Installation¶

This guide covers various methods to install Kartoza ZFS Backup Tool.

NixOS Module (Recommended)¶

The easiest way to install on NixOS is using the provided flake module.

Step 1: Add to flake.nix¶

{
  inputs = {
    nixpkgs.url = "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable";
    zfs-backup.url = "github:kartoza/zfs-backup";
  };

  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, zfs-backup, ... }: {
    nixosConfigurations.myhost = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
      system = "x86_64-linux";
      modules = [
        # Import the module
        zfs-backup.nixosModules.default
        # Add the overlay so pkgs.zfs-backup is available
        { nixpkgs.overlays = [ zfs-backup.overlays.default ]; }

        ./configuration.nix
      ];
    };
  };
}

Step 2: Enable in configuration.nix¶

{ config, pkgs, ... }:
{
  # Enable the service (adds package to systemPackages)
  services.zfs-backup.enable = true;
}

Step 3: Rebuild¶

sudo nixos-rebuild switch

Direct Package Installation (NixOS)¶

If you don't need the module features, just add the overlay:

{
  inputs = {
    nixpkgs.url = "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable";
    zfs-backup.url = "github:kartoza/zfs-backup";
  };

  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, zfs-backup, ... }: {
    nixosConfigurations.myhost = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
      system = "x86_64-linux";
      modules = [
        { nixpkgs.overlays = [ zfs-backup.overlays.default ]; }
        ./configuration.nix
      ];
    };
  };
}

Then in configuration.nix:

{ config, pkgs, ... }:
{
  environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.zfs-backup ];
}

Run Without Installing¶

Try the tool without installing:

nix run github:kartoza/zfs-backup

Building from Source¶

Prerequisites¶

Go 1.21 or later
ZFS utilities installed
syncoid (from sanoid package)

Build Steps¶

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/kartoza/zfs-backup
cd zfs-backup

# Using Nix (recommended)
nix build
./result/bin/zfs-backup

# Or using Go directly
go build -o zfs-backup .
./zfs-backup

Using the Makefile¶

# Build
make build

# Run
make run

# Clean
make clean

# Build for all platforms
make build-all

System Dependencies¶

Ensure these are installed on your system:

Dependency	Purpose
ZFS	Core filesystem operations
syncoid	Efficient snapshot synchronization
udisks2	USB drive power management

Installing on Debian/Ubuntu¶

sudo apt install zfsutils-linux sanoid udisks2

Installing on Arch Linux¶

sudo pacman -S zfs-utils sanoid udisks2

Installing on NixOS¶

These are typically available when ZFS is enabled:

{ config, pkgs, ... }:
{
  boot.supportedFilesystems = [ "zfs" ];
  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
    sanoid
    udisks2
  ];
}

Verifying Installation¶

After installation, verify everything works:

# Check the tool runs
zfs-backup --help

# Check ZFS is available
zfs version

# Check syncoid is available
syncoid --version

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