Proxmox ZFS built-in kernel builder:

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Containerized build system for kernels that support ZFS by default

I've updated this repo to build kernel v6 using Ubuntu 24.04. They're a good match for Proxmox, since Proxmox tracks Ubuntu's kernels closely: The two are identical except for the name and a few patches linked below.

I've included a .config file from zen kernel on Arch in build dir: if you want to use your own .config, replace it before building, or pull your current config from /usr/lib/modules/$(uname -r)/.config or zcat /proc/config.gz > .config (even works inside build container).

Codebase for Ubuntu/Proxmox PVE kernel: https://github.com/proxmox/pve-kernel See (specifically) patches: https://github.com/proxmox/pve-kernel/tree/master/patches/kernel

This build system I've created is entirely encapsulated in a docker container, so users don't have to install the plethora of dependencies required to build a kernel, and instead only need to install Docker (Podman, Nerdctl, etc.) If you'd rather run the image by itself, without downloading the rest of the build environment, the image is available from:

docker://averyfreeman/proxmox-zfs-kernel-builder

However, due to their read-only nature, customization not possible using image alone. You can, however, still use your own .config file, or whatever else could be referenced through the build folder (right now, .config is all that's supported).

  if you have suggestions, please submit a PR.

This is a simple project with a singular purpose:

to build a kernel that supports the ZFS filesystem without any additional configuration

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The stability of zfs as an in-tree module

• compiles zfs modules into kernel
• renders zfs-initramfs, zfs-dracut, zfs-dkms packages unnecessary
• when using this kernel, only need zfs-utils package
• build specified kernel (updated for v6.9+)
• Mainline build environment, using typical .config & .patch files

Kernel tested with Ubuntu only

To run, simply build the Dockerfile:

$ docker build . -t ubuntu-zfs-kernel

and then run the container with $KERNEL_VERSION and $ZFS_VERSION

Example:

$ ./container_run.sh $KERNEL_VERSION $ZFS_VERSION

The above two arguments, $KERNEL_VERSION and $ZFS_VERSION are required.

Each build cycle creates deb packages (by default), along with .tar files.

You can add a 3rd argument to specify what kind of packages you want to build: The options are deb, tar and rpm (tar builds tar-zst, but unfortunately resulting packages don't appear to be compatible with Arch Linux)

Do note: The kernel config process will require some user intervention - simply hitting enter for all questions should be fine if you're in a hurry.

Resources:

Find the versions you'd like to use with the builder from their source repositories:

• Latest kernel tags: https://github.com/torvalds/linux
• Latest zfs tags: https://github.com/openzfs/zfs

Last updated 20240628