ZFS Storage

Configure Podman to use ZFS on FreeBSD for optimal container storage.

Benefits

Understanding Storage Separation

When running containers on FreeBSD, it is essential to distinguish between engine storage and application data:

1. Podman Engine Storage (/var/db/containers/storage): Where Podman stores downloaded OCI layers, images, and jail root filesystems. Managed entirely by Podman. Never place personal configuration files or Compose directories here.
2. Persistent Application Data (/containers): Where your application configuration files (like Caddyfile), databases, and Compose files live.

1. Engine Storage (Podman Graphroot)

Create a dedicated dataset for Podman's internal image layer storage:

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# Create dataset for Podman's internal storage (adjust 'zroot' to your pool name)
zfs create zroot/podman-storage
zfs set mountpoint=/var/db/containers/storage zroot/podman-storage

Configure Podman

Edit /usr/local/etc/containers/storage.conf:

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[storage]
driver = "zfs"
runroot = "/var/run/containers/storage"
graphroot = "/var/db/containers/storage"

[storage.options.zfs]
mountopt = "nodev"

Verify Configuration

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podman info | grep -A 5 "store"

Expected output:

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graphDriverName: zfs
graphRoot: /var/db/containers/storage
graphStatus:
  Dataset: zroot/podman-storage

2. Application Data & Config Storage

Keep your container configuration and persistent volumes on a separate dataset. In Daemonless documentation, /containers is used as the standard convention, but you can place this anywhere on your filesystem:

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# Create dataset for persistent container app data
zfs create zroot/containers
zfs set mountpoint=/containers zroot/containers

# Individual apps live in subdirectories
mkdir -p /containers/caddy /containers/tautulli

# Easy ZFS snapshots before container upgrades!
zfs snapshot zroot/containers@before-upgrade

Troubleshooting

"driver zfs is not supported"

Ensure:

1. Your ZFS pool is imported and healthy
2. The graphroot directory exists and is a ZFS dataset
3. You are running Podman as root

Permission Issues

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chown -R root:wheel /var/db/containers

Reset Storage

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# Stop all containers first
podman stop -a
podman system reset