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ZFSBOOT(8)		    System Manager's Manual		    ZFSBOOT(8)

NAME
       zfsboot -- bootcode for ZFS on BIOS-based computers

DESCRIPTION
       zfsboot	is used	on BIOS-based computers	to boot	from a filesystem in a
       ZFS pool.  zfsboot is installed in two parts on a disk or  a  partition
       used  by	 a  ZFS	 pool.	 The  first part, a single-sector starter boot
       block, is installed at the beginning of the  disk  or  partition.   The
       second part, a main boot	block, is installed at a special offset	within
       the  disk  or  partition.   Both	 areas are reserved by the ZFS on-disk
       specification for boot use.  If zfsboot is installed  in	 a  partition,
       then  that partition should be made bootable using appropriate configu-
       ration and boot blocks described	in boot(8).

BOOTING
       The zfsboot boot	process	is very	similar	to that	of gptzfsboot(8).  One
       significant difference is that zfsboot does not currently  support  the
       GPT  partitioning  scheme.   Thus  only whole disks and MBR partitions,
       traditionally referred to as slices, are	probed for  ZFS	 disk  labels.
       See  the	 BUGS section in gptzfsboot(8) for some	limitations of the MBR
       scheme support.

USAGE
       zfsboot supports	all the	same prompt and	configuration  file  arguments
       as gptzfsboot(8).

FILES
       /boot/zfsboot  boot code	binary
       /boot.config   parameters for the boot block (optional)
       /boot/config   alternative parameters for the boot block	(optional)

EXAMPLES
       zfsboot	is typically installed using dd(1).  To	install	zfsboot	on the
       ada0 drive:

	     dd	if=/boot/zfsboot of=/dev/ada0 count=1
	     dd	if=/boot/zfsboot of=/dev/ada0 iseek=1 oseek=1024

       If the drive is currently in use, the GEOM safety will  prevent	writes
       and must	be disabled before running the above commands:

	     sysctl kern.geom.debugflags=0x10

       zfsboot can also	be installed in	an MBR slice:

	     gpart create -s mbr ada0
	     gpart add -t freebsd ada0
	     gpart bootcode -b /boot/boot0 ada0
	     gpart set -a active -i 1 ada0
	     dd	if=/dev/zero of=/dev/ada0s1 count=2
	     dd	if=/boot/zfsboot of=/dev/ada0s1	count=1
	     dd	if=/boot/zfsboot of=/dev/ada0s1	iseek=1	oseek=1024

       Note  that  commands to create and populate a pool are not shown	in the
       example above.

SEE ALSO
       dd(1), boot.config(5), boot(8), gptzfsboot(8), loader(8), zpool(8)

HISTORY
       zfsboot appeared	in FreeBSD 7.3.

AUTHORS
       This manual page	was written by Andriy Gapon <avg@FreeBSD.org>.

BUGS
       Installing zfsboot with dd(1) is	a hack.	 ZFS needs a command to	 prop-
       erly install zfsboot onto a ZFS-controlled disk or partition.

FreeBSD	13.2			March 27, 2018			    ZFSBOOT(8)

NAME | DESCRIPTION | BOOTING | USAGE | FILES | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO | HISTORY | AUTHORS | BUGS

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=zfsboot&manpath=FreeBSD+14.1-RELEASE+and+Ports>

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