166 lines
8.0 KiB
Markdown
166 lines
8.0 KiB
Markdown
How to setup a zfs root filesystem using dracut
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-----------------------------------------------
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1) Install the zfs-dracut package. This package adds a zfs dracut module
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to the /usr/share/dracut/modules.d/ directory which allows dracut to
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create an initramfs which is zfs aware.
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2) Set the bootfs property for the bootable dataset in the pool. Then set
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the dataset mountpoint property to '/'.
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$ zpool set bootfs=pool/dataset
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$ zfs set mountpoint=/ pool/dataset
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Alternately, legacy mountpoints can be used by setting the 'root=' option
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on the kernel line of your grub.conf/menu.lst configuration file. Then
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set the dataset mountpoint property to 'legacy'.
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$ grub.conf/menu.lst: kernel ... root=ZFS=pool/dataset
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$ zfs set mountpoint=legacy pool/dataset
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3) To set zfs module options put them in /etc/modprobe.d/zfs.conf file.
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The complete list of zfs module options is available by running the
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_modinfo zfs_ command. Commonly set options include: zfs_arc_min,
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zfs_arc_max, zfs_prefetch_disable, and zfs_vdev_max_pending.
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4) Finally, create your new initramfs by running dracut.
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$ dracut --force /path/to/initramfs kernel_version
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Kernel Command Line
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-------------------
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The initramfs' behavior is influenced by the following kernel command line
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parameters passed in from the boot loader:
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* `root=...`: If not set, importable pools are searched for a bootfs attribute.
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If an explicitly set root is desired, you may use `root=ZFS:pool/dataset`
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* `zfs_force=0`: If set to 1, the initramfs will run `zpool import -f` when
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attempting to import pools if the required pool isn't automatically imported
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by the zfs module. This can save you a trip to a bootcd if hostid has changed,
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but is dangerous and can lead to zpool corruption, particularly in cases where
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storage is on a shared fabric such as iSCSI where multiple hosts can access
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storage devices concurrently. _Please understand the implications of
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force-importing a pool before enabling this option!_
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* `spl_hostid`: By default, the hostid used by the SPL module is read from
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/etc/hostid inside the initramfs. This file is placed there from the host
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system when the initramfs is built which effectively ties the ramdisk to the
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host which builds it. If a different hostid is desired, one may be set in
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this attribute and will override any file present in the ramdisk. The
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format should be hex exactly as found in the `/etc/hostid` file, IE
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`spl_hostid=0x00bab10c`.
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Note that changing the hostid between boots will most likely lead to an
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un-importable pool since the last importing hostid won't match. In order
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to recover from this, you may use the `zfs_force` option or boot from a
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different filesystem and `zpool import -f` then `zpool export` the pool
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before rebooting with the new hostid.
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How it Works
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============
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The Dracut module consists of the following files (less Makefile's):
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* `module-setup.sh`: Script run by the initramfs builder to create the
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ramdisk. Contains instructions on which files are required by the modules
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and z* programs. Also triggers inclusion of `/etc/hostid` and the zpool
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cache. This file is not included in the initramfs.
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* `90-zfs.rules`: udev rules which trigger loading of the ZFS modules at boot.
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* `parse-zfs.sh`: Run early in the initramfs boot process to parse kernel
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command line and determine if ZFS is the active root filesystem.
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* `mount-zfs.sh`: Run later in initramfs boot process after udev has settled
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to mount the root dataset.
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`module-setup.sh`
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---------------
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This file is run by the Dracut script within the live system, not at boot
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time. It's not included in the final initramfs. Functions in this script
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describe which files are needed by ZFS at boot time.
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Currently all the various z* and spl modules are included, a dependency is
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asserted on udev-rules, and the various zfs, zpool, etc. helpers are included.
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Dracut provides library functions which automatically gather the shared libs
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necessary to run each of these binaries, so statically built binaries are
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not required.
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The zpool and zvol udev rules files are copied from where they are
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installed by the ZFS build. __PACKAGERS TAKE NOTE__: If you move
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`/etc/udev/rules/60-z*.rules`, you'll need to update this file to match.
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Currently this file also includes `/etc/hostid` and `/etc/zfs/zpool.cache`
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which means the generated ramdisk is specific to the host system which built
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it. If a generic initramfs is required, it may be preferable to omit these
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files and specify the `spl_hostid` from the boot loader instead.
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`parse-zfs.sh`
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------------
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Run during the cmdline phase of the initramfs boot process, this script
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performs some basic sanity checks on kernel command line parameters to
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determine if booting from ZFS is likely to be what is desired. Dracut
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requires this script to adjust the `root` variable if required and to set
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`rootok=1` if a mountable root filesystem is available. Unfortunately this
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script must run before udev is settled and kernel modules are known to be
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loaded, so accessing the zpool and zfs commands is unsafe.
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If the root=ZFS... parameter is set on the command line, then it's at least
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certain that ZFS is what is desired, though this script is unable to
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determine if ZFS is in fact available. This script will alter the `root`
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parameter to replace several historical forms of specifying the pool and
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dataset name with the canonical form of `zfs:pool/dataset`.
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If no root= parameter is set, the best this script can do is guess that
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ZFS is desired. At present, no other known filesystems will work with no
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root= parameter, though this might possibly interfere with using the
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compiled-in default root in the kernel image. It's considered unlikely
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that would ever be the case when an initramfs is in use, so this script
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sets `root=zfs:AUTO` and hopes for the best.
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Once the root=... (or lack thereof) parameter is parsed, a dummy symlink
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is created from `/dev/root` -> `/dev/null` to satisfy parts of the Dracut
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process which check for presence of a single root device node.
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Finally, an initqueue/finished hook is registered which causes the initqueue
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phase of Dracut to wait for `/dev/zfs` to become available before attempting
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to mount anything.
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`mount-zfs.sh`
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------------
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This script is run after udev has settled and all tasks in the initqueue
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have succeeded. This ensures that `/dev/zfs` is available and that the
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various ZFS modules are successfully loaded. As it is now safe to call
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zpool and friends, we can proceed to find the bootfs attribute if necessary.
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If the root parameter was explicitly set on the command line, no parsing is
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necessary. The list of imported pools is checked to see if the desired pool
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is already imported. If it's not, and attempt is made to import the pool
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explicitly, though no force is attempted. Finally the specified dataset
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is mounted on `$NEWROOT`, first using the `-o zfsutil` option to handle
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non-legacy mounts, then if that fails, without zfsutil to handle legacy
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mount points.
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If no root parameter was specified, this script attempts to find a pool with
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its bootfs attribute set. First, already-imported pools are scanned and if
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an appropriate pool is found, no additional pools are imported. If no pool
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with bootfs is found, any additional pools in the system are imported with
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`zpool import -N -a`, and the scan for bootfs is tried again. If no bootfs
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is found with all pools imported, all pools are re-exported, and boot fails.
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Assuming a bootfs is found, an attempt is made to mount it to `$NEWROOT`,
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first with, then without the zfsutil option as above.
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Ordinarily pools are imported _without_ the force option which may cause
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boot to fail if the hostid has changed or a pool has been physically moved
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between servers. The `zfs_force` kernel parameter is provided which when
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set to `1` causes `zpool import` to be run with the `-f` flag. Forcing pool
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import can lead to serious data corruption and loss of pools, so this option
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should be used with extreme caution. Note that even with this flag set, if
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the required zpool was auto-imported by the kernel module, no additional
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`zpool import` commands are run, so nothing is forced.
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