zpool imported twice with different names (was Re: Fwd: ZFS)

[Paul Kraus]

> On May 16, 2017, at 10:26 AM, Eric A. Borisch <eborisch at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> On Tue, May 16, 2017 at 1:31 AM, Trond Endrestøl <
> Trond.Endrestol at fagskolen.gjovik.no> wrote:
> 
>> I guess you had a /boot/zfs/zpool.cache file referring to the original
>> zroot pool. Next, the kernel found the vega pool and didn't realise
>> these two pools are the very same.
>> 
> 
> Assuming this is the case, shouldn't it be fixed? A check while importing
> that the guid of the pool targeted for import is not in the set of
> currently active guids would be worthwhile, but it -- apparently, if this
> is reproducible -- doesn't exist?

When you use the -f (force) flag all bets are off. The assumption is that you _know_ it is safe to import the zpool as commanded. In this case, it was not.

Many sysadmins I know have gotten into the sloppy (in my opinion) habit of using the force option (for various things) all the time. The force flag, whether it be on a zpool import or a kill -9 should be the last resort when the non-forced command fails.