_) {
+            return std::max(restart_period_, default_restart_period_);
+        }
+        return restart_period_;
+    }
     std::optional<std::chrono::seconds> timeout_period() const { return timeout_period_; }
     const std::vector<std::string>& args() const { return args_; }
     bool is_updatable() const { return updatable_; }
@@ -172,6 +182,8 @@
     bool upgraded_mte_ = false;           // whether we upgraded async MTE -> sync MTE before
     std::chrono::minutes fatal_crash_window_ = 4min;  // fatal() when more than 4 crashes in it
     std::optional<std::string> fatal_reboot_target_;  // reboot target of fatal handler
+    bool was_last_exit_ok_ =
+            true;  // true if the service never exited, or exited with status code 0
 
     std::optional<CapSet> capabilities_;
     ProcessAttributes proc_attr_;
@@ -214,7 +226,8 @@
 
     bool sigstop_ = false;
 
-    std::chrono::seconds restart_period_ = 5s;
+    const std::chrono::seconds default_restart_period_ = 5s;
+    std::chrono::seconds restart_period_ = default_restart_period_;
     std::optional<std::chrono::seconds> timeout_period_;
 
     bool updatable_ = false;
diff --git a/init/service_parser.cpp b/init/service_parser.cpp
index d46e1f7..a1b2cc5 100644
--- a/init/service_parser.cpp
+++ b/init/service_parser.cpp
@@ -370,8 +370,8 @@
 
 Result<void> ServiceParser::ParseRestartPeriod(std::vector<std::string>&& args) {
     int period;
-    if (!ParseInt(args[1], &period, 5)) {
-        return Error() << "restart_period value must be an integer >= 5";
+    if (!ParseInt(args[1], &period, 0)) {
+        return Error() << "restart_period value must be an integer >= 0";
     }
     service_->restart_period_ = std::chrono::seconds(period);
     return {};
diff --git a/libmodprobe/libmodprobe.cpp b/libmodprobe/libmodprobe.cpp
index 1971f01..858b955 100644
--- a/libmodprobe/libmodprobe.cpp
+++ b/libmodprobe/libmodprobe.cpp
@@ -439,54 +439,58 @@
     return module_blocklist_.count(canonical_name) > 0;
 }
 
-// Another option to load kernel modules. load in independent modules in parallel
-// and then update dependency list of other remaining modules, repeat these steps
-// until all modules are loaded.
+// Another option to load kernel modules. load independent modules dependencies
+// in parallel and then update dependency list of other remaining modules,
+// repeat these steps until all modules are loaded.
+// Discard all blocklist.
+// Softdeps are taken care in InsmodWithDeps().
 bool Modprobe::LoadModulesParallel(int num_threads) {
     bool ret = true;
-    int count = -1;
-    std::map<std::string, std::set<std::string>> mod_with_deps;
+    std::unordered_map<std::string, std::vector<std::string>> mod_with_deps;
 
     // Get dependencies
     for (const auto& module : module_load_) {
+        // Skip blocklist modules
+        if (IsBlocklisted(module)) {
+            LOG(VERBOSE) << "LMP: Blocklist: Module " << module << " skipping...";
+            continue;
+        }
         auto dependencies = GetDependencies(MakeCanonical(module));
-
-        for (auto dep = dependencies.rbegin(); dep != dependencies.rend(); dep++) {
-            mod_with_deps[module].emplace(*dep);
+        if (dependencies.empty()) {
+            LOG(ERROR) << "LMP: Hard-dep: Module " << module
+                       << " not in .dep file";
+            return false;
         }
+        mod_with_deps[MakeCanonical(module)] = dependencies;
     }
 
-    // Get soft dependencies
-    for (const auto& [it_mod, it_softdep] : module_pre_softdep_) {
-        if (mod_with_deps.find(MakeCanonical(it_softdep)) != mod_with_deps.end()) {
-            mod_with_deps[MakeCanonical(it_mod)].emplace(
-                GetDependencies(MakeCanonical(it_softdep))[0]);
-        }
-    }
-
-    // Get soft post dependencies
-    for (const auto& [it_mod, it_softdep] : module_post_softdep_) {
-        if (mod_with_deps.find(MakeCanonical(it_softdep)) != mod_with_deps.end()) {
-            mod_with_deps[MakeCanonical(it_softdep)].emplace(
-                GetDependencies(MakeCanonical(it_mod))[0]);
-        }
-    }
-
-    while (!mod_with_deps.empty() &&  count != module_loaded_.size()) {
+    while (!mod_with_deps.empty()) {
         std::vector<std::thread> threads;
         std::vector<std::string> mods_path_to_load;
         std::mutex vector_lock;
-        count = module_loaded_.size();
 
         // Find independent modules
         for (const auto& [it_mod, it_dep] : mod_with_deps) {
-            if (it_dep.size() == 1) {
-                if (module_options_[it_mod].find("load_sequential=1") != std::string::npos) {
-                    if (!LoadWithAliases(it_mod, true) && !IsBlocklisted(it_mod)) {
-                      return false;
-                    }
-                } else {
-                    mods_path_to_load.emplace_back(it_mod);
+            auto itd_last = it_dep.rbegin();
+            if (itd_last == it_dep.rend())
+                continue;
+
+            auto cnd_last = MakeCanonical(*itd_last);
+            // Hard-dependencies cannot be blocklisted
+            if (IsBlocklisted(cnd_last)) {
+                LOG(ERROR) << "LMP: Blocklist: Module-dep " << cnd_last
+                           << " : failed to load module " << it_mod;
+                return false;
+            }
+
+            if (module_options_[cnd_last].find("load_sequential=1") != std::string::npos) {
+                if (!LoadWithAliases(cnd_last, true)) {
+                    return false;
+                }
+            } else {
+                if (std::find(mods_path_to_load.begin(), mods_path_to_load.end(),
+                            cnd_last) == mods_path_to_load.end()) {
+                    mods_path_to_load.emplace_back(cnd_last);
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -502,7 +506,7 @@
                 lk.unlock();
                 ret_load &= LoadWithAliases(mod_to_load, true);
                 lk.lock();
-                if (!ret_load && !IsBlocklisted(mod_to_load)) {
+                if (!ret_load) {
                     ret &= ret_load;
                 }
             }
@@ -521,13 +525,18 @@
         std::lock_guard guard(module_loaded_lock_);
         // Remove loaded module form mod_with_deps and soft dependencies of other modules
         for (const auto& module_loaded : module_loaded_) {
-            mod_with_deps.erase(module_loaded);
+            if (mod_with_deps.find(module_loaded) != mod_with_deps.end()) {
+                mod_with_deps.erase(module_loaded);
+            }
         }
 
         // Remove loaded module form dependencies of other modules which are not loaded yet
         for (const auto& module_loaded_path : module_loaded_paths_) {
             for (auto& [mod, deps] : mod_with_deps) {
-                deps.erase(module_loaded_path);
+                auto it = std::find(deps.begin(), deps.end(), module_loaded_path);
+                if (it != deps.end()) {
+                    deps.erase(it);
+                }
             }
         }
     }