diff --git a/distrib/sets/lists/minix/mi b/distrib/sets/lists/minix/mi
index 858c7da80..4ae4a5feb 100644
--- a/distrib/sets/lists/minix/mi
+++ b/distrib/sets/lists/minix/mi
@@ -439,6 +439,7 @@
 ./usr/bin/tic				minix-sys
 ./usr/bin/time				minix-sys
 ./usr/bin/top				minix-sys
+./usr/bin/toproto			minix-sys
 ./usr/bin/touch				minix-sys
 ./usr/bin/tput				minix-sys
 ./usr/bin/tr				minix-sys
diff --git a/tools/Makefile b/tools/Makefile
index 36bd77028..b5fba52e7 100644
--- a/tools/Makefile
+++ b/tools/Makefile
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ SUBDIR=	host-mkdep .WAIT compat .WAIT \
 		lorder makewhatis mkdep mtree nbperf .WAIT tsort \
 		m4 \
 	.WAIT mkfs.mfs \
+	.WAIT toproto \
 	.WAIT yacc \
 	.WAIT awk \
 	.WAIT tic \
diff --git a/tools/toproto/Makefile b/tools/toproto/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..49f36a0c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/toproto/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+HOSTPROGNAME=	${_TOOL_PREFIX}toproto
+HOST_SRCDIR=	usr.bin/toproto
+
+.include "${.CURDIR}/../Makefile.host"
diff --git a/usr.bin/Makefile b/usr.bin/Makefile
index b1aadeac4..0861ec757 100644
--- a/usr.bin/Makefile
+++ b/usr.bin/Makefile
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ SUBDIR= \
 	sort stat su \
 	tic tput \
 	tsort \
+	toproto \
 	uniq \
 	\
 	\
diff --git a/usr.bin/toproto/Makefile b/usr.bin/toproto/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..15261aaec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/usr.bin/toproto/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#
+# Makefile for the toproto tool.
+#
+PROG=toproto
+MAN=
+
+.include <bsd.prog.mk>
+
diff --git a/usr.bin/toproto/toproto.c b/usr.bin/toproto/toproto.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..43d83484e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/usr.bin/toproto/toproto.c
@@ -0,0 +1,430 @@
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <assert.h>
+
+#include <getopt.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
+
+#define MAX_ENTRIES 100000
+#define MAX_LINE_SIZE 0xfff
+
+
+/*
+ * Tool to convert the netbsd METALOG into a proto file usable by mkfs.mfs
+ *
+ * todo: 
+ * Possibly use netbsd usr.sbin/makefs to create mfs file systems.
+ */
+
+enum entry_type
+{ ENTRY_DIR, ENTRY_FILE, ENTRY_LINK };
+
+struct entry
+{
+	char *path;
+	char *filename;		/* point to last component in the path */
+	enum entry_type type;	/* entry type */
+	char *mode;		/* unix mode e.g. 0755 */
+	char *uid;
+	char *gid;
+	char *time;		/* time 1365836670.000000000 */
+	char *size;
+	char *link;
+
+	/* just internal variables used to create a tree */
+	int depth;
+	struct entry *parent;
+
+};
+
+static struct entry entries[MAX_ENTRIES];
+static int entry_total_count;
+
+static int
+convert_to_entry(char *line, struct entry *entry)
+{
+	/* convert a input line from sanitized input into an entry */
+	char *saveptr;
+	char *key, *value;
+
+	saveptr = NULL;
+
+	/* we need to have a terminated string */
+	assert(strnlen(line, MAX_LINE_SIZE - 1) != MAX_LINE_SIZE - 1);
+
+	/* skip comment lines */
+	if (*line == '#')
+		return 1;
+
+	line = strtok_r(line, " ", &saveptr);
+
+	/* skip empty lines */
+	if (!line) {
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	memset(entry, 0, sizeof(struct entry));
+
+	/* the first entry is the path name */
+	entry->path = strndup(line, MAX_LINE_SIZE);
+
+	/* the next entries are key,value pairs */
+	while ((line = strtok_r(NULL, " ", &saveptr)) != NULL) {
+		key = value = NULL;
+		char *p;
+		if (strstr(line, "=") == NULL) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "expected key/value pair in %s\n",
+			    line);
+			free(entry->path);
+			return 1;
+		}
+		p = NULL;
+		key = strtok_r(line, "=", &p);
+		value = strtok_r(NULL, "=", &p);
+		if (value) {
+			if (strncmp(key, "type", 5) == 0) {
+				if (strncmp(value, "dir", 4) == 0) {
+					entry->type = ENTRY_DIR;
+				} else if (strncmp(value, "file", 5) == 0) {
+					entry->type = ENTRY_FILE;
+				} else if (strncmp(value, "link", 5) == 0) {
+					entry->type = ENTRY_LINK;
+				} else {
+					fprintf(stderr,
+					    "\tunknown type %s -> '%s'\n", key,
+					    value);
+				}
+			} else if (strncmp(key, "mode", 5) == 0) {
+				entry->mode = strndup(value, MAX_LINE_SIZE);
+			} else if (strncmp(key, "uid", 4) == 0) {
+				entry->uid = strndup(value, MAX_LINE_SIZE);
+			} else if (strncmp(key, "gid", 4) == 0) {
+				entry->gid = strndup(value, MAX_LINE_SIZE);
+			} else if (strncmp(key, "time", 5) == 0) {
+				entry->time = strndup(value, MAX_LINE_SIZE);
+			} else if (strncmp(key, "size", 5) == 0) {
+				entry->size = strndup(value, MAX_LINE_SIZE);
+			} else if (strncmp(key, "link", 5) == 0) {
+				entry->link = strndup(value, MAX_LINE_SIZE);
+			} else {
+				fprintf(stderr,
+				    "\tunknown attribute %s -> %s\n", key,
+				    value);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int
+iterate_over_input(int fh_in, void (*callback) (char *line))
+{
+	char buf[MAX_LINE_SIZE];
+	int r_size, err;
+	int line_size;
+	int buf_end;
+	int line_nr;
+	char *p;
+	memset(buf, 0, MAX_LINE_SIZE);
+
+	r_size = 0;
+	buf_end = 0;
+	line_nr = 0;
+
+	while (1 == 1) {
+		/* fill buffer taking into account there can already be
+		 * content at the start */
+		r_size = read(fh_in, &buf[buf_end], MAX_LINE_SIZE - buf_end);
+		if (r_size == -1) {
+			err = errno;
+			fprintf(stderr, "failed reading input:%s\n",
+			    strerror(err));
+			return 1;
+		}
+		/* checking for read size of 0 is not enough as the buffer
+		 * still can contain content */
+		buf_end = buf_end + r_size;
+
+		/* is there data we need to process ? */
+		if (buf_end == 0) {
+			return 0;	/* normal exit is here */
+		}
+
+		/* find end of line or eof. start a the start of the buffer */
+		p = buf;
+		while (p < buf + buf_end) {
+			if (*p == '\n' || *p == '\0') {
+				/* replace either by a null terminator */
+				line_nr++;
+				*p = '\0';
+				break;
+			}
+			p++;
+		}
+
+		/* If we are at the end of the buffer we did not find a
+		 * terminator */
+		if (p == buf + buf_end) {
+			fprintf(stderr,
+			    "Line(%d) does not fit the buffer %d\n", line_nr,
+			    MAX_LINE_SIZE);
+			return 1;
+		}
+
+		line_size = p - buf;	/* size of the line we currently are
+					 * reading */
+
+		/* here we have a valid line */
+		callback(buf);
+
+		/* copy the remaining data over to the start */
+		memmove(buf, p + 1, MAX_LINE_SIZE - line_size);
+		buf_end -= (line_size + 1);
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static void
+parse_line_cb(char *line)
+{
+	if (convert_to_entry(line, &entries[entry_total_count]) == 0) {
+		entry_total_count++;
+		assert(entry_total_count < MAX_ENTRIES);
+	} else {
+		memset(&entries[entry_total_count], 0, sizeof(struct entry));
+	}
+}
+
+static int
+create_entries(int handle)
+{
+	int c;
+	char *p;
+	struct entry *entry;
+
+	char tmppath[MAX_LINE_SIZE];
+	int i;
+
+	if (iterate_over_input(handle, parse_line_cb)) {
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	/* calculate depth for each entry */
+	for (c = 0; c < entry_total_count; c++) {
+		p = entries[c].path;
+		while (*p != 0) {
+			if (*p == '/') {
+				entries[c].depth++;
+			}
+			p++;
+		}
+	}
+
+	/* find parent entry and set the filename */
+	for (c = 0; c < entry_total_count; c++) {
+		entry = &entries[c];
+		if (entry->depth > 0) {
+			/* calculate path */
+			/* find last "/" element and "null" it */
+			strncpy(tmppath, entry->path, MAX_LINE_SIZE - 1);
+			i = strlen(tmppath);
+			while (i > 0) {
+				if (tmppath[i] == '/') {
+					entry->filename = &entry->path[i + 1];
+					tmppath[i] = '\0';
+					break;
+				}
+				i--;
+			}
+			if (i == 0) {
+				fprintf
+				    (stderr,
+				    "error while searching for parent path of %s\n",
+				    entry->path);
+				return 1;
+			}
+
+			/* now compare with the other entries */
+			for (i = 0; i < entry_total_count; i++) {
+				if (strncmp(entries[i].path, tmppath,
+					MAX_LINE_SIZE) == 0) {
+					/* found entry */
+					entry->parent = &entries[i];
+					break;
+				}
+			}
+			if (entry->parent == NULL) {
+				fprintf(stderr,
+				    "Failed to find parent directory of %s\n",
+				    entry->path);
+				return 1;
+			}
+			assert(entry->parent->type == ENTRY_DIR);
+		} else {
+			/* same in this case */
+			entry->filename = entry->path;
+		}
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int
+dump_entry(FILE * out, int index, char *base_dir)
+{
+
+	int space;
+	int i;
+	struct entry *entry = &entries[index];
+
+	if (entry->type == ENTRY_DIR) {
+		for (space = 0; space < entries[index].depth; space++) {
+			fprintf(out, " ");
+		}
+		if (entries[index].depth > 0) {
+			fprintf(out, "%s ", entry->filename);
+		}
+		fprintf(out, "d--%s", entry->mode);
+		fprintf(out, " %s", (entry->uid) ? entry->uid : "0");
+		fprintf(out, " %s", (entry->gid) ? entry->gid : "0");
+		fprintf(out, "\n");
+		for (i = 0; i < entry_total_count; i++) {
+			if (entries[i].parent == entry) {
+				dump_entry(out, i, base_dir);
+			}
+		}
+		for (space = 0; space < entries[index].depth; space++) {
+			fprintf(out, " ");
+		}
+		fprintf(out, "$\n");
+	} else if (entry->type == ENTRY_FILE) {
+		for (space = 0; space < entries[index].depth; space++) {
+			fprintf(out, " ");
+		}
+		/* hack skipping the first . in the path */
+		fprintf(out, "%s ---%s %s %s %s%s\n", entry->filename,
+		    entry->mode, entry->uid, entry->gid, base_dir,
+		    &entry->path[1]);
+	} else if (entry->type == ENTRY_LINK) {
+		for (space = 0; space < entries[index].depth; space++) {
+			fprintf(out, " ");
+		}
+		/* hack skipping the first . in the path */
+		fprintf(out, "%s s--%s 0 0 %s\n", entry->filename, entry->mode,
+		    entry->link);
+	} else {
+		/* missing "b" and "c" for block and char device? */
+		fprintf(out, "# ");
+		for (space = 1; space < entries[index].depth; space++) {
+			fprintf(out, " ");
+		}
+		fprintf(out, "%i %s\n", entry->type, entry->path);
+		exit(1);
+		return 1;
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int
+dump_proto(FILE * out, char *base_dir)
+{
+	int i;
+	fprintf(out, "boot\n0 0");
+	for (i = 0; i < entry_total_count; i++) {
+		if (entries[i].depth == 0) {
+			fprintf(out, "\n");
+			dump_entry(out, i, base_dir);
+		}
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static void
+print_usage()
+{
+	printf("Usage: toproto [OPTION]...\n");
+	printf
+	    ("Convert a netbsd METALOG file into a proto file for mkfs.mfs.\n");
+	printf("\n");
+	printf("  -i input METALOG\n");
+	printf("  -b base_path\n");
+	printf("  -o output proto\n");
+	printf("  -h show this this help and exit\n");
+}
+
+int
+main(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+	int ch, fh_in;
+	FILE *out;
+	char *base_path;
+	char *input_file, *output_file;
+
+	input_file = NULL;
+	output_file = NULL;
+	base_path = ".";
+	fh_in = STDIN_FILENO;
+	out = stdout;
+
+	while ((ch = getopt(argc, argv, "i:b:o:h")) != -1) {
+		switch (ch) {
+		case 'i':
+			input_file = optarg;
+			break;
+		case 'b':
+			base_path = optarg;
+			break;
+		case 'o':
+			output_file = optarg;
+			break;
+		case 'h':
+			print_usage();
+			exit(0);
+			break;
+		default:
+			print_usage();
+			exit(1);
+		}
+	}
+	argc -= optind;
+	argv += optind;
+
+	if (input_file) {
+		fh_in = open(input_file, O_RDONLY);
+		if (fh_in == -1) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "Failed to open input file (%s):%s\n",
+			    input_file, strerror(errno));
+			exit(1);
+		}
+	}
+	if (output_file) {
+		out = fopen(output_file, "w+");
+		if (!out) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "Failed to open input file (%s):%s\n",
+			    input_file, strerror(errno));
+			exit(1);
+		}
+	}
+
+	if (create_entries(fh_in)) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Failed to create entries\n");
+		exit(1);
+	}
+	if (input_file)
+		close(fh_in);
+
+	if (dump_proto(out, base_path)) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Failed to create entries\n");
+		exit(1);
+	}
+
+	if (output_file)
+		fclose(out);
+	return 0;
+}