ZFS modules are not loaded

Question

Please someone explain how I can fix this, it is driving me crazy. I really would like to get ZFS to work. I am running a 64 bit OS, it is arm though

root@amlogic:~# lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS
Release:        16.04
Codename:       xenial

root@amlogic:~# zfs list
The ZFS modules are not loaded.
Try running '/sbin/modprobe zfs' as root to load them.

root@amlogic:~# uname -a
Linux amlogic 3.14.29 #11 SMP PREEMPT Sat Jul 1 21:28:33 MSK 2017 aarch64 aarch64 aarch64 GNU/Linux

root@amlogic:~# /sbin/modprobe zfs
modprobe: FATAL: Module zfs not found in directory /lib/modules/3.14.29

root@amlogic:~# sudo apt install zfs
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Note, selecting 'zfsutils-linux' instead of 'zfs'
zfsutils-linux is already the newest version (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu17).

after removing zfs and zfsutils-linux and then reinstalling

root@amlogic:~# apt install zfsutils-linux
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  libzfs2linux
Suggested packages:
  samba-common-bin nfs-kernel-server zfs-initramfs
Recommended packages:
  zfs-dkms zfs-zed
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libzfs2linux zfsutils-linux
0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 13 not upgraded.
Need to get 344 kB of archives.
After this operation, 1,027 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Get:1 http://ports.ubuntu.com xenial-updates/main arm64 libzfs2linux arm64 0.6.5.6-0ubuntu17 [86.7 kB]
Get:2 http://ports.ubuntu.com xenial-updates/main arm64 zfsutils-linux arm64 0.6.5.6-0ubuntu17 [257 kB]
Fetched 344 kB in 2s (123 kB/s)
Selecting previously unselected package libzfs2linux.
(Reading database ... 163857 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../libzfs2linux_0.6.5.6-0ubuntu17_arm64.deb ...
Unpacking libzfs2linux (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu17) ...
Selecting previously unselected package zfsutils-linux.
Preparing to unpack .../zfsutils-linux_0.6.5.6-0ubuntu17_arm64.deb ...
Unpacking zfsutils-linux (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu17) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu9) ...
Processing triggers for initramfs-tools (0.122ubuntu8.8) ...
ln: failed to create hard link '/boot/initrd.img-3.14.29.dpkg-bak' => '/boot/initrd.img-3.14.29': Operation not permitted
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.14.29
update-initramfs: Converting to u-boot format
Processing triggers for systemd (229-4ubuntu17) ...
Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-19) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
Setting up libzfs2linux (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu17) ...
Setting up zfsutils-linux (0.6.5.6-0ubuntu17) ...
zfs-import-cache.service is a disabled or a static unit, not starting it.
zfs-import-scan.service is a disabled or a static unit, not starting it.
zfs-mount.service is a disabled or a static unit, not starting it.
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu9) ...
Processing triggers for initramfs-tools (0.122ubuntu8.8) ...
ln: failed to create hard link '/boot/initrd.img-3.14.29.dpkg-bak' => '/boot/initrd.img-3.14.29': Operation not permitted
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.14.29
update-initramfs: Converting to u-boot format

... still same problem when I run zfs list

Solution

Sometimes this helped for me to get the modules build:

sudo apt install zfs-dkms
sudo modprobe zfs

sudo zfs list

This requires the build essentials and headers for the current kernel to be available. Be aware of some issues with custom build kernels.

It worked multiple times on my x64 laptops and sometimes also on a raspberry Pi which is an arm platform.

Additionally you may need to get the module to initramfs, but that is another topic.

Comments

[mikewhatever]

It's not installed by default, so try ` sudo apt install zfs `. That said, it could be a problem, because of the custom Android kernel 3.14 and an ARM based machine.

[ycomp]

@mikewhatever I did install it, if I run zfs then it will show some usage information. So there's nothing I can do?

[Soren A]

What was the outcome of Try running '/sbin/modprobe zfs' as root to load them. ?

[mikewhatever]

@ycomp There is always something one can do, but I am not sure how practical it is.

[ycomp]

@SorenA I edited the question to include the result

[Soren A]

modprobe: FATAL: Module zfs not found in directory /lib/modules/3.14.29 ... According to the internet, when doing sudo apt install zfs the following packages wil also be installed: libvpair1linux, libuutil1linux, libzfs2linux and libzpool2linux. Check if they are installed. If not install them. If they are, try to reinstall them (adding --reinstall to the apt install command.

[ycomp]

@SorenA I removed and installed again ( see new output in question).. I also tried reinstall as you suggested but again same modules not loaded problem

[Soren A]

Sorry, for some reason I cant figure out it doesn't install the modules. Maybe they are not supported on ARM. Hope that someone more skilled in this than me, picks up from here.

[ridgy]

It seems you missed to install zfs-dkms, which contains the kernel modules, or zfs-fuse which implements ZFS in userspace. zfstools-linux are only the administration tools. I'ld suggest to install the uggestedand recommended` packages as well.

[ridgy]

Newer kernels include the modules zfs-dkms and spl-dkms in the linux-image-<version>-generic packages. But with your kernel, you have to install zfs-dkmsand zfs-spl, or whatever the recommended line says. See apt-cache show zfsutils-linux.

[muru]

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the kernel version indicates that this is a VPS or a container of some sort, and cannot be solved within the container.

[ycomp]

@muru no vps, it's arm there is no virtualization

[muru]

@ycomp the kernels for 16.04 are all 4.4+. Are you using a custom kernel then?

[ycomp]

@muru I guess so, it is an image someone put together for an Amlogic S912 TV box

[muru]

@ycomp while custom kernels are not off-topic here, it's expected that you should be able to show us how you installed it.

[ycomp]

This is basically all the info about it: I used armbian for S912 Linux Images for S802 S805 S812 S905 S905X S912 (SD USB eMMC) - FreakTab.com I haven't tried since ZFS since I had originally posted, I'll get back to it eventually.. would be nice to have

[swe_mattias]

This made my install on Debian 10.1, with zfs 0.8.2 work so thanks!