VirtualBox 7.0, FreeBSD 12.4-RELEASE-amd64, ZFS, and bootpool

From: David Christensen <dpchrist_at_holgerdanske.com>
Date: Sun, 31 Dec 2023 03:36:13 UTC
freebsd-questions:

If I use VirtualBox 7.0 (on Debian 11.8 amd64) to create a 
FreeBSD-12.4-RELEASE-amd64 virtual machine with BIOS (MBR), ZFS boot, 
encrypted swap, and encrypted ZFS root, the boot pool is not imported 
automatically when the system boots:

root@geneweb:~ # freebsd-version ; uname -a
12.4-RELEASE-p9
FreeBSD geneweb 12.4-RELEASE-p9 FreeBSD 12.4-RELEASE-p9 GENERIC  amd64

root@geneweb:~ # zpool import
    pool: bootpool
      id: 16038363864467226171
   state: ONLINE
  action: The pool can be imported using its name or numeric identifier.
  config:

	bootpool    ONLINE
	  ada0s1a   ONLINE


Why?


I have seen the defect since FreeBSD-12.1-RELEASE-amd64.  I do not know 
if it was present earlier.


How do I arrange for bootpool to be imported automatically at boot?


David