Dualboot and ZFS

[Manish Jain]

> Sorry if my question was misleading, I did not mean converting the
> existing system from UFS to ZFS at ada0s3. Suppose ada0s3 is an unused
> slice, I can probably create a zpool thereon. But a few questions
> remain:
> 
> 1. Can I install a root-on-zfs system on ada0s3 with bsdinstall? I
> suppose not?

That's right. You cannot install ZFS onto an MBR slice. ZFS by default 
needs an entire disk, partitioned GPT.

> Why are you creating a zpool within a BSD "a" partition, and not in
> da0s1 directly? I have never seen such a configuration. Is it even
> possible to set the "freebsd-zfs" type on a BSD partition?

I presume you are using MBR partitioning. Under MBR, freebsd slices are 
always nested. The slice contains partitions denoted with a, b and so on.

I do not think it is viable to set freebsd-zfs on an MBR slice. It just 
will not work. ZFS needs an entire disk. If you wish to install on an 
MBR slice, you must use rsync after installing freebsd-UFS.

>> echo 'kern.geom.label.disk_ident.enable=0' >> /zroot/boot/loader.conf

> It's "1" by default on my root-on-zfs boxes.


I think this is not necessary. You can leave out this line.

Regards,
Manish Jain