Re: Fwd: Moving ZFS root popol to a virtual server was: ZFS: Suspended Pool due to allegedly uncorrectable I/O error

On 8/28/24 22:01, Pamela Ballantyne wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 28, 2024 at 9:17 PM David Christensen wrote:
>> On 8/25/24 21:58, Pamela Ballantyne wrote:
>>> There is yet no colocated server. As I said, I'm using VMs on VBox to see
>>> what I have to look forward to if and when the colo happens.
>>>
>>> The initial reason for posting here was that there might be some bugs in
>>> ZFS. The first was the mysterious non-disk disk crash, which now seems
>> not
>>> to be a bug. The second was root replication from a clean install to a
>>> blank VM, requiring a change in a shift to add another disk to the pool;
>>> that could be a problem with VBox, of course, or even the original
>> FreeBSD
>>> install package.  I have no idea where to reach developers these days.
>>>
>>> So far, there's no issue with using the filesystem. Of course, I'm happy
>>> to provide the command output if you think it will help isolate this
>>> problem. Just let me know.
>>>
>> Have you tried the command 'VBoxManage convertfromraw ...' to convert a
>> raw disk image into a VirtualBox disk image?
>>
>> https://docs.oracle.com/en/virtualization/virtualbox/6.0/user/vboxmanage-convertfromraw.htm
>>
> There is no raw disk image to convert. All the disks start as VBox disk
> images.


If you want to clone a VirtualBox VM (on a VirtualBox virtual disk), I 
would export the VM to a file and then import the file into a new VM.


If you want to convert a FreeBSD instance running on a ZFS pool mirror 
of two HDD's on a Supermicro colocated server to a VirtualBox VM, I 
would try 'VBoxManage convertfromraw ...' using the primary disk in the 
mirror (the one with the boot loader stuff).  This means you will need 
to insert/ install and boot a FreeBSD 13 live CD, DVD, USB flash drive, 
SSD, HDD, etc., into the Supermicro server and install VirtualBox to do 
the work.  Once the VM is running, I would remove the missing vdev from 
the ZFS pool mirror; this assumes the hosting provider provides fault 
tolerance storage for VM's.


David