HOWTO Install ZFSonLinux on OpenSuse

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1

As OpenSuse does not offer ZFS and in the forums here are no instructions how to install it, here is how to do it in a few minutes:

(Beware, this is an old version, but it seems to work.)

Go to this page: http://punk.fab9.de/archives/32-zfs-on-linux-sle-openSUSE-snapshoots.html
Click each of the four repo links on the page. Choose One-Click-Install for every one of them.

After this, you are ready to use ZFS.
Go on with zpool as you are used to.

2

What is wrong with the ones found on https://software.opensuse.org/search?

From the offerings there, I would prefer the ones on http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/filesystems/openSUSE_13.2/

3

These don’t show up when searching from within Yast Software Management.

I added that repo.
But. sadly, zfsonlinux still does not show up when I search for in Yast Software Management.

Any idea what I could do to install the package you suggested?

4

On Mon, 05 Oct 2015 18:16:01 +0000, Brotzkocken wrote:

> hcvv;2731061 Wrote:
>> What is wrong with the ones found on
>> https://software.opensuse.org/search?
> These don’t show up when searching from within Yast Software Management.

YaST software management doesn’t search the entire build service - it
wouldn’t be appropriate to return home: projects (for example).

> hcvv;2731061 Wrote:
>> From the offerings there, I would prefer the ones on
>> http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/filesystems/openSUSE_13.2/
> I added that repo.
> But. sadly, zfsonlinux still does not show up when I search for in Yast
> Software Management.
>
> Any idea what I could do to install the package you suggested?

You have to add the repo - at least temporarily - to your repo list. I
would generally not make it a permanent addition unless you know what
you’re doing, though.

Jim

–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

5

As JIm explained.

The way to get software is generaly:

  1. Check with YaST on the repos you have already;
  2. Search the openSUSE search website (which brought you several);
  3. Search for a website of the product and see if it has an openSUSE repo;
  4. When no openSUSE repo, try to find an RPM;
  5. When all fails try to find a tarball and try to build yourself.

These are in increasing level of giving problems and/or questions :wink:

And about that repo. I haven’t it added, but, assuming that you did it correct (can you use see from the VIew menu: Repositories? Is it there? can you select it and see the packages?) searching with zfs should give you something. Assuming that the package name is zfsonlinux could be wrong. Why would a package on an openSUSE (thus Linux) repo has “onlinux” in it’s name?

6

Thanks hcvv and hendersj!

Indeed this was the mistake :slight_smile:
ZFS is a BSD filesystem, and so the guys who wrote zfsonlinux deliberately called their program this way.
When I searched for “zfs” instead for “zfsonlinux” in Yast, it showed up :slight_smile:

I then exported my zpool, uninstalled the zfsonlinux installed like shown in the first post and deleted its repo.
Then I installed zfsonlinux via the repo you suggested.
What a pity that it’s even older… 0.6.4.2 instead of 0.6.5.
It even wanted a reboot. After that I re-imported my zpool and all seems to work.

Didn’t know of step 2.
Actually I went all steps 1,3, 5 and when running configure, it stumbled about missing spl lib. When googling for that I accidentally found that 1-click-installer that I mentioned in the 1st post.
The strange thing is that it was from download.opensuse.org, too, and is more recent than this “official” version you pointed me at. Thus I wonder why the “official” repo contains a so old version?!?

7

Update:

After I noticed that the older ZFSonLinux 0.6.4.2 does not automount imported pools I decided to try to build from tarball.
Sadly installing the generated RPMs fail because of

Error: Package: zfs-dkms-0.6.5.2-1.noarch (/zfs-dkms-0.6.5.2-1.noarch)
           Requires: dkms >= 2.2.0.3-20
           Installed: dkms-2.2.0.3-15.1.noarch (installed)
               dkms = 2.2.0.3-15.1
You could try using --skip-broken to work around the problem

This obsolete dkms version is the latest one being offereed by openSuse.
Dunno if it’s a good idea to try the workaround suggested.
Will now re-install the ZFSonLinux v.0.6.5 mentioned in the first post.

8

dkms is used to update the driver when a kernel is updated. Skipping means you may need to reinstall the package on kernel updates

9

Be careful considering different implementations of ZFS. “In the old days” (not that long ago) kernel-mode ZFS was a relatively new project and relatively untested so “User mode” ZFS was recommended.

That is not the case today.
For security and efficiency reasons, kernel-mode ZFS is recommended over User-mdoe ZFS.

In other words, today distro packages should be recommended over any other solution when implementing ZFS.

TSU