snapshot with commit message

znap -t tank/ds1/u18 -m "before wiping my boot partition"
# or
znap -m "will reinstall OS soon"

Creates a snapshot of the dataset tank/ds1/u18 and stores COMMIT_MESSAGE in a file at /opt/znap (modify the script to your liking). Be aware that the commit messages are only in one file and hence will not automatically be backed up. But they are written before the snapshot is taken, so if you snapshot the dataset where the logfile is stored, it will save the new commit message as well.

You can specify the default dataset that is used when you omit the -t flag.

log

znap log

Outputs all commit messages formatted like this:

$ ./znap.sh log
tank/ds1/u18@2005082034              swap partition instead of /swapfile.
                                     hibernate enabled but without nomodeset yet.
                                     Not yet tested.
tank/ds1/u18@2005091133@2005221155   Setup Telegram.
                                     Hibernation seems to be working perfectly.
                                     But they say nomodeset can cause performance hits.
                                     `systemctl suspend` seems to leave the screen on?

filtered log

You can apply regex search to the first line of every entry. That includes both columns.

$ ./znap.sh log u18
tank/ds1/u18@2005082034              swap partition instead of /swapfile.
                                     hibernate enabled but without nomodeset yet.
                                     Not yet tested.
tank/ds1/u18@2005091133@2005221155   Setup Telegram.
                                     Hibernation seems to be working perfectly.
                                     But they say nomodeset can cause performance hits.
                                     `systemctl suspend` seems to leave the screen on?

$ ./znap.sh log Telegram
tank/ds1/u18@2005091133@2005221155   Setup Telegram.
                                     Hibernation seems to be working perfectly.
                                     But they say nomodeset can cause performance hits.
      
$ ./znap.sh log @200508
tank/ds1/u18@2005082034              swap partition instead of /swapfile.
                                     hibernate enabled but without nomodeset yet.
                                     Not yet tested.

To search for only tank but not for tank/ds1, you would for example perform a znap log tank@.

Why?

Because I really don't want to type the date command again and again. And znap keeps track of commit messages in a file. I sync that file to my desktop to keep track of the changes I made on my laptop.

Are there no other tools that do this?

I don't know. I'm a beginner with ZFS.

Installation

1. save znap.sh as znap in /opt/znap/ (or wherever you'd like to have it)

2. If you want to, modify other settings variables in the script. E.g. specify where the logfile is stored by modifying the variable the variable ZNAPLOGFILEDIR. Or the SUFFIX.

3. chmod +x /opt/znap/znap

4. Add the following line to your ~/.bashrc

   alias znap='sudo /opt/opt/znap'