Creating a Boot Environment From a Source Other Than the Currently Running System

If you have an existing ZFS root pool or UFS boot environment that is not currently used as the active boot environment, you can use the following example to create a new ZFS boot environment from this boot environment. After the new ZFS boot environment is created, this new boot environment can be upgraded and activated at your convenience.

If you are creating a boot environment from a source other than the currently running system, you must use the lucreate command with the -s option. The -s option works the same as for a UFS file system. The -s option provides the path to the alternate root (/) file system. This alternate root (/) file system is the source for the creation of the new ZFS root pool. The alternate root can be either a UFS (/) root file system or a ZFS root pool. The copy process might take time, depending on your system.

The following example shows how the -s option is used when creating a boot environment on another ZFS root pool.

Example 12-4 How to Create a Boot Environment From a Source Other Than the Currently Running System

The following command creates a new ZFS root pool from an existing ZFS root pool. The -n option assigns the name to the boot environment to be created, new-zfsBE. The -s option specifies the boot environment, rpool3, to be used as the source of the copy instead of the currently running boot environment. The -p option specifies to place the new boot environment in rpool2.

# lucreate -n new-zfsBE -s rpool3 -p rpool2
# lustatus
boot environment   Is        Active  Active     Can        Copy 
Name               Complete  Now     OnReboot   Delete     Status 
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
zfsBE               yes      yes     yes        no         - 
zfsBE2              yes      no      no         yes        -
zfsBE3              yes      no      no         yes        -
new-zfsBE           yes      no      no         yes        -

# zfs list
NAME                               USED  AVAIL  REFER  MOUNTPOINT
rpool                                 11.4G  2.95G    31K  /rpool
rpool/ROOT                            4.34G  2.95G    31K  legacy
rpool/ROOT/new-zfsBE                  4.34G  2.95G  4.34G  /
rpool/dump                            2.06G  5.02G    16K  -
rpool/swap                            5.04G  7.99G    16K  -

You can now upgrade and activate the new boot environment.