Yes, it can be done - Re: Install ZFS root with FAI?

[Steffen Grunewald]

Finally, I succeeded.

Boot mode set to Legacy, PXE boot into FAI, with classes, hooks
and scripts.
It will take a few more days to iron out minor mistakes, before
I can start to make this public ;)

I will write up everything I did. Basically, I used input from
the following documents, with a few own ideas, and suggestions
from this list added:
- "Debian Stretch Root on ZFS" (github.com/zfsonlinux/zfs/wiki)
- "ZFS Install Guide" (www.funtoo.org)
- "Booting a ZFS Root via UEFI on Debian" (www.thecrosseroads.net)

Somehow I failed to get /boot/efi mounted at the right point when
I ran an almost identical install with UEFI enabled, but I'm
lucky that my SuperMicro hardware still has a Legacy mode.

I'd like to ask for your patience - tomorrow is my last working
day for this year, and there are lost of (non-FAI, non-ZFS)
problems to be settled.

Enjoy the time with family, friends or just private projects.

See you next year then!
Cheers,
 Steffen

> > Setting up a root zpool mirroring three disks, I get
> > BOOT_DEVICE="/dev/disk/by-id/ata-INTEL_SSDSC2KW128G8_PHLA805104HX128BGN /dev/disk/by-id/ata-INTEL_SSDSC2KW128G8_PHLA805102QH128BGN /dev/disk/by-id/ata-INTEL_SSDSC2KW128G8_PHLA805007K6128BGN"
> > 10-setup although converts this to
> > GROOT="(hostdisk//dev/sda) (hostdisk//dev/sdm) (hostdisk//dev/sdn)"
> > grub-install: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for hostdisk//dev/sda.  Check your device.map.
> > but I remember having seen a different problem then. Got to rinse
> > and repeat.
> Actually what I might have been missing is the addition of a BIOS boot partition
> to the GPT, as described in https://www.funtoo.org/ZFS_Install_Guide - I will
> add that to the mountdisks hook, and rerun the installation.
> > BTW, as the linux-headers package gets consistently installed after the
> > spl-dkms one, a trick similar to the nfsroot hook described earlier is
> > also necessary to get the modules built inside the target chroot.
> Is there a trick in FAI to force an installation order?