diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/Android.bp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/Android.bp
index cba684467..e931bec39 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/Android.bp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/Android.bp
@@ -174,12 +174,13 @@ cc_library_static {
         "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,
@@ -371,7 +372,7 @@ cc_test {
         "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 b228dff8d..dd626bc46 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_format.h
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_format.h
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ 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:
 //
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_writer.h b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_writer.h
index 7881f3509..af2d3efc5 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 @@ struct CowOptions {
 // 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.
@@ -93,21 +91,8 @@ class ICowWriter {
     // Return number of bytes the cow image occupies on disk.
     virtual uint64_t GetCowSize() = 0;
 
-    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 {
@@ -146,96 +131,15 @@ class CompressWorker {
                         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;
-
-  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 d798e25e3..52e3a9c4e 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/mock_snapshot_writer.h
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/mock_snapshot_writer.h
@@ -23,30 +23,23 @@ class MockSnapshotWriter : public ISnapshotWriter {
   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));
 
-    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_writer.h b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/snapshot_writer.h
index 8f6344c3b..2653a6053 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/snapshot_writer.h
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/snapshot_writer.h
@@ -31,13 +31,7 @@ class ISnapshotWriter : public ICowWriter {
   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 @@ class ISnapshotWriter : public ICowWriter {
     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 @@ class CompressedSnapshotWriter final : public ISnapshotWriter {
   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);
 
@@ -70,23 +59,34 @@ class CompressedSnapshotWriter final : public ISnapshotWriter {
     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::unique_fd cow_device_;
+    android::base::borrowed_fd GetSourceFd();
 
-    std::unique_ptr<CowWriter> cow_;
+    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<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 2157d0fa9..ff3ccecb8 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 @@ bool IsOrderedOp(const CowOperation& op) {
     }
 }
 
+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_api_test.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/test_v2.cpp
similarity index 91%
rename from fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/cow_api_test.cpp
rename to fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/test_v2.cpp
index 8f80bb345..120b2c062 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 @@ class CowTest : public ::testing::Test {
 
     virtual void TearDown() override { cow_ = nullptr; }
 
+    unique_fd GetCowFd() { return unique_fd{dup(cow_->fd)}; }
+
     std::unique_ptr<TemporaryFile> cow_;
 };
 
@@ -53,9 +57,9 @@ static inline bool ReadData(CowReader& reader, const CowOperation* op, void* buf
 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());
@@ -96,9 +100,9 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, CopyContiguous) {
 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');
@@ -175,9 +179,9 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, ReadWrite) {
 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');
@@ -256,9 +260,9 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, CompressGz) {
     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 @@ TEST_P(CompressionTest, ThreadedBatchWrites) {
     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 @@ TEST_P(CompressionTest, NoBatchWrites) {
     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 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, ClusterCompressGz) {
     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 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, CompressTwoBlocks) {
     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, CompressTwoBlocks) {
 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, GetSize) {
 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 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, AppendLabelSmall) {
 
     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, AppendLabelSmall) {
 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 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, AppendLabelMissing) {
 
     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, AppendLabelMissing) {
 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 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, AppendExtendedCorrupted) {
 
     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, AppendExtendedCorrupted) {
 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 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, AppendbyLabel) {
 
     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, AppendbyLabel) {
 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, ClusterTest) {
 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, ClusterAppendTest) {
 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 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, AppendAfterFinalize) {
     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 @@ AssertionResult CompareDataBlock(CowReader* reader, const CowOperation* op,
 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 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, ResumeMidCluster) {
     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 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, ResumeEndCluster) {
     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 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, ResumeEndCluster) {
     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, ResumeEndCluster) {
 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 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, DeleteMidCluster) {
     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, DeleteMidCluster) {
 
 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, BigSeqOp) {
 
 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, MissingSeqOp) {
 
 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 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, ResumeSeqOp) {
     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 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, RevMergeOpItrTest) {
     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 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, LegacyRevMergeOpItrTest) {
     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 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, InvalidMergeOrderTest) {
     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 @@ TEST_F(CowTest, InvalidMergeOrderTest) {
     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 000000000..22e63d0a3
--- /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 000000000..8fa90656f
--- /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 75%
rename from fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/cow_writer.cpp
rename to fs_mgr/libsnapshot/libsnapshot_cow/writer_v2.cpp
index 1eaa0385e..b6603da52 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 @@ CowWriter::~CowWriter() {
     compress_threads_.clear();
 }
 
-void CowWriter::SetupWriteOptions() {
+void CowWriterV2::SetupWriteOptions() {
     num_compress_threads_ = options_.num_compress_threads;
 
     if (!num_compress_threads_) {
@@ -184,7 +99,7 @@ void CowWriter::SetupWriteOptions() {
     }
 }
 
-void CowWriter::SetupHeaders() {
+void CowWriterV2::SetupHeaders() {
     header_ = {};
     header_.prefix.magic = kCowMagicNumber;
     header_.prefix.major_version = kCowVersionMajor;
@@ -201,7 +116,7 @@ void CowWriter::SetupHeaders() {
     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 @@ bool CowWriter::ParseOptions() {
     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 @@ void CowWriter::InitBatchWrites() {
     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 @@ void CowWriter::InitWorkers() {
     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 @@ void CowWriter::InitPos() {
     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 @@ bool CowWriter::OpenForWrite() {
     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 @@ bool CowWriter::OpenForAppend(uint64_t label) {
     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 @@ bool CowWriter::EmitCopy(uint64_t new_block, uint64_t old_block, uint64_t num_bl
     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 @@ bool CowWriter::CompressBlocks(size_t num_blocks, const void* data) {
     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 @@ bool CowWriter::EmitBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, const void* data, size_t si
     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 @@ bool CowWriter::EmitZeroBlocks(uint64_t new_block_start, uint64_t num_blocks) {
     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 @@ bool CowWriter::EmitLabel(uint64_t label) {
     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 @@ bool CowWriter::EmitSequenceData(size_t num_ops, const uint32_t* data) {
     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 @@ bool CowWriter::EmitCluster() {
     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;
@@ -614,7 +477,7 @@ bool CowWriter::EmitClusterIfNeeded() {
     return true;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::Finalize() {
+bool CowWriterV2::Finalize() {
     if (!FlushCluster()) {
         LOG(ERROR) << "Finalize: FlushCluster() failed";
         return false;
@@ -688,7 +551,7 @@ bool CowWriter::Finalize() {
     return Sync();
 }
 
-uint64_t CowWriter::GetCowSize() {
+uint64_t CowWriterV2::GetCowSize() {
     if (current_data_size_ > 0) {
         return next_data_pos_ + sizeof(footer_);
     } else {
@@ -696,7 +559,7 @@ uint64_t CowWriter::GetCowSize() {
     }
 }
 
-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";
@@ -706,7 +569,7 @@ bool CowWriter::GetDataPos(uint64_t* pos) {
     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_;
@@ -716,7 +579,7 @@ bool CowWriter::EnsureSpaceAvailable(const uint64_t bytes_needed) const {
     return true;
 }
 
-bool CowWriter::FlushCluster() {
+bool CowWriterV2::FlushCluster() {
     ssize_t ret;
 
     if (op_vec_index_) {
@@ -745,7 +608,7 @@ bool CowWriter::FlushCluster() {
     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;
     }
@@ -793,7 +656,7 @@ bool CowWriter::WriteOperation(const CowOperation& op, const void* data, size_t
     return EmitClusterIfNeeded();
 }
 
-void CowWriter::AddOperation(const CowOperation& op) {
+void CowWriterV2::AddOperation(const CowOperation& op) {
     footer_.op.num_ops++;
 
     if (op.type == kCowClusterOp) {
@@ -808,14 +671,14 @@ void CowWriter::AddOperation(const CowOperation& op) {
     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;
     }
@@ -826,7 +689,7 @@ bool CowWriter::Sync() {
     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 000000000..809ae5747
--- /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 e114d2556..5920bc22f 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"
@@ -3557,8 +3558,8 @@ Return SnapshotManager::InitializeUpdateSnapshots(
             }
             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();
             }
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot_test.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot_test.cpp
index 757f6f181..dac1b771b 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot_test.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot_test.cpp
@@ -1220,13 +1220,13 @@ class SnapshotUpdateTest : public SnapshotTest {
         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())) {
@@ -1254,13 +1254,13 @@ class SnapshotUpdateTest : public SnapshotTest {
         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 "
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot_writer.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapshot_writer.cpp
index 6a3906ead..0ea424c7e 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::borrowed_fd;
 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 @@ borrowed_fd ISnapshotWriter::GetSourceFd() {
     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;
 }
 
@@ -106,47 +103,76 @@ std::unique_ptr<FileDescriptor> CompressedSnapshotWriter::OpenReader() {
         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);
+    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(label)) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    cow_ = std::move(cow);
+    return true;
+}
+
+uint32_t CompressedSnapshotWriter::GetBlockSize() const {
+    return cow_->GetBlockSize();
+}
+
+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 3c4ab2ef7..737c480a8 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 @@ class CowSnapuserdTest final {
     void SimulateDaemonRestart();
     void StartMerge();
 
+    std::unique_ptr<ICowWriter> CreateCowDeviceInternal();
     void CreateCowDevice();
     void CreateCowDeviceOrderedOps();
     void CreateCowDeviceOrderedOpsInverted();
@@ -164,6 +165,7 @@ class CowSnapuserdMetadataTest final {
 
   private:
     void InitMetadata();
+    std::unique_ptr<ICowWriter> CreateCowDeviceInternal();
     void CreateCowDevice();
     void CreateCowPartialFilledArea();
 
@@ -258,6 +260,19 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::StartSnapuserdDaemon() {
     }
 }
 
+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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::ReadLastBlock() {
     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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::ReadLastBlock() {
         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::ReadSnapshotDeviceAndValidate() {
 }
 
 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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceWithCopyOverlap_2() {
     }
 
     // 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_2() {
 }
 
 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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceWithCopyOverlap_1() {
     }
 
     // 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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceWithCopyOverlap_1() {
               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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceOrderedOpsInverted() {
     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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceOrderedOpsInverted() {
         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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceOrderedOpsInverted() {
 
     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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceOrderedOpsInverted() {
     }
 
     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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceOrderedOps() {
     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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceOrderedOps() {
     }
     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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceOrderedOps() {
         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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDevice() {
     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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDevice() {
         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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDevice() {
     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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::CreateCowDevice() {
     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 @@ void CowSnapuserdTest::MergeInterrupt() {
     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 @@ void CowSnapuserdMetadataTest::CreateCowDevice() {
     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 @@ void CowSnapuserdMetadataTest::CreateCowDevice() {
         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/user-space-merge/snapuserd_test.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd/user-space-merge/snapuserd_test.cpp
index 57f9e7ac1..efe0c1443 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 @@ class SnapuserdTest : public ::testing::Test {
 
     void SimulateDaemonRestart();
 
+    std::unique_ptr<ICowWriter> CreateCowDeviceInternal();
     void CreateCowDevice();
     void CreateCowDeviceOrderedOps();
     void CreateCowDeviceOrderedOpsInverted();
@@ -277,23 +278,30 @@ void SnapuserdTest::ReadSnapshotDeviceAndValidate() {
     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 @@ void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceWithCopyOverlap_2() {
     }
 
     // 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_2() {
 }
 
 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 @@ void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceWithCopyOverlap_1() {
     }
 
     // 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 @@ void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceWithCopyOverlap_1() {
               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 @@ void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceOrderedOpsInverted() {
     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 @@ void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceOrderedOpsInverted() {
         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 @@ void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceOrderedOpsInverted() {
 
     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 @@ void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceOrderedOpsInverted() {
     }
 
     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 @@ void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceOrderedOps() {
     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 @@ void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceOrderedOps() {
     }
     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 @@ void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDeviceOrderedOps() {
         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 @@ void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDevice() {
     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 @@ void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDevice() {
         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 @@ void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDevice() {
     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 @@ void SnapuserdTest::CreateCowDevice() {
     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);