Editing Introduction to a Self Managed Life: a 13 hour & 28 minute presentation by FUTO software (section)

=== 4.1 Verify Our Drives ===

First, let’s double-check we’re using the right drives:

<pre>lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,MODEL,SERIAL</pre>
You should see your two operating system drives listed, and the six hard drives we plugged in. Let’s make absolutely sure they’re empty:

<pre># Check if drives have any existing partitions
sudo fdisk -l /dev/sd[bdefgh]</pre>
If you see any partitions, you might want to clear them:

<pre># Only run these if you're SURE these are the right drives
# THIS WILL ERASE ALL DATA ON THESE DRIVES
sudo wipefs -a /dev/sdb
sudo wipefs -a /dev/sdd
sudo wipefs -a /dev/sde
sudo wipefs -a /dev/sdf
sudo wipefs -a /dev/sdg
sudo wipefs -a /dev/sdh</pre>
<span id="create-the-encrypted-pool"></span>
==== 4.2 Create the Encrypted Pool ====

We’ll create a RAIDZ2 pool (similar to RAID6) with encryption:

<pre>sudo zpool create -o ashift=12 
   -O encryption=aes-256-gcm 
   -O keylocation=prompt 
   -O keyformat=passphrase 
   mediapool raidz2 /dev/sdb /dev/sdd /dev/sde /dev/sdf /dev/sdg /dev/sdh</pre>
What do these commands do?

* <code>-o ashift=12</code>: Optimizes for 4K sector drives
* <code>-O encryption=aes-256-gcm</code>: Enables strong encryption
* <code>-O keylocation=prompt</code>: Tells ZFS to ask for password
* <code>-O keyformat=passphrase</code>: Use a password instead of keyfile
* <code>raidz2</code>: Two drive redundancy
* <code>mediapool</code>: Name of your pool (can be whatever you want)

You’ll be prompted for a password. '''USE A STRONG PASSWORD AND DON’T FORGET IT!'''

<span id="set-good-pool-properties"></span>
==== 4.3 Set Good Pool Properties ====

After creation, let’s set some good default properties:

<pre># Enable compression
sudo zfs set compression=lz4 mediapool

# Disable atime updates (better performance)</pre>
<pre>sudo zfs set atime=off mediapool

# Set correct recordsize for general media storage
sudo zfs set recordsize=1M mediapool</pre>
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==== 4.4 Verify Pool Creation ====

Check that everything is set up correctly:

<pre># Check pool status
sudo zpool status mediapool

# Check pool properties
sudo zpool get all mediapool

# Check encryption is enabled
sudo zfs get encryption mediapool</pre>
The <code>zpool status</code> output should show something like:

<pre>louis@happycloud:~$ sudo zpool status mediapool
  pool: mediapool
 state: ONLINE
config:

    NAME        STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
    mediapool   ONLINE       0     0     0
      raidz2-0  ONLINE       0     0     0
        sdb     ONLINE       0     0     0
        sdd     ONLINE       0     0     0
        sde     ONLINE       0     0     0
        sdf     ONLINE       0     0     0
        sdg     ONLINE       0     0     0
        sdh     ONLINE       0     0     0

errors: No known data errors</pre>
<span id="create-the-datasets-for-your-data-virtual-machine-backups"></span>
==== 4.5: Create the Datasets for your data &amp; virtual machine Backups ====

Set permissions:

<pre># Set ownership (replace 'louis' with your actual username)
sudo chown louis:louis /mediapool

# Set permissions (only you can access it)
sudo chmod 700 /mediapool</pre>
<span id="test-pool-importexport"></span>
==== 4.6 Test Pool Import/Export ====

Let’s make sure we can properly mount/unmount the pool:

<pre># Export (unmount) the pool
sudo zpool export mediapool

# Import it back
sudo zpool import mediapool</pre>
You’ll have to enter the password with <code>sudo zfs load-key mediapool</code> in order to do anything with it, but we will do that later. You will be prompted for the password again when importing.

<span id="important-notes"></span>
==== Important Notes ====

# '''BACKUP YOUR POOL PASSWORD!'''
#* If you lose it, your data is GONE
#* Store it in a password manager (that you don’t self-host)
#* Consider a paper backup in a secure location that is not a post-it-note on your monitor.
# '''Space Available'''
#* Total raw capacity: 6 × 8TB = 48TB
#* RAIDZ2 uses 2 drives for parity, so you lose 2 drives worth of capacity
#* Usable space is 4 × 8TB = 32TB
# '''What Redundancy Gives You'''
#* Can survive one drive failure
#* Can survive two drive failures
#* '''Not a backup! Still need proper backups'''

<span id="step-5-setting-up-zfs-pool-mount-points-and-permissions"></span>