Devices Actively Being Used

When you create ZFS pools on specific devices, ZFS first determines if those devices are in use either by ZFS itself or some other part of the operating system. If the devices are in use, then appropriate error messages are displayed.

You must manually correct the errors reported by the following messages before attempting to create the pool again.

Mounted file system

The disk contains a file system that is currently mounted. To correct this error, use the umount command.

File system in /etc/vfstab

The disk contains a file system that is listed in the /etc/vfstab file but the file system is not currently mounted. To correct this error, remove or comment out the line in the /etc/vfstab file.

Dedicated dump device

The disk is in use as the dedicated dump device for the system. To correct this error, use the dumpadm command.

Part of a ZFS pool

The disk or file is part of an active ZFS storage pool. To correct this error, use the zpool destroy command to destroy the other pool provided that the pool is no longer needed. If that pool is still needed, use the zpool detach command to detach the disk from that pool. You can detach a disk only from a mirrored storage pool.

The following in-use checks serve as helpful warnings. You can override these warnings by using the -f option to create the pool:

Contains a file system

The disk contains a known file system but it is not mounted or being used.

Part of volume

The disk is part of a Solaris Volume Manager volume.

Part of exported ZFS pool

The disk is part of a storage pool that has been exported or manually removed from a system. In the latter case, the pool is reported as potentially active because the disk might be a network-attached drive in use by another system. Be cautious when overriding a potentially active pool.