Determining Available Storage Pools to Import

Once the pool has been removed from the system (either through export or by forcefully removing the devices), attach the devices to the target system. Although ZFS can handle some situations in which only a portion of the devices is available, all devices within the pool must be moved between the systems. The devices do not necessarily have to be attached under the same device name. ZFS detects any moved or renamed devices, and adjusts the configuration appropriately. To discover available pools, run the zpool import command with no options. For example:

# zpool import
  pool: tank
    id: 3778921145927357706
 state: ONLINE
action: The pool can be imported using its name or numeric identifier.
config:

        tank        ONLINE
          mirror    ONLINE
            c1t0d0  ONLINE
            c1t1d0  ONLINE

In this example, the pool tank is available to be imported on the target system. Each pool is identified by a name as well as a unique numeric identifier. If multiple pools available to import have the same name, you can use the numeric identifier to distinguish between them.

Similar to the zpool status command, the zpool import command refers to a knowledge article available on the web with the most up-to-date information regarding repair procedures for a problem that is preventing a pool from being imported. In this case, the user can force the pool to be imported. However, importing a pool that is currently in use by another system over a storage network can result in data corruption and panics as both systems attempt to write to the same storage. If some devices in the pool are not available but enough redundancy is available to have a usable pool, the pool appears in the DEGRADED state. For example:

# zpool import
  pool: tank
    id: 3778921145927357706
 state: DEGRADED
status: One or more devices are missing from the system.
action: The pool can be imported despite missing or damaged devices.  The
        fault tolerance of the pool may be compromised if imported.
   see: http://www.sun.com/msg/ZFS-8000-2Q
config:

        tank         DEGRADED
          mirror     DEGRADED
            c1t0d0   UNAVAIL   cannot open
            c1t1d0   ONLINE

In this example, the first disk is damaged or missing, though you can still import the pool because the mirrored data is still accessible. If too many faulted or missing devices are present, the pool cannot be imported. For example:

# zpool import
  pool: dozer
    id: 12090808386336829175
 state: FAULTED
action: The pool cannot be imported. Attach the missing
        devices and try again.
   see: http://www.sun.com/msg/ZFS-8000-6X
config:
        raidz               FAULTED
          c1t0d0    ONLINE
          c1t1d0    FAULTED
          c1t2d0    ONLINE
          c1t3d0    FAULTED

In this example, two disks are missing from a RAID-Z virtual device, which means that sufficient redundant data is not available to reconstruct the pool. In some cases, not enough devices are present to determine the complete configuration. In this case, ZFS doesn't know what other devices were part of the pool, though ZFS does report as much information as possible about the situation. For example:

# zpool import
pool: dozer
    id: 12090808386336829175
 state: FAULTED
status: One or more devices are missing from the system.
action: The pool cannot be imported. Attach the missing
        devices and try again.
   see: http://www.sun.com/msg/ZFS-8000-6X
config:
        dozer          FAULTED   missing device
          raidz       ONLINE
            c1t0d0    ONLINE
            c1t1d0    ONLINE
            c1t2d0    ONLINE
            c1t3d0    ONLINE
        Additional devices are known to be part of this pool, though their
        exact configuration cannot be determined.