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.

mountpoint

  The mount point of the ZFS pool/filesystem. Changing this does not affect the `mountpoint` property of the dataset seen by `zfs`. Defaults to `/<pool>`.

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.

Table 1. Storage features for backend `zfs`
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 scan zfs

## See Also

- Storage

- ZFS on Linux