How can I create a ZFS RAIDZ2 Pool on Debian 8 and have FreeNAS automatically see it?

[Jeremy Gardner]

I currently have a setup where I must create a ZFS RAIDZ2 Pool using 4 drives on a Debian 8 computer and then have the ability to remove that drives and put them into a FreeNAS based setup and have the pool and data be seen? I can take a set of drives that have been formatted and the pool created on the FreeNAS computer and then import that pool on the Debian computer and transfer data but when I create the pool on the Debian computer and move the disks to the FreeNAS computer, I cannot see the pool there.

Does FreeNAS do something "special" to the data structure of a pool when it is created that creating the same setup on a Debian 8 computer wouldn't?

 

[depasseg]

Do you get an error message when using the GUI to import the pool?

Or are you importing at the CLI?

 

[danb35]

Does FreeNAS do something "special" to the data structure of a pool when it is created that creating the same setup on a Debian 8 computer wouldn't?

Yes, it does--at a minimum, it creates a swap partition (2 GB by default, but configurable in the web GUI) at the beginning of the disk. But that shouldn't cause the system to fail to import a pool.

From the command line, what's the output of 'zpool import' and 'gpart show'?

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Have you tried creating the pool with no features enabled?
zpool create -d

 

[SweetAndLow]

Why do you have to create under debian? Are the feature flags not compatible? If the pool is going to live it's life in the freenas server you should create the pool under freenas.

 

[Mirfster]

4 very good responses = crickets.... :P

 

[Jeremy Gardner]

Sorry it was so long to reply. I am just going to create the pool via FreeNAS GUI and then import from there. Just trying to save some time as the distance between my FreeNAS server and my office is a really long way and in an environment that does not really make life fun sitting in while while waiting for data to copy. I am good for now.

 

[SweetAndLow]

Sorry it was so long to reply. I am just going to create the pool via FreeNAS GUI and then import from there. Just trying to save some time as the distance between my FreeNAS server and my office is a really long way and in an environment that does not really make life fun sitting in while while waiting for data to copy. I am good for now.

Use freenas on your PC that you were going to use debian on. You just need a USB stick.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Jeremy Gardner]

The problem that I have with using FreeNAS on my PC is that it does not recognize the adapter cards for my SAS drives.