zfs

Manage ZFS filesystems and snapshots

TLDR

List all datasets

$ zfs list

Create a new filesystem

$ sudo zfs create [pool/dataset]

Create a snapshot

$ sudo zfs snapshot [pool/dataset@snapshot_name]

List snapshots

$ zfs list -t snapshot

Rollback to snapshot

$ sudo zfs rollback [pool/dataset@snapshot_name]

Set a property

$ sudo zfs set [compression=lz4] [pool/dataset]

Get property value

$ zfs get [compression] [pool/dataset]

Destroy a dataset

$ sudo zfs destroy [pool/dataset]

SYNOPSIS

zfs command [options] [arguments]

zfs manages ZFS filesystems, snapshots, clones, and volumes. ZFS is a combined filesystem and volume manager with advanced features like copy-on-write, snapshots, checksums, and built-in compression.Key concepts:- Datasets are filesystems or volumes within a pool- Snapshots are read-only point-in-time copies- Clones are writable copies created from snapshots- Properties control behavior (compression, quota, mountpoint)ZFS uses hierarchical datasets: pool/parent/child inherits properties from parent. Properties can be set locally to override inheritance.Common properties include compression, quota, reservation, recordsize, atime, and mountpoint.

SUBCOMMANDS

list [-t type] [-o properties] [dataset]

List datasets and properties

create [-p] dataset

Create filesystem or volume (-p creates parents)

destroy [-r] dataset

Destroy dataset (-r recursive)

snapshot dataset@name

Create snapshot

rollback dataset@snapshot

Rollback to snapshot

clone snapshot dataset

Create clone from snapshot

send snapshot

Generate stream for replication

receive dataset

Receive stream into dataset

set property=value dataset

Set property

get property dataset

Get property value

mount dataset

Mount filesystem

unmount dataset

Unmount filesystem

INSTALL

sudo apt install zfs-fuse

sudo apk add zfs

nix profile install nixpkgs#zfs

CAVEATS

Most operations require root privileges.zfs destroy is irreversible. Snapshots protect against accidental deletion but must be created proactively.ZFS can consume significant memory for caching (ARC). Tune zfs_arc_max on memory-constrained systems.Snapshots are cheap but not free. Many snapshots with high data churn can consume significant space.

zfs