I wrote a small script for packing ZODB storages without running zope complete with buildout support for quick deployment without modifying the system. Attached is the README for more details. I hope this is useful for some. Also, I can't seem to get the ReStructuredText in the long_description on the pypi page to display as ReStructuredText instead of just displaying as test. Anyone got any pointers? http://cheeseshop.python.org/pypi/z3c.offlinepack Ross ================== Pack ZODBs Offline ================== Pack a ZODB storage without running any part of the Zope application server. Only an appropriate version of ZODB3 for the ZODB storage is required. Apply only to copies of ZODB storages, not ZODB storages currently in use. Install the distribution:: $ python setup.py install Then use the offlinepack script to pack a copy of your ZODB:: $ offlinepack /path/to/Data-copy.fs zc.buildout ----------- A buildout.cfg is included that will install the offlinepack script to the buildout. The buildout makes it possible to quickly use the offlinepack script without modifying the system python installation:: $ svn co svn://svn.zope.org/repos/main/z3c.offlinepack/trunk z3c.offlinepack $ cd z3c.offlinepack $ python bootsrtap/bootsrtap.py -v $ bin/buildout -v $ bin/offlinepack /path/to/Data-copy.fs The buildout.cfg file can also be modified to use a specific version of ZODB3. This is uesful if you need to use offlinepack without migrating the ZODB to a newer version of ZODB3. Add the version specifier to the offlinepack section of buildout.cfg. For example, to use offlinepack with Zope 2.9, use the following offlinepack section. [offlinepack] recipe = zc.recipe.egg:scripts eggs = z3c.offlinepack ZODB3<3.7-dev