This section describes how to use the zfs send –I and –R options to send and receive more complex snapshot streams.
Keep the following points in mind when sending and receiving complex ZFS snapshot streams:
Use the zfs send –I option to send all incremental streams from one snapshot to a cumulative snapshot. Or, use this option to send an incremental stream from the original snapshot to create a clone. The original snapshot must already exist on the receiving side to accept the incremental stream.
Use the zfs send –R option to send a replication stream of all descendent file systems. When the replication stream is received, all properties, snapshots, descendent file systems, and clones are preserved.
When using the zfs send –r option without the –c option and when using the zfs send –R option stream packages omit the origin of clones in some circumstances. For more information, see Identifying ZFS Snapshot Streams.
Use both options to send an incremental replication stream.
Changes to properties are preserved, as are snapshot and file system rename and destroy operations are preserved.
If zfs recv –F is not specified when receiving the replication stream, dataset destroy operations are ignored. The zfs recv –F syntax in this case also retains its rollback if necessary meaning.
As with other (non zfs send –R) –i or –I cases, if –I is used, all snapshots between snapA and snapD are sent. If –i is used, only snapD (for all descendents) are sent.
To receive any of these new types of zfs send streams, the receiving system must be running a software version capable of sending them. The stream version is incremented.
However, you can access streams from older pool versions by using a newer software version. For example, you can send and receive streams created with the newer options to and from a version 3 pool. But, you must be running recent software to receive a stream sent with the newer options.
A group of incremental snapshots can be combined into one snapshot by using the zfs send –I option. For example:
# zfs send -I pool/fs@snapA pool/fs@snapD > /snaps/fs@all-I
Then, you would remove snapB, snapC, and snapD.
# zfs destroy pool/fs@snapB # zfs destroy pool/fs@snapC # zfs destroy pool/fs@snapD
To receive the combined snapshot, you would use the following command.
# zfs receive -d -F pool/fs < /snaps/fs@all-I # zfs list NAME USED AVAIL REFER MOUNTPOINT pool 428K 16.5G 20K /pool pool/fs 71K 16.5G 21K /pool/fs pool/fs@snapA 16K - 18.5K - pool/fs@snapB 17K - 20K - pool/fs@snapC 17K - 20.5K - pool/fs@snapD 0 - 21K -
You can also use the zfs send –I command to combine a snapshot and a clone snapshot to create a combined dataset. For example:
# zfs create pool/fs # zfs snapshot pool/fs@snap1 # zfs clone pool/fs@snap1 pool/clone # zfs snapshot pool/clone@snapA # zfs send -I pool/fs@snap1 pool/clone@snapA > /snaps/fsclonesnap-I # zfs destroy pool/clone@snapA # zfs destroy pool/clone # zfs receive -F pool/clone < /snaps/fsclonesnap-I
You can use the zfs send –R command to replicate a ZFS file system and all descendent file systems, up to the named snapshot. When this stream is received, all properties, snapshots, descendent file systems, and clones are preserved.
In the following example, snapshots are created for user file systems. One replication stream is created for all user snapshots. Next, the original file systems and snapshots are destroyed and then recovered.
# zfs snapshot -r users@today # zfs list NAME USED AVAIL REFER MOUNTPOINT users 187K 33.2G 22K /users users@today 0 - 22K - users/user1 18K 33.2G 18K /users/user1 users/user1@today 0 - 18K - users/user2 18K 33.2G 18K /users/user2 users/user2@today 0 - 18K - users/user3 18K 33.2G 18K /users/user3 users/user3@today 0 - 18K - # zfs send -R users@today > /snaps/users-R # zfs destroy -r users # zfs receive -F -d users < /snaps/users-R # zfs list NAME USED AVAIL REFER MOUNTPOINT users 196K 33.2G 22K /users users@today 0 - 22K - users/user1 18K 33.2G 18K /users/user1 users/user1@today 0 - 18K - users/user2 18K 33.2G 18K /users/user2 users/user2@today 0 - 18K - users/user3 18K 33.2G 18K /users/user3 users/user3@today 0 - 18K -
In the following example, the zfs send –R command was used to replicate the users file system and its descendents, and to send the replicated stream to another pool, users2.
# zfs create users2 mirror c0t1d0 c1t1d0 # zfs receive -F -d users2 < /snaps/users-R # zfs list NAME USED AVAIL REFER MOUNTPOINT users 224K 33.2G 22K /users users@today 0 - 22K - users/user1 33K 33.2G 18K /users/user1 users/user1@today 15K - 18K - users/user2 18K 33.2G 18K /users/user2 users/user2@today 0 - 18K - users/user3 18K 33.2G 18K /users/user3 users/user3@today 0 - 18K - users2 188K 16.5G 22K /users2 users2@today 0 - 22K - users2/user1 18K 16.5G 18K /users2/user1 users2/user1@today 0 - 18K - users2/user2 18K 16.5G 18K /users2/user2 users2/user2@today 0 - 18K - users2/user3 18K 16.5G 18K /users2/user3 users2/user3@today 0 - 18K -