diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 4641cbd..e27083c 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "log",
  "nix 0.19.0",
  "proptest",
- "rand 0.7.3",
+ "rand 0.8.0",
  "rayon",
  "rust-crypto",
  "serde",
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "tempfile",
  "thiserror",
  "uuid",
+ "vfs",
  "walkdir",
 ]
 
@@ -262,6 +263,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "wasi 0.9.0+wasi-snapshot-preview1",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "getrandom"
+version = "0.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ee8025cf36f917e6a52cce185b7c7177689b838b7ec138364e50cc2277a56cf4"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if 0.1.10",
+ "libc",
+ "wasi 0.9.0+wasi-snapshot-preview1",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "glob"
 version = "0.3.0"
@@ -412,7 +424,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "num-traits",
  "quick-error",
  "rand 0.7.3",
- "rand_chacha",
+ "rand_chacha 0.2.2",
  "rand_xorshift",
  "regex-syntax",
  "rusty-fork",
@@ -463,11 +475,23 @@ version = "0.7.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "6a6b1679d49b24bbfe0c803429aa1874472f50d9b363131f0e89fc356b544d03"
 dependencies = [
- "getrandom",
+ "getrandom 0.1.15",
  "libc",
- "rand_chacha",
+ "rand_chacha 0.2.2",
  "rand_core 0.5.1",
- "rand_hc",
+ "rand_hc 0.2.0",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "rand"
+version = "0.8.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a76330fb486679b4ace3670f117bbc9e16204005c4bde9c4bd372f45bed34f12"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+ "rand_chacha 0.3.0",
+ "rand_core 0.6.0",
+ "rand_hc 0.3.0",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -480,6 +504,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "rand_core 0.5.1",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rand_chacha"
+version = "0.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e12735cf05c9e10bf21534da50a147b924d555dc7a547c42e6bb2d5b6017ae0d"
+dependencies = [
+ "ppv-lite86",
+ "rand_core 0.6.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rand_core"
 version = "0.3.1"
@@ -501,7 +535,16 @@ version = "0.5.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "90bde5296fc891b0cef12a6d03ddccc162ce7b2aff54160af9338f8d40df6d19"
 dependencies = [
- "getrandom",
+ "getrandom 0.1.15",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "rand_core"
+version = "0.6.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a8b34ba8cfb21243bd8df91854c830ff0d785fff2e82ebd4434c2644cb9ada18"
+dependencies = [
+ "getrandom 0.2.0",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -513,6 +556,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "rand_core 0.5.1",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rand_hc"
+version = "0.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3190ef7066a446f2e7f42e239d161e905420ccab01eb967c9eb27d21b2322a73"
+dependencies = [
+ "rand_core 0.6.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rand_xorshift"
 version = "0.2.0"
@@ -776,6 +828,15 @@ version = "0.9.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b5a972e5669d67ba988ce3dc826706fb0a8b01471c088cb0b6110b805cc36aed"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "vfs"
+version = "0.4.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7cc382cffc2f8d6f9490b96d42a7408d6aa719c2db86491b8b31780208ac9d86"
+dependencies = [
+ "thiserror",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "void"
 version = "1.0.2"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index a2fd139..746a22a 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ glob = "0.3"
 hex = "0.4"
 log = "0.4"
 nix = "0.19"
-rand = "0.7"
+rand = "0.8"
 rayon = "1.5"
 rust-crypto = "0.2"
 serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ walkdir = "2.3"
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 proptest = "0.10"
+vfs = "0.4"
 
 [dev-dependencies.cargo-husky]
 version = "1"
diff --git a/src/backup.rs b/src/backup.rs
index 5aa07b8..21f694b 100644
--- a/src/backup.rs
+++ b/src/backup.rs
@@ -8,11 +8,11 @@ use crate::repository::Repository;
 
 pub struct Engine<'a> {
     source_path: &'a Path,
-    repository: &'a mut Repository<'a>,
+    repository: &'a mut Repository,
 }
 
 impl<'a> Engine<'a> {
-    pub fn new(source_path: &'a Path, repository: &'a mut Repository<'a>) -> Result<Self> {
+    pub fn new(source_path: &'a Path, repository: &'a mut Repository) -> Result<Self> {
         if source_path.ancestors().any(|a| a == repository.path()) {
             return Err(anyhow!("source same as repository"));
         }
diff --git a/src/index/io.rs b/src/index/io.rs
index 6357468..0c94887 100644
--- a/src/index/io.rs
+++ b/src/index/io.rs
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ use nix::unistd::getpid;
 use std::{cmp::max, io::Write};
 
 impl Index {
-    pub fn load(repository_path: &Path) -> Result<Self> {
+    pub fn load<T: AsRef<Path>>(repository_path: T) -> Result<Self> {
+        let repository_path = repository_path.as_ref();
         if !repository_path.exists() {
             let mut index = Index::new(repository_path);
             index.save()?;
diff --git a/src/index/mod.rs b/src/index/mod.rs
index a1e8600..e63110d 100644
--- a/src/index/mod.rs
+++ b/src/index/mod.rs
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@ pub struct Index {
 }
 
 impl Index {
-    pub fn new(repository_path: &Path) -> Self {
+    pub fn new<T: AsRef<Path>>(repository_path: T) -> Self {
+        let repository_path = repository_path.as_ref();
         Index {
             newest_items_by_source_path: Default::default(),
             items_by_file_id: Default::default(),
diff --git a/src/repository/mod.rs b/src/repository/mod.rs
index e850983..bb3f64f 100644
--- a/src/repository/mod.rs
+++ b/src/repository/mod.rs
@@ -19,9 +19,9 @@ use walkdir::WalkDir;
 /// right now only on-disk directory storage is supported
 /// repository always knows the newest version of the index and is responsible for syncing the index to disk
 /// and making sure that different threads can access index in parallel
-pub struct Repository<'a> {
+pub struct Repository {
     /// absolute path to where the repository is stored on disk
-    path: &'a Path,
+    path: PathBuf,
     index: Index,
 }
 
@@ -81,20 +81,32 @@ impl fmt::Display for ItemId {
     }
 }
 
-impl<'a> Repository<'a> {
-    pub fn init(path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
-        let mut index = Index::new(path);
+impl<'a> Repository {
+    pub fn init<T>(path: T) -> Result<()>
+    where
+        T: AsRef<Path>,
+    {
+        let mut index = Index::new(path.as_ref());
         index.save()?;
         Ok(())
     }
 
-    pub fn open(path: &Path) -> Result<Repository> {
+    pub fn open<T>(path: T) -> Result<Repository>
+    where
+        T: AsRef<Path>,
+    {
+        let path = path.as_ref();
         if !path.is_absolute() {
             return Err(anyhow!("path to repository not absolute"));
         }
 
         let index = Index::load(path)?;
-        Ok(Repository { path, index })
+        let mut repository_path = PathBuf::new();
+        repository_path.push(path);
+        Ok(Repository {
+            path: repository_path,
+            index,
+        })
     }
 
     pub fn path(&self) -> &Path {
@@ -120,7 +132,7 @@ impl<'a> Repository<'a> {
                 .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("cannot compute parent path for {}", &destination_path.to_string_lossy()))?;
             fs::create_dir_all(parent)?;
             fs::copy(source_path, destination_path)?;
-            let relative_path = destination_path.strip_prefix(self.path)?;
+            let relative_path = destination_path.strip_prefix(&self.path)?;
             self.index.remember(source_path, relative_path, id);
         }
         Ok(())
diff --git a/src/restore.rs b/src/restore.rs
index 885c736..4078767 100644
--- a/src/restore.rs
+++ b/src/restore.rs
@@ -5,12 +5,12 @@ use anyhow::Result;
 use anyhow::*;
 
 pub struct Engine<'a> {
-    repository: &'a mut Repository<'a>,
+    repository: &'a mut Repository,
     target_path: &'a Path,
 }
 
 impl<'a> Engine<'a> {
-    pub fn new(repository: &'a mut Repository<'a>, target_path: &'a Path) -> Result<Self> {
+    pub fn new(repository: &'a mut Repository, target_path: &'a Path) -> Result<Self> {
         if !target_path.is_absolute() {
             return Err(anyhow!("path to store not absolute"));
         }