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Packaging

This guide covers installing zfs-backup using various package managers and building packages from source.

Pre-built Binaries

The easiest installation method is downloading pre-built binaries from the releases page.

curl -L https://github.com/timlinux/zfs-backup/releases/latest/download/zfs-backup-linux-amd64 -o zfs-backup
chmod +x zfs-backup
sudo mv zfs-backup /usr/local/bin/

curl -L https://github.com/timlinux/zfs-backup/releases/latest/download/zfs-backup-linux-arm64 -o zfs-backup
chmod +x zfs-backup
sudo mv zfs-backup /usr/local/bin/

curl -L https://github.com/timlinux/zfs-backup/releases/latest/download/zfs-backup-darwin-amd64 -o zfs-backup
chmod +x zfs-backup
sudo mv zfs-backup /usr/local/bin/

curl -L https://github.com/timlinux/zfs-backup/releases/latest/download/zfs-backup-darwin-arm64 -o zfs-backup
chmod +x zfs-backup
sudo mv zfs-backup /usr/local/bin/

Verifying Downloads

curl -L https://github.com/timlinux/zfs-backup/releases/latest/download/checksums-sha256.txt -o checksums.txt
sha256sum -c checksums.txt --ignore-missing

NixOS / Nix

Run directly without installing:

nix run github:timlinux/zfs-backup

Install to your profile:

nix profile install github:timlinux/zfs-backup

NixOS Module

Add to your flake.nix:

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

  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, zfs-backup }: {
    nixosConfigurations.myhost = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
      modules = [
        zfs-backup.nixosModules.default
        {
          programs.zfs-backup.enable = true;
        }
      ];
    };
  };
}

Arch Linux (AUR)

Using an AUR Helper

yay -S zfs-backup
# or
paru -S zfs-backup

Manual Build

git clone https://github.com/timlinux/zfs-backup.git
cd zfs-backup/packaging/aur
makepkg -si

Debian / Ubuntu

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/timlinux/zfs-backup.git
cd zfs-backup

# Copy debian packaging files
mkdir -p debian
cp packaging/deb/* debian/

# Build the package
dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc -b

# Install
sudo dpkg -i ../zfs-backup_*.deb
sudo apt-get install -f  # Install dependencies

Dependencies

sudo apt-get install zfsutils-linux sanoid udisks2

Fedora / RHEL / CentOS

Build RPM

# Install build dependencies
sudo dnf install golang rpm-build

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/timlinux/zfs-backup.git
cd zfs-backup

# Create source tarball
tar czf zfs-backup-1.2.0.tar.gz --transform 's,^,zfs-backup-1.2.0/,' \
    *.go go.mod go.sum vendor/ LICENSE README.md

# Build RPM
rpmbuild -tb zfs-backup-1.2.0.tar.gz

# Install
sudo rpm -i ~/rpmbuild/RPMS/x86_64/zfs-backup-*.rpm

Dependencies

sudo dnf install zfs sanoid udisks2

Snap

cd packaging/snap
snapcraft
sudo snap install zfs-backup_*.snap --classic --dangerous

Classic Confinement

ZFS backup requires classic confinement to access block devices and ZFS commands.

Flatpak

Not Recommended

Flatpak sandboxing is not ideal for ZFS tools which need direct access to block devices and kernel modules. Consider using native packages instead.

cd packaging/flatpak
flatpak-builder --user --install build com.kartoza.ZfsBackup.yml
flatpak run com.kartoza.ZfsBackup

Building from Source

Prerequisites

  • Go 1.22 or later
  • ZFS utilities
  • syncoid (from sanoid)

Build

git clone https://github.com/timlinux/zfs-backup.git
cd zfs-backup
go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o zfs-backup .
sudo mv zfs-backup /usr/local/bin/

Dependencies Summary

Dependency Required Purpose
zfs/zpool Yes ZFS filesystem commands
syncoid Yes Efficient incremental backups
udisks2 Recommended USB drive power management

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