linux-filesystem-snapshots
Installation
SKILL.md
Filesystem Snapshots (LVM / ZFS / Btrfs)
Distro support
LVM snapshots are identical on both families (block-level COW under any filesystem). Btrfs is the Fedora default and present on Debian/Ubuntu; ZFS is out-of-tree on Linux and needs DKMS packages from different repos per family. Body uses Debian/Ubuntu where it differs; the RHEL family (Fedora, RHEL, CentOS Stream, Rocky, Alma, Oracle) column gives equivalents.
| Concept | Debian/Ubuntu | RHEL family |
|---|---|---|
| LVM tools | apt install lvm2 |
dnf install lvm2 |
LVM snapshot (lvcreate -s) |
identical | identical |
| Btrfs tools | apt install btrfs-progs |
preinstalled on Fedora (default FS); dnf install btrfs-progs elsewhere |
| Btrfs default root | optional | Fedora Workstation default; RHEL ships XFS root |
| ZFS install | apt install zfsutils-linux |
dnf install zfs (OpenZFS repo + DKMS; not in base RHEL) |
| ZFS in base distro | universe (Ubuntu) | not shipped (CDDL/GPL licence conflict) |
| Default root FS otherwise | usually ext4 |
usually xfs (no native snapshots → use LVM) |