Installing ZFS (Linux)

Introduction

ZFS is available on Linux through the ZFS on Linux (ZoL) project. This guide provides instructions for installing and configuring ZFS on various Linux distributions, focusing on Ubuntu as an example.

Installing ZFS on Ubuntu

1. Updating the System:

   • Before installing ZFS, ensure the system is up to date:

     sudo apt update
     sudo apt upgrade
     

2. Installing the ZFS Utilities:

   • Install the ZFS utilities using the package manager:

     sudo apt install zfsutils-linux
     

   • This command installs the necessary ZFS packages and loads the ZFS kernel modules.

3. Verifying Installation:

   • Check if the ZFS modules are loaded:

     lsmod | grep zfs
     

   • The presence of zfs in the output confirms that the ZFS modules are loaded.

Installing ZFS on Other Linux Distributions

Fedora

1. Enabling the ZFS Repository:

   • Add the ZFS repository to your system:

     sudo dnf install https://zfsonlinux.org/epel/zfs-release.el7_9.noarch.rpm
     

2. Installing ZFS:

   • Install the ZFS packages:

     sudo dnf install zfs
     

3. Loading ZFS Modules:

   • Load the ZFS kernel module:

     sudo modprobe zfs
     

Arch Linux

1. Installing ZFS via AUR:

   • Install ZFS using an AUR helper like yay:

     yay -S zfs-dkms zfs-utils
     

2. Loading ZFS Modules:

   • Load the ZFS kernel module:

     sudo modprobe zfs
     

Creating and Configuring ZFS Pools

Once ZFS is installed, ZFS pools can be created using the zpool command. The process is the same across Linux distributions:

1. Creating a ZFS Pool:

   • Example for creating a pool on a single disk:

     sudo zpool create mypool /dev/sda
     

2. Verifying the Pool:

   • Check the status of the pool:

     sudo zpool status
     

This completes the installation and setup of ZFS on Linux. The following sections will cover fundamental ZFS concepts in more detail.