Re: How to create ZFS on Root using MBR slices?

On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 4:18 PM, Craig Rodrigues<rodrigc_at_crodrigues.org> wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 01:59:32PM -0500, Scot Hetzel wrote:
>> Is there anything wrong with the above install procedure for creating
>> a ZFS Root MBR Slice install?
>
> There are some examples here:
>
> http://wiki.freebsd.org/ZFSOnRoot
>
> They are not *quite* what you did, i.e.
> example 1 uses a UFS file system to contain /boot
> example 2 uses GPT partitioning, not MBR
>
> Is the stuff there close at all to what you tried?
>
> --
> Craig Rodrigues
> rodrigc_at_crodrigues.org
>
I originally had a UFS root, with ZFS /usr  and I wanted to go for a
complete ZFS solution, no UFS /boot.

I was thinking of using the GPT partitioning, but didn't know how to
convert my existing MBR drive to a GPT drive and still be able to
tripple boot betweeen FreeBSD, Windows XP, and Quick Play.

To create my steps to create a ZFS-Only MBR install, I used ideas
presented from several sources:

1.  ZFSOnRoot w/UFS Boot example
2.  ZFS-Only System GPT example

3.  FreeBSD root on ZFS

http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:DzGFvHEH2NwJ:yds.coolrat.org/zfsboot.shtml+zfsboot+freebsd&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

4.  Booting Freebsd from a root ZFS pool w/standard MBR and partition table

http://www.clearchain.com/blog/posts/booting-freebsd-from-a-root-zfs-pool-using-a-standard-mbr-and-partition-table

The only thing that wasn't clear is how to write the zfsboot to the drive.

Do I need to write zfsboot to ad0, ad0s1, ad0s3?

Do I need to skip the first 16 sectors on ad0s3 to save room for zfsboot?

Scot