Re:ZFS for Dummies
by tomxor on Tuesday September 05, 2023 @02:32PM
(#37395855)
> Don't make me type disk IDs when creating pools. Store metadata on the disk so ZFS doesn't get confused if I set up a pool with `/dev/sda` and `/dev/sdb` references and then shuffle around the drives
This is no longer the case for ZoL. I know because there is an issue with Linode for storage device identifier assignments where they consistently get jumbled up with Debian on every boot. ZFS finds the devices all the same, even if it has a different identifier every boot. I believe this is because it stores it's own UUID info on the devices. So you can create pools by referring to devices however you like, because they are only a temporary reference, i.e use /dev/sda etc (and I have, and it's fine).
> Automatically set up weekly scrubs
This might be ZoL specific, but, the Debian package does exactly this, sets up systemd weekly scrub.
> Generate the encryption key for me, set up the systemd service to decrypt the pool at start up, and prompt me to back up the key somewhere
Technically it does generate encryption keys internally, which is why the ones you provide can be rotated out. If you use a keyfile then automount with key load is easy (zfs mount -al), there is already an auto mount systemd service created automatically for Debian, however they did not add the -l flag for auto loading keys because they got stuck in a debate about supporting passphrase prompts at boot. For now you can simply edit it to add the -l flag and it work fine for keyfiles.
This is no longer the case for ZoL. I know because there is an issue with Linode for storage device identifier assignments where they consistently get jumbled up with Debian on every boot. ZFS finds the devices all the same, even if it has a different identifier every boot. I believe this is because it stores it's own UUID info on the devices. So you can create pools by referring to devices however you like, because they are only a temporary reference, i.e use /dev/sda etc (and I have, and it's fine).
> Automatically set up weekly scrubs
This might be ZoL specific, but, the Debian package does exactly this, sets up systemd weekly scrub.
> Generate the encryption key for me, set up the systemd service to decrypt the pool at start up, and prompt me to back up the key somewhere
Technically it does generate encryption keys internally, which is why the ones you provide can be rotated out. If you use a keyfile then automount with key load is easy (zfs mount -al), there is already an auto mount systemd service created automatically for Debian, however they did not add the -l flag for auto loading keys because they got stuck in a debate about supporting passphrase prompts at boot. For now you can simply edit it to add the -l flag and it work fine for keyfiles.