OpenZFS 2.1-rc8 Brings Linux 5.13 Compatibility, More Fixes

[phoronix]

Phoronix: OpenZFS 2.1-rc8 Brings Linux 5.13 Compatibility, More Fixes

The release candidates for OpenZFS 2.1 continue dragging on with Tuesday marking the eighth such test version while bringing Linux 5.13 compatibility and other fixes...

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OpenZFS-2.1-rc8

[phoronix_is_awesome]

Hopefully the ZFS developers test the Xanmod-stable and Xanmod-edge branches of the kernels more extensively from now on.

The current 2.0.5 release from http://ppa.launchpad.net/jonathonf/zfs/ubuntu PPA currently does not build against xanmod edge 5.12.10-5.12.13 series kernels, so I am stuck with old xanmod-edge 5.11.19 kernel(mostly because CUDA's dkms module currently also stuck on 5.11.x compatibility).

The error is sporadic, even in the same kernel series, some 5.11.x kernels would build, some 5.11.x kernels wouldn't. It has something to do with hard coding kernel compatibility?

It is dangerous when zfs-dkms does not build for an unsupported kernel if you are using ZFS root, because you will end up with an unbootable ZFS root. And sometimes the zfs-dkms build script errors out and removes the last-built zfs-dkms module from the current kernel you are using and don't build it again for the current kernel. Whenever that happens, you need to find a Ubuntu MATE iso disk with compatible ZFS version that can read your ZFS root, and chroot, edit the network settings, and downgrade ZFS or kernel. And about 30 minutes of your life is burnt minimum. Zsys snapshots don't help either, because it is a disaster. I have Zsys disabled because it snapshots at every apt upgrade and the root partition usage baloons up so quickly as ZFS snapshots maintains every deleted files in the background.

In its current stage, ZFS root usage is still a major hassle, and from using it for a long time, my judgement is that it is still not suitable for Ubuntu server usage(Proxmox ZFS root is decent)

[-MacNuke-]

In its current stage, ZFS root usage is still a major hassle, and from using it for a long time, my judgement is that it is still not suitable for Ubuntu server usage(Proxmox ZFS root is decent)

Sorry but running an out-of-tree filesystem on root with a non-mainline kernel is just plain stupid.

[misuzu]

On consumer-grade NAS hardware, ZFS native encryption performance is still lacking.

[phoronix_is_awesome]

Sorry but running an out-of-tree filesystem on root with a non-mainline kernel is just plain stupid.

ext4 is stupid, XFS is stupid,even half-assed BTRFS is semi stupid. Do you have any clue how good ZFS's hybrid storage pool model is? I can't live without it, even on root partition. Too bad the Ubuntu MATE installation disk isn't allowing mirrored root install like OpenSolaris/Illumos builds. Ubuntu MATE actually partitions the root device into /bpool /rpool . When are we going to have just a simple mirrored rpool and have grub boot off it without custom scripts?

[mbod]

Hopefully the ZFS developers test the Xanmod-stable and Xanmod-edge branches of the kernels more extensively from now on.

The current 2.0.5 release from http://ppa.launchpad.net/jonathonf/zfs/ubuntu PPA currently does not build against xanmod edge 5.12.10-5.12.13 series kernels, so I am stuck with old xanmod-edge 5.11.19 kernel(mostly because CUDA's dkms module currently also stuck on 5.11.x compatibility).

On Arch Linux all 5.12 xanmod kernels work just fine with zfs 2.0.5 dkms.
What you are experiencing is probably ubuntu specific.

[skeevy420]

ext4 is stupid, XFS is stupid,even half-assed BTRFS is semi stupid. Do you have any clue how good ZFS's hybrid storage pool model is? I can't live without it, even on root partition. Too bad the Ubuntu MATE installation disk isn't allowing mirrored root install like OpenSolaris/Illumos builds. Ubuntu MATE actually partitions the root device into /bpool /rpool . When are we going to have just a simple mirrored rpool and have grub boot off it without custom scripts?

Unless GRUB picks up all of ZFS's features, the answer to your question is never. GRUB only supports a subset of ZFS's features which is why /bpool is used. Loaders like systemd-boot or refind have to be used for just an rpool.

FWIW, you can do "zfs attach" and convert both of Ubuntu's pools to mirrors (I've done it).

I guess you could limit the rpool to using grub-compat settings and use that....I wouldn't, but technically it's possible.

[OneTimeShot]

ext4 is stupid, XFS is stupid,even half-assed BTRFS is semi stupid. Do you have any clue how good ZFS's hybrid storage pool model is? ?

Not really: I only really use Linux. I do remember Sun saying that ZFS was not licensed for use in Linux, so I never took the time to take a look.

[skeevy420]

Not really: I only really use Linux. I do remember Sun saying that ZFS was not licensed for use in Linux, so I never took the time to take a look.

All I've ever used ZFS on is Linux. It's like having LUKS2+LVM+BTRFS all rolled into one. Once you get used to its tools and how flexible they are it is very hard going back to other file systems.

As far as the license is concerned, it isn't a big deal. As long as distributions ship ZFS as a prebuilt module or via DKMS then there is no license violation. The only way to violate either the GPL or CDDL is to build ZFS into the kernel and release that publicly. As an end user you can build ZFS into the kernel without any legal issues. I have to do that to mount ZFS on Windows from within WSL2.