How to install ZFS on KDE neon?

[mrjayviper]

The distro is based on Ubuntu xenial. In fact sources.list is the same as my Ubuntu setup. When I try to install ZFS via the normal Ubuntu way (sudo apt install ZFS), there's no zfs.ko.

Can you please help? Thanks

ps. I get the same issue of my laptop (HP 8640p or using virtualbox)

edit:

I just installed the distro on a new virtualbox container. I tried both these ISOs: neon-userltsedition-20171011-0018-amd64.iso and neon-useredition-20171012-1018-amd64.iso.

Here are the steps I followed after the the installation completed (i.e. first boot)

step1: sudo apt update

step2: sudo apt full-upgrade

step3: sudo reboot now

step4: sudo apt install zfs (notice that using zfs package installs zfsutils-linux. Also Ubuntu recommends using zfs package for 16.xx versions: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ZFS)

chiyo@mydesktop1:~$ sudo apt install zfs
[sudo] password for chiyo:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Note, selecting 'zfsutils-linux' instead of 'zfs'
Starting pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Starting 2 pkgProblemResolver with broken count: 0
Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  libnvpair1linux libuutil1linux libzfs2linux libzpool2linux zfs-doc zfs-zed
Suggested packages:
  default-mta | mail-transport-agent samba-common-bin nfs-kernel-server zfs-initramfs
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libnvpair1linux libuutil1linux libzfs2linux libzpool2linux zfs-doc zfs-zed
  zfsutils-linux
0 to upgrade, 7 to newly install, 0 to remove and 0 not to upgrade.
Need to get 897 kB of archives.
After this operation, 2,902 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Get:1 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 zfs-doc all 0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18 [50.0 kB]
Get:2 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 libuutil1linux amd64 0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18 [27.4 kB]
Get:3 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 libnvpair1linux amd64 0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18 [23.5 kB]
Get:4 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 libzpool2linux amd64 0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18 [384 kB]
Get:5 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 libzfs2linux amd64 0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18 [106 kB]
Get:6 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 zfsutils-linux amd64 0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18 [276 kB]
Get:7 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 zfs-zed amd64 0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18 [29.7 kB]
Fetched 897 kB in 15s (57.5 kB/s)                                                     
Selecting previously unselected package zfs-doc.
(Reading database ... 142686 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../zfs-doc_0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18_all.deb ...
Unpacking zfs-doc (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libuutil1linux.
Preparing to unpack .../libuutil1linux_0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libuutil1linux (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libnvpair1linux.
Preparing to unpack .../libnvpair1linux_0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libnvpair1linux (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libzpool2linux.
Preparing to unpack .../libzpool2linux_0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libzpool2linux (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libzfs2linux.
Preparing to unpack .../libzfs2linux_0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libzfs2linux (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18) ...
Selecting previously unselected package zfsutils-linux.
Preparing to unpack .../zfsutils-linux_0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking zfsutils-linux (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18) ...
Selecting previously unselected package zfs-zed.
Preparing to unpack .../zfs-zed_0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking zfs-zed (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu9) ...
Processing triggers for initramfs-tools (0.122ubuntu8.8) ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.10.0-37-generic
Processing triggers for systemd (229-4ubuntu19) ...
Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-19) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
Setting up zfs-doc (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18) ...
Setting up libuutil1linux (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18) ...
Setting up libnvpair1linux (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18) ...
Setting up libzpool2linux (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18) ...
Setting up libzfs2linux (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18) ...
Setting up zfsutils-linux (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18) ...
zfs-import-cache.service is a disabled or a static unit, not starting it.
zfs-import-scan.service is a disabled or a static unit, not starting it.
zfs-mount.service is a disabled or a static unit, not starting it.
Processing triggers for initramfs-tools (0.122ubuntu8.8) ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.10.0-37-generic
Setting up zfs-zed (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu18) ...
zed.service is a disabled or a static unit, not starting it.
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu9) ...
Processing triggers for systemd (229-4ubuntu19) ...
Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-19) ...
chiyo@mydesktop1:~

step 6: looking for ZFS kernel modules

chiyo@mydesktop1:~$ sudo find / -iname "zfs.ko" -type f
chiyo@mydesktop1:~$ sudo find / -iname "spl.ko" -type f
/lib/modules/4.10.0-37-generic/kernel/zfs/spl/spl.ko
chiyo@mydesktop1:~$

step7: getting system info

chiyo@mydesktop1:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: neon
Description:    KDE neon LTS User Edition 5.8
Release:        16.04
Codename:       xenial
chiyo@mydesktop1:~$ uname -a
Linux mydesktop1 4.10.0-37-generic #41~16.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Fri Oct 6 22:42:59 UTC 2017 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
chiyo@mydesktop1:~$ apt list --installed | grep linux-image

WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.

linux-image-4.10.0-37-generic/xenial-updates,xenial-security,now 4.10.0-37.41~16.04.1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
linux-image-extra-4.10.0-37-generic/xenial-updates,xenial-security,now 4.10.0-37.41~16.04.1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04/xenial-updates,xenial-security,now 4.10.0.37.39 amd64 [installed,automatic]
chiyo@mydesktop1:~$

 

[ihrsetrdr]

Have a look at this Ubuntu informational page: https://insights.ubuntu.com/2016/02/16/zfs-is-the-fs-for-containers-in-ubuntu-16-04/

Normally I would suspect a need to add a repo to your /etc/apt/sources.list, but according to the link "ZFS — baked directly into Ubuntu — supported by Canonical."

 

[petteyg359]

chiyo@mydesktop1:~$ sudo find / -iname "zfs.ko" -type f
chiyo@mydesktop1:~$ sudo find / -iname "spl.ko" -type f
/lib/modules/4.10.0-37-generic/kernel/zfs/spl/spl.ko
chiyo@mydesktop1:~$

Don't know what's up with the missing module, but save some keystrokes. Just use -name, and you don't need quotes around the file name. Especially you shouldn't be using double quotes, because then your shell will expand the glob prior to passing it to find. You only need quotes when searching for wildcards, and then you should be using single quotes. Or you could just escape the wildcard from the shell. e.g. find -name 'abc*' or find -name abc\*

Might be a long-standing issue with maintainers apparently doing a half-assed job... https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2094882

 

[ihrsetrdr]

The distro is based on Ubuntu xenial. In fact sources.list is the same as my Ubuntu setup. When I try to install ZFS via the normal Ubuntu way (sudo apt install ZFS), there's no zfs.ko.

Have you tried running 'insmod /zfs.ko' as root?

 

[petteyg359]

Have you tried running 'insmod /zfs.ko' as root?

You added that yellow highlight yourself. Were you sleep-posting? Seeing as modules are never installed to / (when they're installed at all, which is the issue here), that would be a bit pointless.

 

[ihrsetrdr]

You added that yellow highlight yourself. Were you sleep-posting? Seeing as modules are never installed to / (when they're installed at all, which is the issue here), that would be a bit pointless.

No, just seemed like a lot of other folks had been experiencing a similar issue. searching "there's no zfs.ko." One search result suggested trying to load the module manually.

 

[petteyg359]

No, just seemed like a lot of other folks had been experiencing a similar issue. searching "there's no zfs.ko." One search result suggested trying to load the module manually.

That's either a static string left over from Solaris code or a typo from Linux developers. Either way, that command would never work in any case, whether or not the module exists.

 

[ihrsetrdr]

That's either a static string left over from Solaris code or a typo from Linux developers. Either way, that command would never work in any case, whether or not the module exists.

So now that we know how not to diagnose the problem, are there any suggestions for the OP on the correct path to resolving this issue?

 

[CJustin]

It seems that the kernel in KDE Neon LTS User Edition 5.8 installer squashfs that gets copied to the target system during install is missing proper zfs configuration. It is most probably a bug of the installer of KDE neon LTS but you should check if it has been mentioned in the docs. Try to fix using apt-get clean ; apt-get install --reinstall linux-image-generic linux-image. The ubuntu image linux-image-4.10.0-37-generic_4.10.0-37.41~16.04.1_amd64.deb indeed has zfs.ko present.