ZFS On Linux 0.8-RC5 Bundles In The SPL Code

The much anticipated ZFS On Linux 0.8 release with its many new features isn't yet officially available but a fifth release candidate materialized today for testing.

ZFS On Linux 0.8 is the big update to this Linux ZFS file-system port that now offers native encryption capabilities, direct I/O support, SSD TRIM/discard at long last, Python 3 compatibility for its Pzyfs helper, project quotas, pool checkpoints, device removal abilities, and much more. ZFS On Linux 0.8 is going to be a huge release that arguably would be much more fitting as a "1.0" release given its feature magnitude.

Out today, however, is ZFS On Linux 0.8-RC5. This RC5 release now extends support through the newly-released Linux 5.1 stable kernel. The only other mentioned change is that the SPL code has been pulled into the ZoL package itself.

SPL is the Solaris Porting Layer used for helping to bring this originally Solaris ZFS file-system code over to the Linux kernel and acts as a shim layer to ease the porting process. Now with ZFS On Linux 0.8, it will be integrated into the same package.

ZFS On Linux 0.8-RC5 also offers fixes and other improvements. Those wanting to try out ZFS On Linux 0.8-RC5 can find it over on GitHub while hopefully it won't be too much longer before seeing the stable release. The milestone tracker for 0.8 marks three bugs remaining while 204 blockers have been closed.