Debian 9.12, VirtualBox 6.1, FreeBSD 12.1 RELEASE, and lost pools

[David Christensen]

freebsd-questions:

I have a Debian machine:

2020-06-02 22:01:52 dpchrist at tinkywinky ~
$ cat /etc/debian_version && uname -a
9.12
Linux tinkywinky 4.9.0-12-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.9.210-1 (2020-01-20) 
x86_64 GNU/Linux


I have installed VirtualBox per Oracle's instructions:

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads


2020-06-02 22:14:46 root at tinkywinky ~
# dpkg-query --show virtualbox-6.1
virtualbox-6.1	6.1.8-137981~Debian~stretch


I have created a virtual machine and installed FreeBSD:

     Select start-up disk
         FreeBSD-12.1-RELEASE-amd64-dvd1.iso

     Welcome to FreeBSD                  Boot Multi user
     Welcome                             Install
     Keymap Selection                    Continue with default keymap
     Set Hostname                        vf1.tracy.holgerdanske.com
     Distribution Selection              <none>
     Partitioning                        Auto (ZFS)
         Pool Type/Disks                 stripe: 1 disk
             stripe
                 ada0
         Pool Name                       vf1_zroot
         Force 4K Sectors                YES
         Encrypt Disks                   NO
         Partition Scheme                MBR (BIOS)
         Swap Size                       1g
         Mirror Swap                     YES
         Encrypt Swap                    NO
         >>> Install
     Root password                       ********
     Network Configuration               em0
     Configure IPv4                      Yes
     Use DHCP                            Yes
     Configure IPv6                      No
     Network Configuration - Resolver Configuration
         Search                          tracy.holgerdanske.com
         IPv4 DNS #1                     192.168.5.1
         IPv4 DNS #2                     <blank>
     Time Zone Selector
         Region                          America -- North and South
     Counties in America -- North and South
         Country or region               United States of America
     United States of America Time Zones
         Pacific
     Time & Date
         <Skip>
     Time & Date
         <Skip>
     Services to start at boot           sshd, ntpdate, ntpd
     System hardening options            <none>
     Add users                           Yes
         Username                        dpchrist
         Full name                       David Christensen
         Uid                             13250
         Login group                     dpchrist
         Invite into other groups        wheel
         Login class                     default
         Shell                           sh
         Home directory                  /home/dpchrist
         Home directory permissions      <empty>
         Use password authentication     yes
         Use empty password              no
         Use a random password           no
         Password                        ********
         Lock out                        no
         OK?                             yes
     Add another user                    no
     Final configuration                 Exit
     Open shell                          No
     Complete                            Reboot


The VM works and I can log in via SSH:

2020-06-02 22:03:11 toor at vf1 ~
# freebsd-version && uname -a
12.1-RELEASE
FreeBSD vf1.tracy.holgerdanske.com 12.1-RELEASE FreeBSD 12.1-RELEASE 
r354233 GENERIC  amd64


But the boot pool 'bootpool' is missing:

2020-06-02 22:06:35 toor at vf1 ~
# zpool list
NAME        SIZE  ALLOC   FREE  CKPOINT  EXPANDSZ   FRAG    CAP  DEDUP 
HEALTH  ALTROOT
vf1_zroot  3.75G   545M  3.22G        -         -     2%    14%  1.00x 
ONLINE  -


bootpool is available for import:

2020-06-02 22:06:39 toor at vf1 ~
# zpool import
    pool: bootpool
      id: 13757577973895316021
   state: ONLINE
  action: The pool can be imported using its name or numeric identifier.
  config:

	bootpool    ONLINE
	  ada0s1a   ONLINE


And I can import it (with the force option):

2020-06-02 22:06:50 toor at vf1 ~
# zpool import -f bootpool

2020-06-02 22:07:38 toor at vf1 ~
# zpool list
NAME        SIZE  ALLOC   FREE  CKPOINT  EXPANDSZ   FRAG    CAP  DEDUP 
HEALTH  ALTROOT
bootpool   1.88G   147M  1.73G        -         -     0%     7%  1.00x 
ONLINE  -
vf1_zroot  3.75G   545M  3.22G        -         -     2%    14%  1.00x 
ONLINE  -

2020-06-02 22:07:41 toor at vf1 ~
# zfs list bootpool
NAME       USED  AVAIL  REFER  MOUNTPOINT
bootpool   146M  1.61G   146M  /bootpool


But the next time I reboot, bootpool is gone again.  The same thing 
happens with other pools that I have created.


STFW I see that somebody else had the same problem and used the same fix 
in January 2020, but there is no mention of the problem reoccurring on 
every boot:

https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/no-boot-directory.73703/


Ideas?


David