OpenZFS on OS X

OpenZFS on OS X brings OpenZFS features to Apple's OS X.

The installer release of OpenZFS on OS X is ready for use by people who are willing to learn to administer ZFS from the Terminal, or who already know how to do so. It's compatible with OS X 10.6 through OS X 10.10 (Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, and Yosemite).

Support and documentation

Documentation is available on

• O3XWiki (where you are now) http://o3x.org/wiki or https://openzfsonosx.org/wiki

Support is available on

• O3X forums http://o3x.org/forum or https://openzfsonosx.org/forum

• #openzfs-osx IRC channel irc://chat.freenode.net/#openzfs-osx

To use the official release

Download the most recent installer and follow the instructions for installing the official release.

To begin testing the most recent build

Follow the instructions for installing from source.

To test without building

Development Build DMGs are added to http://lundman.net/ftp/osx.zfs/ – download the most recent signed .dmg file if you are on OS X 10.9, unsigned if you are on an earlier version of OS X. The disk image will contain built software – binaries, kernel extensions (KEXTs) and so on – that may be used with or without installation. Follow the instructions for installing a development build DMG.

These development build DMGs sometimes will not include the very most recent commits. If in doubt, please ask on IRC:

• irc://chat.freenode.net/#openzfs-osx

Suggested focus areas for testers

• Evaluating performance of various pool configurations as well as performance on older pools.

• Identifying any abnormal behavior when used with older pools.

• Finding incompatibilities with 3rd party software.

Notes

Please remember that ZFS alone is not a substitute for a good backup strategy.

If you have ZEVO or MacZFS installed

• you must uninstall that software and reboot before installing O3X (scripts for doing so are included with the O3X release download).
• you must uninstall O3X if you choose to revert to ZEVO or MacZFS - an uninstaller script for O3X is also included with the release download.