install/use lvm thin file in pvesm man page

[pve-docs.git] / pve-storage-zfspool.adoc

Local ZFS Pool Backend
----------------------
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Storage pool type: `zfspool`

This backend allows you to access local ZFS pools (or ZFS file systems
inside such pools).


Configuration
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The backend supports the common storage properties `content`, `nodes`,
`disable`, and the following ZFS specific properties:

pool::

Select the ZFS pool/filesystem. All allocations are done within that
pool.

blocksize::

Set ZFS blocksize parameter.

sparse::

Use ZFS thin-provisioning. A sparse volume is a volume whose
reservation is not equal to the volume size.

.Configuration Example (`/etc/pve/storage.cfg`)
----
zfspool: vmdata
        pool tank/vmdata
        content rootdir,images
        sparse
----


File naming conventions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The backend uses the following naming scheme for VM images:

 vm-<VMID>-<NAME>      // normal VM images
 base-<VMID>-<NAME>    // template VM image (read-only)
 subvol-<VMID>-<NAME>  // subvolumes (ZFS filesystem for containers)
 
`<VMID>`::

This specifies the owner VM.

`<NAME>`::

This can be an arbitrary name (`ascii`) without white space. The
backend uses `disk[N]` as default, where `[N]` is replaced by an
integer to make the name unique.


Storage Features
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ZFS is probably the most advanced storage type regarding snapshot and
cloning. The backend uses ZFS datasets for both VM images (format
`raw`) and container data (format `subvol`). ZFS properties are
inherited from the parent dataset, so you can simply set defaults
on the parent dataset.

.Storage features for backend `zfs`
[width="100%",cols="m,m,3*d",options="header"]
|==============================================================================
|Content types  |Image formats  |Shared |Snapshots |Clones
|images rootdir |raw subvol     |no     |yes       |yes
|==============================================================================


Examples
~~~~~~~~

It is recommended to create an extra ZFS file system to store your VM images:

 # zfs create tank/vmdata

To enable compression on that newly allocated file system:

 # zfs set compression=on tank/vmdata

You can get a list of available ZFS filesystems with:

 # pvesm zfsscan

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See Also
~~~~~~~~

* link:/wiki/Storage[Storage]

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