.. highlight:: sh Debian Bullseye Root on ZFS =========================== .. contents:: Table of Contents :local: Overview -------- Caution ~~~~~~~ - This HOWTO uses a whole physical disk. - Do not use these instructions for dual-booting. - Backup your data. Any existing data will be lost. System Requirements ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - `64-bit Debian GNU/Linux Bullseye Live CD w/ GUI (e.g. gnome iso) `__ - `A 64-bit kernel is strongly encouraged. `__ - Installing on a drive which presents 4 KiB logical sectors (a “4Kn” drive) only works with UEFI booting. This not unique to ZFS. `GRUB does not and will not work on 4Kn with legacy (BIOS) booting. `__ Computers that have less than 2 GiB of memory run ZFS slowly. 4 GiB of memory is recommended for normal performance in basic workloads. If you wish to use deduplication, you will need `massive amounts of RAM `__. Enabling deduplication is a permanent change that cannot be easily reverted. Support ~~~~~~~ If you need help, reach out to the community using the :ref:`mailing_lists` or IRC at `#zfsonlinux `__ on `Libera Chat `__. If you have a bug report or feature request related to this HOWTO, please `file a new issue and mention @rlaager `__. Contributing ~~~~~~~~~~~~ #. Fork and clone: https://github.com/openzfs/openzfs-docs #. Install the tools:: sudo apt install python3-pip pip3 install -r docs/requirements.txt # Add ~/.local/bin to your $PATH, e.g. by adding this to ~/.bashrc: PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH #. Make your changes. #. Test:: cd docs make html sensible-browser _build/html/index.html #. ``git commit --signoff`` to a branch, ``git push``, and create a pull request. Mention @rlaager. Encryption ~~~~~~~~~~ This guide supports three different encryption options: unencrypted, ZFS native encryption, and LUKS. With any option, all ZFS features are fully available. Unencrypted does not encrypt anything, of course. With no encryption happening, this option naturally has the best performance. ZFS native encryption encrypts the data and most metadata in the root pool. It does not encrypt dataset or snapshot names or properties. The boot pool is not encrypted at all, but it only contains the bootloader, kernel, and initrd. (Unless you put a password in ``/etc/fstab``, the initrd is unlikely to contain sensitive data.) The system cannot boot without the passphrase being entered at the console. Performance is good. As the encryption happens in ZFS, even if multiple disks (mirror or raidz topologies) are used, the data only has to be encrypted once. LUKS encrypts almost everything. The only unencrypted data is the bootloader, kernel, and initrd. The system cannot boot without the passphrase being entered at the console. Performance is good, but LUKS sits underneath ZFS, so if multiple disks (mirror or raidz topologies) are used, the data has to be encrypted once per disk. Step 1: Prepare The Install Environment --------------------------------------- #. Boot the Debian GNU/Linux Live CD. If prompted, login with the username ``user`` and password ``live``. Connect your system to the Internet as appropriate (e.g. join your WiFi network). Open a terminal. #. Setup and update the repositories:: sudo vi /etc/apt/sources.list .. code-block:: sourceslist deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib :: sudo apt update #. Optional: Install and start the OpenSSH server in the Live CD environment: If you have a second system, using SSH to access the target system can be convenient:: sudo apt install --yes openssh-server sudo systemctl restart ssh **Hint:** You can find your IP address with ``ip addr show scope global | grep inet``. Then, from your main machine, connect with ``ssh user@IP``. #. Disable automounting: If the disk has been used before (with partitions at the same offsets), previous filesystems (e.g. the ESP) will automount if not disabled:: gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.media-handling automount false #. Become root:: sudo -i #. Install ZFS in the Live CD environment:: apt install --yes debootstrap gdisk zfsutils-linux Step 2: Disk Formatting ----------------------- #. Set a variable with the disk name:: DISK=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_disk1 Always use the long ``/dev/disk/by-id/*`` aliases with ZFS. Using the ``/dev/sd*`` device nodes directly can cause sporadic import failures, especially on systems that have more than one storage pool. **Hints:** - ``ls -la /dev/disk/by-id`` will list the aliases. - Are you doing this in a virtual machine? If your virtual disk is missing from ``/dev/disk/by-id``, use ``/dev/vda`` if you are using KVM with virtio; otherwise, read the `troubleshooting <#troubleshooting>`__ section. - For a mirror or raidz topology, use ``DISK1``, ``DISK2``, etc. - When choosing a boot pool size, consider how you will use the space. A kernel and initrd may consume around 100M. If you have multiple kernels and take snapshots, you may find yourself low on boot pool space, especially if you need to regenerate your initramfs images, which may be around 85M each. Size your boot pool appropriately for your needs. #. If you are re-using a disk, clear it as necessary: Ensure swap partitions are not in use:: swapoff --all If the disk was previously used in an MD array:: apt install --yes mdadm # See if one or more MD arrays are active: cat /proc/mdstat # If so, stop them (replace ``md0`` as required): mdadm --stop /dev/md0 # For an array using the whole disk: mdadm --zero-superblock --force $DISK # For an array using a partition: mdadm --zero-superblock --force ${DISK}-part2 If the disk was previously used with zfs:: wipefs -a $DISK Clear the partition table:: sgdisk --zap-all $DISK If you get a message about the kernel still using the old partition table, reboot and start over (except that you can skip this step). #. Partition your disk(s): Run this if you need legacy (BIOS) booting:: sgdisk -a1 -n1:24K:+1000K -t1:EF02 $DISK Run this for UEFI booting (for use now or in the future):: sgdisk -n2:1M:+512M -t2:EF00 $DISK Run this for the boot pool:: sgdisk -n3:0:+1G -t3:BF01 $DISK Choose one of the following options: - Unencrypted or ZFS native encryption:: sgdisk -n4:0:0 -t4:BF00 $DISK - LUKS:: sgdisk -n4:0:0 -t4:8309 $DISK If you are creating a mirror or raidz topology, repeat the partitioning commands for all the disks which will be part of the pool. #. Create the boot pool:: zpool create \ -o cachefile=/etc/zfs/zpool.cache \ -o ashift=12 -o autotrim=on -d \ -o feature@async_destroy=enabled \ -o feature@bookmarks=enabled \ -o feature@embedded_data=enabled \ -o feature@empty_bpobj=enabled \ -o feature@enabled_txg=enabled \ -o feature@extensible_dataset=enabled \ -o feature@filesystem_limits=enabled \ -o feature@hole_birth=enabled \ -o feature@large_blocks=enabled \ -o feature@livelist=enabled \ -o feature@lz4_compress=enabled \ -o feature@spacemap_histogram=enabled \ -o feature@zpool_checkpoint=enabled \ -O acltype=posixacl -O canmount=off -O compression=lz4 \ -O devices=off -O normalization=formD -O relatime=on -O xattr=sa \ -O mountpoint=/boot -R /mnt \ bpool ${DISK}-part3 You should not need to customize any of the options for the boot pool. GRUB does not support all of the zpool features. See ``spa_feature_names`` in `grub-core/fs/zfs/zfs.c `__. This step creates a separate boot pool for ``/boot`` with the features limited to only those that GRUB supports, allowing the root pool to use any/all features. Note that GRUB opens the pool read-only, so all read-only compatible features are “supported” by GRUB. **Hints:** - If you are creating a mirror topology, create the pool using:: zpool create \ ... \ bpool mirror \ /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_disk1-part3 \ /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_disk2-part3 - For raidz topologies, replace ``mirror`` in the above command with ``raidz``, ``raidz2``, or ``raidz3`` and list the partitions from additional disks. - The pool name is arbitrary. If changed, the new name must be used consistently. The ``bpool`` convention originated in this HOWTO. **Feature Notes:** - The ``allocation_classes`` feature should be safe to use. However, unless one is using it (i.e. a ``special`` vdev), there is no point to enabling it. It is extremely unlikely that someone would use this feature for a boot pool. If one cares about speeding up the boot pool, it would make more sense to put the whole pool on the faster disk rather than using it as a ``special`` vdev. - The ``device_rebuild`` feature should be safe to use (except on raidz, which it is incompatible with), but the boot pool is small, so this does not matter in practice. - The ``log_spacemap`` and ``spacemap_v2`` features have been tested and are safe to use. The boot pool is small, so these do not matter in practice. - The ``project_quota`` feature has been tested and is safe to use. This feature is extremely unlikely to matter for the boot pool. - The ``resilver_defer`` should be safe but the boot pool is small enough that it is unlikely to be necessary. - As a read-only compatible feature, the ``userobj_accounting`` feature should be compatible in theory, but in practice, GRUB can fail with an “invalid dnode type” error. This feature does not matter for ``/boot`` anyway. #. Create the root pool: Choose one of the following options: - Unencrypted:: zpool create \ -o ashift=12 -o autotrim=on \ -O acltype=posixacl -O canmount=off -O compression=lz4 \ -O dnodesize=auto -O normalization=formD -O relatime=on \ -O xattr=sa -O mountpoint=/ -R /mnt \ rpool ${DISK}-part4 - ZFS native encryption:: zpool create \ -o ashift=12 -o autotrim=on \ -O encryption=on \ -O keylocation=prompt -O keyformat=passphrase \ -O acltype=posixacl -O canmount=off -O compression=lz4 \ -O dnodesize=auto -O normalization=formD -O relatime=on \ -O xattr=sa -O mountpoint=/ -R /mnt \ rpool ${DISK}-part4 - LUKS:: apt install --yes cryptsetup cryptsetup luksFormat -c aes-xts-plain64 -s 512 -h sha256 ${DISK}-part4 cryptsetup luksOpen ${DISK}-part4 luks1 zpool create -o autotrim=on \ -o ashift=12 \ -O acltype=posixacl -O canmount=off -O compression=lz4 \ -O dnodesize=auto -O normalization=formD -O relatime=on \ -O xattr=sa -O mountpoint=/ -R /mnt \ rpool /dev/mapper/luks1 **Notes:** - The use of ``ashift=12`` is recommended here because many drives today have 4 KiB (or larger) physical sectors, even though they present 512 B logical sectors. Also, a future replacement drive may have 4 KiB physical sectors (in which case ``ashift=12`` is desirable) or 4 KiB logical sectors (in which case ``ashift=12`` is required). - Setting ``-O acltype=posixacl`` enables POSIX ACLs globally. If you do not want this, remove that option, but later add ``-o acltype=posixacl`` (note: lowercase “o”) to the ``zfs create`` for ``/var/log``, as `journald requires ACLs `__ - Setting ``normalization=formD`` eliminates some corner cases relating to UTF-8 filename normalization. It also implies ``utf8only=on``, which means that only UTF-8 filenames are allowed. If you care to support non-UTF-8 filenames, do not use this option. For a discussion of why requiring UTF-8 filenames may be a bad idea, see `The problems with enforced UTF-8 only filenames `__. - ``recordsize`` is unset (leaving it at the default of 128 KiB). If you want to tune it (e.g. ``-o recordsize=1M``), see `these `__ `various `__ `blog `__ `posts `__. - Setting ``relatime=on`` is a middle ground between classic POSIX ``atime`` behavior (with its significant performance impact) and ``atime=off`` (which provides the best performance by completely disabling atime updates). Since Linux 2.6.30, ``relatime`` has been the default for other filesystems. See `RedHat’s documentation `__ for further information. - Setting ``xattr=sa`` `vastly improves the performance of extended attributes `__. Inside ZFS, extended attributes are used to implement POSIX ACLs. Extended attributes can also be used by user-space applications. `They are used by some desktop GUI applications. `__ `They can be used by Samba to store Windows ACLs and DOS attributes; they are required for a Samba Active Directory domain controller. `__ Note that ``xattr=sa`` is `Linux-specific `__. If you move your ``xattr=sa`` pool to another OpenZFS implementation besides ZFS-on-Linux, extended attributes will not be readable (though your data will be). If portability of extended attributes is important to you, omit the ``-O xattr=sa`` above. Even if you do not want ``xattr=sa`` for the whole pool, it is probably fine to use it for ``/var/log``. - Make sure to include the ``-part4`` portion of the drive path. If you forget that, you are specifying the whole disk, which ZFS will then re-partition, and you will lose the bootloader partition(s). - ZFS native encryption `now `__ defaults to ``aes-256-gcm``. - For LUKS, the key size chosen is 512 bits. However, XTS mode requires two keys, so the LUKS key is split in half. Thus, ``-s 512`` means AES-256. - Your passphrase will likely be the weakest link. Choose wisely. See `section 5 of the cryptsetup FAQ `__ for guidance. **Hints:** - If you are creating a mirror topology, create the pool using:: zpool create \ ... \ rpool mirror \ /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_disk1-part4 \ /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_disk2-part4 - For raidz topologies, replace ``mirror`` in the above command with ``raidz``, ``raidz2``, or ``raidz3`` and list the partitions from additional disks. - When using LUKS with mirror or raidz topologies, use ``/dev/mapper/luks1``, ``/dev/mapper/luks2``, etc., which you will have to create using ``cryptsetup``. - The pool name is arbitrary. If changed, the new name must be used consistently. On systems that can automatically install to ZFS, the root pool is named ``rpool`` by default. Step 3: System Installation --------------------------- #. Create filesystem datasets to act as containers:: zfs create -o canmount=off -o mountpoint=none rpool/ROOT zfs create -o canmount=off -o mountpoint=none bpool/BOOT On Solaris systems, the root filesystem is cloned and the suffix is incremented for major system changes through ``pkg image-update`` or ``beadm``. Similar functionality was implemented in Ubuntu with the ``zsys`` tool, though its dataset layout is more complicated, and ``zsys`` `is on life support `__. Even without such a tool, the `rpool/ROOT` and `bpool/BOOT` containers can still be used for manually created clones. That said, this HOWTO assumes a single filesystem for ``/boot`` for simplicity. #. Create filesystem datasets for the root and boot filesystems:: zfs create -o canmount=noauto -o mountpoint=/ rpool/ROOT/debian zfs mount rpool/ROOT/debian zfs create -o mountpoint=/boot bpool/BOOT/debian With ZFS, it is not normally necessary to use a mount command (either ``mount`` or ``zfs mount``). This situation is an exception because of ``canmount=noauto``. #. Create datasets:: zfs create rpool/home zfs create -o mountpoint=/root rpool/home/root chmod 700 /mnt/root zfs create -o canmount=off rpool/var zfs create -o canmount=off rpool/var/lib zfs create rpool/var/log zfs create rpool/var/spool The datasets below are optional, depending on your preferences and/or software choices. If you wish to exclude these from snapshots:: zfs create -o com.sun:auto-snapshot=false rpool/var/cache zfs create -o com.sun:auto-snapshot=false rpool/var/tmp chmod 1777 /mnt/var/tmp If you use /opt on this system:: zfs create rpool/opt If you use /srv on this system:: zfs create rpool/srv If you use /usr/local on this system:: zfs create -o canmount=off rpool/usr zfs create rpool/usr/local If this system will have games installed:: zfs create rpool/var/games If this system will store local email in /var/mail:: zfs create rpool/var/mail If this system will use Snap packages:: zfs create rpool/var/snap If you use /var/www on this system:: zfs create rpool/var/www If this system will use GNOME:: zfs create rpool/var/lib/AccountsService If this system will use Docker (which manages its own datasets & snapshots):: zfs create -o com.sun:auto-snapshot=false rpool/var/lib/docker If this system will use NFS (locking):: zfs create -o com.sun:auto-snapshot=false rpool/var/lib/nfs Mount a tmpfs at /run:: mkdir /mnt/run mount -t tmpfs tmpfs /mnt/run mkdir /mnt/run/lock A tmpfs is recommended later, but if you want a separate dataset for ``/tmp``:: zfs create -o com.sun:auto-snapshot=false rpool/tmp chmod 1777 /mnt/tmp The primary goal of this dataset layout is to separate the OS from user data. This allows the root filesystem to be rolled back without rolling back user data. If you do nothing extra, ``/tmp`` will be stored as part of the root filesystem. Alternatively, you can create a separate dataset for ``/tmp``, as shown above. This keeps the ``/tmp`` data out of snapshots of your root filesystem. It also allows you to set a quota on ``rpool/tmp``, if you want to limit the maximum space used. Otherwise, you can use a tmpfs (RAM filesystem) later. #. Install the minimal system:: debootstrap bullseye /mnt The ``debootstrap`` command leaves the new system in an unconfigured state. An alternative to using ``debootstrap`` is to copy the entirety of a working system into the new ZFS root. #. Copy in zpool.cache:: mkdir /mnt/etc/zfs cp /etc/zfs/zpool.cache /mnt/etc/zfs/ Step 4: System Configuration ---------------------------- #. Configure the hostname: Replace ``HOSTNAME`` with the desired hostname:: hostname HOSTNAME hostname > /mnt/etc/hostname vi /mnt/etc/hosts .. code-block:: text Add a line: 127.0.1.1 HOSTNAME or if the system has a real name in DNS: 127.0.1.1 FQDN HOSTNAME **Hint:** Use ``nano`` if you find ``vi`` confusing. #. Configure the network interface: Find the interface name:: ip addr show Adjust ``NAME`` below to match your interface name:: vi /mnt/etc/network/interfaces.d/NAME .. code-block:: text auto NAME iface NAME inet dhcp Customize this file if the system is not a DHCP client. #. Configure the package sources:: vi /mnt/etc/apt/sources.list .. code-block:: sourceslist deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib deb http://deb.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security main contrib deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security main contrib deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main contrib deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main contrib #. Bind the virtual filesystems from the LiveCD environment to the new system and ``chroot`` into it:: mount --make-private --rbind /dev /mnt/dev mount --make-private --rbind /proc /mnt/proc mount --make-private --rbind /sys /mnt/sys chroot /mnt /usr/bin/env DISK=$DISK bash --login **Note:** This is using ``--rbind``, not ``--bind``. #. Configure a basic system environment:: ln -s /proc/self/mounts /etc/mtab apt update apt install --yes console-setup locales Even if you prefer a non-English system language, always ensure that ``en_US.UTF-8`` is available:: dpkg-reconfigure locales tzdata keyboard-configuration console-setup #. Install ZFS in the chroot environment for the new system:: apt install --yes dpkg-dev linux-headers-amd64 linux-image-amd64 apt install --yes zfs-initramfs echo REMAKE_INITRD=yes > /etc/dkms/zfs.conf **Note:** Ignore any error messages saying ``ERROR: Couldn't resolve device`` and ``WARNING: Couldn't determine root device``. `cryptsetup does not support ZFS `__. #. For LUKS installs only, setup ``/etc/crypttab``:: apt install --yes cryptsetup echo luks1 /dev/disk/by-uuid/$(blkid -s UUID -o value ${DISK}-part4) \ none luks,discard,initramfs > /etc/crypttab The use of ``initramfs`` is a work-around for `cryptsetup does not support ZFS `__. **Hint:** If you are creating a mirror or raidz topology, repeat the ``/etc/crypttab`` entries for ``luks2``, etc. adjusting for each disk. #. Install GRUB Choose one of the following options: - Install GRUB for legacy (BIOS) booting:: apt install --yes grub-pc Select (using the space bar) all of the disks (not partitions) in your pool. - Install GRUB for UEFI booting:: apt install dosfstools mkdosfs -F 32 -s 1 -n EFI ${DISK}-part2 mkdir /boot/efi echo /dev/disk/by-uuid/$(blkid -s UUID -o value ${DISK}-part2) \ /boot/efi vfat defaults 0 0 >> /etc/fstab mount /boot/efi apt install --yes grub-efi-amd64 shim-signed **Notes:** - The ``-s 1`` for ``mkdosfs`` is only necessary for drives which present 4 KiB logical sectors (“4Kn” drives) to meet the minimum cluster size (given the partition size of 512 MiB) for FAT32. It also works fine on drives which present 512 B sectors. - For a mirror or raidz topology, this step only installs GRUB on the first disk. The other disk(s) will be handled later. #. Optional: Remove os-prober:: apt purge --yes os-prober This avoids error messages from `update-grub`. `os-prober` is only necessary in dual-boot configurations. #. Set a root password:: passwd #. Enable importing bpool This ensures that ``bpool`` is always imported, regardless of whether ``/etc/zfs/zpool.cache`` exists, whether it is in the cachefile or not, or whether ``zfs-import-scan.service`` is enabled. :: vi /etc/systemd/system/zfs-import-bpool.service .. code-block:: ini [Unit] DefaultDependencies=no Before=zfs-import-scan.service Before=zfs-import-cache.service [Service] Type=oneshot RemainAfterExit=yes ExecStart=/sbin/zpool import -N -o cachefile=none bpool # Work-around to preserve zpool cache: ExecStartPre=-/bin/mv /etc/zfs/zpool.cache /etc/zfs/preboot_zpool.cache ExecStartPost=-/bin/mv /etc/zfs/preboot_zpool.cache /etc/zfs/zpool.cache [Install] WantedBy=zfs-import.target :: systemctl enable zfs-import-bpool.service #. Optional (but recommended): Mount a tmpfs to ``/tmp`` If you chose to create a ``/tmp`` dataset above, skip this step, as they are mutually exclusive choices. Otherwise, you can put ``/tmp`` on a tmpfs (RAM filesystem) by enabling the ``tmp.mount`` unit. :: cp /usr/share/systemd/tmp.mount /etc/systemd/system/ systemctl enable tmp.mount #. Optional: Install SSH:: apt install --yes openssh-server vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config # Set: PermitRootLogin yes #. Optional: For ZFS native encryption or LUKS, configure Dropbear for remote unlocking:: apt install --yes --no-install-recommends dropbear-initramfs mkdir -p /etc/dropbear-initramfs # Optional: Convert OpenSSH server keys for Dropbear for type in ecdsa ed25519 rsa ; do cp /etc/ssh/ssh_host_${type}_key /tmp/openssh.key ssh-keygen -p -N "" -m PEM -f /tmp/openssh.key dropbearconvert openssh dropbear \ /tmp/openssh.key \ /etc/dropbear-initramfs/dropbear_${type}_host_key done rm /tmp/openssh.key # Add user keys in the same format as ~/.ssh/authorized_keys vi /etc/dropbear-initramfs/authorized_keys # If using a static IP, set it for the initramfs environment: vi /etc/initramfs-tools/initramfs.conf # The syntax is: IP=ADDRESS::GATEWAY:MASK:HOSTNAME:NIC # For example: # IP=192.168.1.100::192.168.1.1:255.255.255.0:myhostname:ens3 # HOSTNAME and NIC are optional. # Rebuild the initramfs (required when changing any of the above): update-initramfs -u -k all **Notes:** - Converting the server keys makes Dropbear use the same keys as OpenSSH, avoiding host key mismatch warnings. Currently, `dropbearconvert doesn't understand the new OpenSSH private key format `__, so the keys need to be converted to the old PEM format first using ``ssh-keygen``. The downside of using the same keys for both OpenSSH and Dropbear is that the OpenSSH keys are then available on-disk, unencrypted in the initramfs. - Later, to use this functionality, SSH to the system (as root) while it is prompting for the passphrase during the boot process. For ZFS native encryption, run ``zfsunlock``. For LUKS, run ``cryptroot-unlock``. - You can optionally add ``command="/usr/bin/zfsunlock"`` or ``command="/bin/cryptroot-unlock"`` in front of the ``authorized_keys`` line to force the unlock command. This way, the unlock command runs automatically and is all that can be run. #. Optional (but kindly requested): Install popcon The ``popularity-contest`` package reports the list of packages install on your system. Showing that ZFS is popular may be helpful in terms of long-term attention from the distro. :: apt install --yes popularity-contest Choose Yes at the prompt. Step 5: GRUB Installation ------------------------- #. Verify that the ZFS boot filesystem is recognized:: grub-probe /boot #. Refresh the initrd files:: update-initramfs -c -k all **Note:** Ignore any error messages saying ``ERROR: Couldn't resolve device`` and ``WARNING: Couldn't determine root device``. `cryptsetup does not support ZFS `__. #. Workaround GRUB's missing zpool-features support:: vi /etc/default/grub # Set: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="root=ZFS=rpool/ROOT/debian" #. Optional (but highly recommended): Make debugging GRUB easier:: vi /etc/default/grub # Remove quiet from: GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT # Uncomment: GRUB_TERMINAL=console # Save and quit. Later, once the system has rebooted twice and you are sure everything is working, you can undo these changes, if desired. #. Update the boot configuration:: update-grub **Note:** Ignore errors from ``osprober``, if present. #. Install the boot loader: #. For legacy (BIOS) booting, install GRUB to the MBR:: grub-install $DISK Note that you are installing GRUB to the whole disk, not a partition. If you are creating a mirror or raidz topology, repeat the ``grub-install`` command for each disk in the pool. #. For UEFI booting, install GRUB to the ESP:: grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi \ --bootloader-id=debian --recheck --no-floppy It is not necessary to specify the disk here. If you are creating a mirror or raidz topology, the additional disks will be handled later. #. Fix filesystem mount ordering: We need to activate ``zfs-mount-generator``. This makes systemd aware of the separate mountpoints, which is important for things like ``/var/log`` and ``/var/tmp``. In turn, ``rsyslog.service`` depends on ``var-log.mount`` by way of ``local-fs.target`` and services using the ``PrivateTmp`` feature of systemd automatically use ``After=var-tmp.mount``. :: mkdir /etc/zfs/zfs-list.cache touch /etc/zfs/zfs-list.cache/bpool touch /etc/zfs/zfs-list.cache/rpool zed -F & Verify that ``zed`` updated the cache by making sure these are not empty:: cat /etc/zfs/zfs-list.cache/bpool cat /etc/zfs/zfs-list.cache/rpool If either is empty, force a cache update and check again:: zfs set canmount=on bpool/BOOT/debian zfs set canmount=noauto rpool/ROOT/debian If they are still empty, stop zed (as below), start zed (as above) and try again. Once the files have data, stop ``zed``:: fg Press Ctrl-C. Fix the paths to eliminate ``/mnt``:: sed -Ei "s|/mnt/?|/|" /etc/zfs/zfs-list.cache/* Step 6: First Boot ------------------ #. Optional: Snapshot the initial installation:: zfs snapshot bpool/BOOT/debian@install zfs snapshot rpool/ROOT/debian@install In the future, you will likely want to take snapshots before each upgrade, and remove old snapshots (including this one) at some point to save space. #. Exit from the ``chroot`` environment back to the LiveCD environment:: exit #. Run these commands in the LiveCD environment to unmount all filesystems:: mount | grep -v zfs | tac | awk '/\/mnt/ {print $3}' | \ xargs -i{} umount -lf {} zpool export -a #. If this fails for rpool, mounting it on boot will fail and you will need to ``zpool import -f rpool``, then ``exit`` in the initamfs prompt. #. Reboot:: reboot Wait for the newly installed system to boot normally. Login as root. #. Create a user account: Replace ``YOUR_USERNAME`` with your desired username:: username=YOUR_USERNAME zfs create rpool/home/$username adduser $username cp -a /etc/skel/. /home/$username chown -R $username:$username /home/$username usermod -a -G audio,cdrom,dip,floppy,netdev,plugdev,sudo,video $username #. Mirror GRUB If you installed to multiple disks, install GRUB on the additional disks. - For legacy (BIOS) booting:: dpkg-reconfigure grub-pc Hit enter until you get to the device selection screen. Select (using the space bar) all of the disks (not partitions) in your pool. - For UEFI booting:: umount /boot/efi For the second and subsequent disks (increment debian-2 to -3, etc.):: dd if=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_disk1-part2 \ of=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_disk2-part2 efibootmgr -c -g -d /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_disk2 \ -p 2 -L "debian-2" -l '\EFI\debian\grubx64.efi' mount /boot/efi Step 7: Optional: Configure Swap --------------------------------- **Caution**: On systems with extremely high memory pressure, using a zvol for swap can result in lockup, regardless of how much swap is still available. There is `a bug report upstream `__. #. Create a volume dataset (zvol) for use as a swap device:: zfs create -V 4G -b $(getconf PAGESIZE) -o compression=zle \ -o logbias=throughput -o sync=always \ -o primarycache=metadata -o secondarycache=none \ -o com.sun:auto-snapshot=false rpool/swap You can adjust the size (the ``4G`` part) to your needs. The compression algorithm is set to ``zle`` because it is the cheapest available algorithm. As this guide recommends ``ashift=12`` (4 kiB blocks on disk), the common case of a 4 kiB page size means that no compression algorithm can reduce I/O. The exception is all-zero pages, which are dropped by ZFS; but some form of compression has to be enabled to get this behavior. #. Configure the swap device: **Caution**: Always use long ``/dev/zvol`` aliases in configuration files. Never use a short ``/dev/zdX`` device name. :: mkswap -f /dev/zvol/rpool/swap echo /dev/zvol/rpool/swap none swap discard 0 0 >> /etc/fstab echo RESUME=none > /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/resume The ``RESUME=none`` is necessary to disable resuming from hibernation. This does not work, as the zvol is not present (because the pool has not yet been imported) at the time the resume script runs. If it is not disabled, the boot process hangs for 30 seconds waiting for the swap zvol to appear. #. Enable the swap device:: swapon -av Step 8: Full Software Installation ---------------------------------- #. Upgrade the minimal system:: apt dist-upgrade --yes #. Install a regular set of software:: tasksel --new-install **Note:** This will check "Debian desktop environment" and "print server" by default. If you want a server installation, unselect those. #. Optional: Disable log compression: As ``/var/log`` is already compressed by ZFS, logrotate’s compression is going to burn CPU and disk I/O for (in most cases) very little gain. Also, if you are making snapshots of ``/var/log``, logrotate’s compression will actually waste space, as the uncompressed data will live on in the snapshot. You can edit the files in ``/etc/logrotate.d`` by hand to comment out ``compress``, or use this loop (copy-and-paste highly recommended):: for file in /etc/logrotate.d/* ; do if grep -Eq "(^|[^#y])compress" "$file" ; then sed -i -r "s/(^|[^#y])(compress)/\1#\2/" "$file" fi done #. Reboot:: reboot Step 9: Final Cleanup --------------------- #. Wait for the system to boot normally. Login using the account you created. Ensure the system (including networking) works normally. #. Optional: Delete the snapshots of the initial installation:: sudo zfs destroy bpool/BOOT/debian@install sudo zfs destroy rpool/ROOT/debian@install #. Optional: Disable the root password:: sudo usermod -p '*' root #. Optional (but highly recommended): Disable root SSH logins: If you installed SSH earlier, revert the temporary change:: sudo vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config # Remove: PermitRootLogin yes sudo systemctl restart ssh #. Optional: Re-enable the graphical boot process: If you prefer the graphical boot process, you can re-enable it now. If you are using LUKS, it makes the prompt look nicer. :: sudo vi /etc/default/grub # Add quiet to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT # Comment out GRUB_TERMINAL=console # Save and quit. sudo update-grub **Note:** Ignore errors from ``osprober``, if present. #. Optional: For LUKS installs only, backup the LUKS header:: sudo cryptsetup luksHeaderBackup /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_disk1-part4 \ --header-backup-file luks1-header.dat Store that backup somewhere safe (e.g. cloud storage). It is protected by your LUKS passphrase, but you may wish to use additional encryption. **Hint:** If you created a mirror or raidz topology, repeat this for each LUKS volume (``luks2``, etc.). Troubleshooting --------------- Rescuing using a Live CD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Go through `Step 1: Prepare The Install Environment <#step-1-prepare-the-install-environment>`__. For LUKS, first unlock the disk(s):: apt install --yes cryptsetup cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_disk1-part4 luks1 # Repeat for additional disks, if this is a mirror or raidz topology. Mount everything correctly:: zpool export -a zpool import -N -R /mnt rpool zpool import -N -R /mnt bpool zfs load-key -a zfs mount rpool/ROOT/debian zfs mount -a If needed, you can chroot into your installed environment:: mount --make-private --rbind /dev /mnt/dev mount --make-private --rbind /proc /mnt/proc mount --make-private --rbind /sys /mnt/sys mount -t tmpfs tmpfs /mnt/run mkdir /mnt/run/lock chroot /mnt /bin/bash --login mount /boot mount -a Do whatever you need to do to fix your system. When done, cleanup:: exit mount | grep -v zfs | tac | awk '/\/mnt/ {print $3}' | \ xargs -i{} umount -lf {} zpool export -a reboot Areca ~~~~~ Systems that require the ``arcsas`` blob driver should add it to the ``/etc/initramfs-tools/modules`` file and run ``update-initramfs -c -k all``. Upgrade or downgrade the Areca driver if something like ``RIP: 0010:[] [] native_read_tsc+0x6/0x20`` appears anywhere in kernel log. ZoL is unstable on systems that emit this error message. MPT2SAS ~~~~~~~ Most problem reports for this tutorial involve ``mpt2sas`` hardware that does slow asynchronous drive initialization, like some IBM M1015 or OEM-branded cards that have been flashed to the reference LSI firmware. The basic problem is that disks on these controllers are not visible to the Linux kernel until after the regular system is started, and ZoL does not hotplug pool members. See `https://github.com/zfsonlinux/zfs/issues/330 `__. Most LSI cards are perfectly compatible with ZoL. If your card has this glitch, try setting ``ZFS_INITRD_PRE_MOUNTROOT_SLEEP=X`` in ``/etc/default/zfs``. The system will wait ``X`` seconds for all drives to appear before importing the pool. QEMU/KVM/XEN ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Set a unique serial number on each virtual disk using libvirt or qemu (e.g. ``-drive if=none,id=disk1,file=disk1.qcow2,serial=1234567890``). To be able to use UEFI in guests (instead of only BIOS booting), run this on the host:: sudo apt install ovmf sudo vi /etc/libvirt/qemu.conf Uncomment these lines: .. code-block:: text nvram = [ "/usr/share/OVMF/OVMF_CODE.fd:/usr/share/OVMF/OVMF_VARS.fd", "/usr/share/OVMF/OVMF_CODE.secboot.fd:/usr/share/OVMF/OVMF_VARS.fd", "/usr/share/AAVMF/AAVMF_CODE.fd:/usr/share/AAVMF/AAVMF_VARS.fd", "/usr/share/AAVMF/AAVMF32_CODE.fd:/usr/share/AAVMF/AAVMF32_VARS.fd" ] :: sudo systemctl restart libvirtd.service VMware ~~~~~~ - Set ``disk.EnableUUID = "TRUE"`` in the vmx file or vsphere configuration. Doing this ensures that ``/dev/disk`` aliases are created in the guest.