zpool create <pool> drives fails

S

ServerStorm

Hi

When I attempt to create a zfs pool I get "permission denied".

If I try a simple
Code: 
zpool create mypool ad10
I get
Code: 
cannot create 'mypool': permission denied

The same is true if I try something like the following:
Code: 
zpool create mypool raidz ad4 ad6 ad8

I initially formatted these drives (ad4, ad6, ad8, and ad10) as UFS and then tried to issue the create pool.

I can see all the drives:
Code: 
atacontrol list
ATA channel 0:
    Master:  ad0 <SAMSUNG HM160HC/LQ100-10> ATA/ATAPI revision 8
    Slave:  acd0 <CD-224E-R/1.CA> ATA/ATAPI revision 5
ATA channel 1:
    Master:      no device present
    Slave:       no device present
ATA channel 2:
    Master:  ad4 <WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0/50.0AB50> SATA revision 2.x
    Slave:       no device present
ATA channel 3:
    Master:  ad6 <WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0/50.0AB50> SATA revision 2.x
    Slave:       no device present
ATA channel 4:
    Master:  ad8 <WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0/50.0AB50> SATA revision 2.x
    Slave:       no device present
ATA channel 5:
    Master: ad10 <WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0/50.0AB50> SATA revision 2.x
    Slave:       no device present

When looking at fstab I see only one of these devices, which could be part of the problem although I do not know enough about how zpool works to know if it needs or automatically create an entry in fstab?
Code: 
cat /etc/fstab
# Device                Mountpoint      FStype  Options         Dump    Pass#
/dev/ad0s1a             /       ufs     rw              1       1

ad0 is where the O.S. is located.


Given this information do you see why 'zpool create mypool ad10' shows permission denied? Is this a File System permission issue or something else? Please help if you can.

Regards,
Steve
 
First, are you root?

Second, because you have partitioned/formatted the disks already, you may need to disable the safety features of GEOM: # sysctl -w kern.geom.debugflags=17

After that, you can try the zpool create commands.
 
Hi phoenix,

# sysctl -w kern.geom.debugflags=17
Click to expand...
Thank you! this did make the difference. I was able to create the pool without any issues:
Code: 
zpool create MainRepo raidz ad4 ad6 ad8
Code: 
zpool list
NAME       SIZE   USED  AVAIL    CAP  HEALTH  ALTROOT
MainRepo  5.46T   150K  5.46T     0%  ONLINE  -

Can you recommend a good resource that I could use to read more about the permissions/security structures of zfs?

Thanks again,
Steve
 
Hi

I restarted my Server and tested if I could still create a pool and upon restart and I need to redo the:
Code: 
sysctl -w kern.geom.debugflags=17
then it would again allow creation of a pool. Is there a way to permanently set this kernel geometry debug flag?

Regards,
Steve
 
Note: you only need to set this flag when modifying drives that GEOM knows about (ie have been partitioned, or formatted, or labelled). For working with new drives, or with drives where you have manually zeroed out the first and last MB of the disk, this sysctl is not needed.

IOW, you really don't want to set this in /etc/sysctl.conf.
 
Just a quick advice. It is always a good idea to start by labeling your disks before you add them to a pool. The reason for this is that it makes disk management easier in case of a disk replacement. I would start by completely destroying any existing partitions:
Code: 
gpart destroy ad4 (ad6, ad8)
Then I would label my disks:
Code: 
glabel label -v disk1 /dev/ad4
glabel label -v disk2 /dev/ad6
glabel label -v disk3 /dev/ad8
After that I would create the pool:
Code: 
zpool create tank raidz1 label/disk1 label/dik2 label/disk3
That would give me something like the following:
Code: 
  pool: tank
 state: ONLINE
 scrub: scrub completed after 1h46m with 0 errors on Tue Aug 17 03:21:46 2010
config:

	NAME              STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
	tank              ONLINE       0     0     0
	  raidz1          ONLINE       0     0     0
	    label/zdisk1  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    label/zdisk2  ONLINE       0     0     0
	    label/zdisk3  ONLINE       0     0     0

errors: No known data errors

George
 
Phoenix,
Being new to this, the tip of when or when not to use w is helpful.

phoenix said:
Note: you only need to set this flag when modifying drives that GEOM knows about (ie have been partitioned, or formatted, or labelled). For working with new drives, or with drives where you have manually zeroed out the first and last MB of the disk, this sysctl is not needed.

IOW, you really don't want to set this in /etc/sysctl.conf.
Click to expand...

Thank you.
Steve
 
Hi George,

Thanks for the details and advice.

gkontos said:
Just a quick advice. It is always a good idea to start by labeling your disks before you add them to a pool. The reason for this is that it makes disk management easier in case of a disk replacement. I would start by completely destroying any existing partitions:...
Click to expand...

I did destroy my partitions and used your recommendation. It works much better, so thanks!

Regards,
Steve
 
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