Moving ZFS partitions/drives between systems

[corey_james]

I just had to move a ZFS partition from one machine to another, just thought i'd write a quick howto on this topic:

1. Plug in the drive to the new system
2. Tell ZFS to go searching for all available ZFS partitions

# zpool import

Your new drive should show up in the import list.
3. Import the partition using it's existing name

# zpool import <id | pool>

Import with a new pool name

# zpool import <id | pool > new_pool_name

Import with a new pool name to a different mount point

# zpool import -R /absolute/path/to/new/root <id | pool > new_pool_name

3. run a scrub to make sure your ZFS partition is consistent

# zfs scrub <pool>

[roundkat]

Very Helpful

rk

[phoenix]

To make things run smoothly, you should run # zpool export on the original system. That will make it easier to import on the new system.