ZFS Test Suite moved to a separate zfs-tests package

[kerberiel]

Note

Published and verified on September 4, 2026. PR #660 has been merged, and the signed production repository contains zfs-utils 2.4.4-2 and zfs-tests 2.4.4-2. See the production follow-up.

The original pre-publication announcement follows below.

ArchZFS is preparing a packaging change for the next repository update, proposed in PR #660.

What is changing

The upstream ZFS Test Suite currently bundled in zfs-utils will move into a separate optional package named zfs-tests.

The new package will contain /usr/share/zfs/zfs-tests, its test runner and runfiles, and the associated top-level test scripts. Ordinary utilities, libraries, services, ZED integration, compatibility data, and mkinitcpio/dracut support remain in zfs-utils. Utilities such as ztest, zinject, zhack, and raidz_test also remain there.

This packaging change is not intended to alter the ZFS on-disk format, pool compatibility, kernel modules, or normal root-on-ZFS operation.

Do I need to do anything?

Most users do not need to take any action. The archzfs-linux package group will continue to install zfs-utils and will not pull in zfs-tests.

If you directly run the ZFS Test Suite or use files under /usr/share/zfs/zfs-tests, add the new package during your first full upgrade after it is published:

pacman -Syu zfs-tests

The suite is destructive test infrastructure intended for disposable test systems, not ordinary installations.

Automation that assumes those files belong to zfs-utils, or that the zfs-utils package base emits only one non-debug archive, may need adjustment.

Why make this change?

The split removes approximately 35 MiB of specialized test infrastructure from zfs-utils and keeps the newly declared test dependency set out of ordinary installations. The same change declares the actual runtime dependencies of zfs-utils and pins its current glibc-backtrace build outcome with --without-libunwind.

Validation and timing

Validation has gone substantially beyond confirming that the packages build. It includes clean-chroot builds, exact archive partition and dependency inspection, fresh Pacman transactions, module and initramfs verification, bounded scratch-pool I/O, selected safe ZTS cases, and successful root-on-ZFS boot validation in a disposable QEMU system.

PR CI and inspection of the resulting unsigned testing release have also passed. The testing database contains all expected package outputs and relationships. The exact zfs-utils and zfs-tests artifacts install correctly through Pacman with the tested zfs-dkms provider, and the three utility-base payloads match the locally runtime-tested artifacts byte-for-byte.

The full ZTS, destructive ZTS groups, and physical-hardware testing remain outside this change's validation scope. Those limitations and other residual risks are documented in the pull request.

We intend to merge after remaining review is complete. Given the expected transparency for ordinary users and the validation already performed, there is no fixed pre-merge announcement period. Please raise any concrete compatibility concern in this discussion or on the pull request.

We will update this announcement after the production packages have been published and verified.

[kerberiel]

Published and verified

PR #660 has been merged. The signed production repository now contains zfs-utils 2.4.4-2 and the new optional zfs-tests 2.4.4-2 package.

Most users need no action beyond their normal full upgrade. The archzfs-linux package group continues to install zfs-utils without installing zfs-tests, libaio, ksh, or libunwind.

Users and automation that directly use the upstream ZFS Test Suite should install the new package:

pacman -Syu zfs-tests

The production packages, repository databases, and detached signatures were verified against the ArchZFS release key. Fresh installations, ordinary upgrades from zfs-utils 2.4.4-1, split upgrades retaining the test suite, package removal, dependency relationships, file ownership, and the archzfs-linux group transaction were also checked successfully in disposable environments.

The previously stated validation limits remain: full and destructive ZTS runs and physical-hardware testing were not performed.

Release: https://github.com/archzfs/archzfs/releases/tag/experimental

Please report any packaging, upgrade, or automation problems here or in the repository issue tracker.