EDIT: 2026-01-14: Removed me OpenZFS Repo, since the official Proxmox repo has 2.4.0 on it. Updated the instructions to compile current, or past kernels, with instructions on how to update the OpenZFS to 2.4.0 on past kernel versions.
NOTE: This is for Testing proposes only. IT is not official Proxmox, but it is as close to the official way as possible.
Proxmox has Kernel 6.17.9-1-pve in their
GIT repo, but it isn't on any of there package repo's, not even the pve-test as of now. So for OpenZFS 2.4.0, you have 2 options
- Compile the current released 6.17.4-2-pve and add OpenZFS support. -- This will keep all your current hardware support.
- Compile the next version 6.17.9-1-pve, which has some new hardware support and a bunch of bug fixes in the kernel. But the Proxmox team is probably testing, and will release when they deem it stable.
So to make the compile proxmox kernel, you will need to disable secure boot in your bios, as the signing keys for the kernel are locked down, so this does not compile the signed kernel.
Step 1:
Make a Debian 13 container with 50Gig of storage, at least 4 gigs of ram, and 2 gigs of swap, and give it as many cores as you can handle, as it will use all of them.
Then on Proxmox, I recommend that you make a shared folder, and then map it to your container. Change
CONTAINERID to match your container number:
Bash:
mkdir -p /shared/deb
chmod 777 /shared/deb
CONTAINERID=121
pct set $CONTAINERID -mp0 /shared/deb,mp=/shared/deb
Then ssh into your Debian 13 container, or do a
pct enter $CONTAINERID.
Step 2:
Setup the correct Repositories:
Bash:
cat > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.sources << 'EOL'
Types: deb deb-src
URIs: http://deb.debian.org/debian
Suites: trixie trixie-updates
Components: contrib main
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg
Types: deb
URIs: http://security.debian.org
Suites: trixie-security
Components: contrib main
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg
EOL
cat > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/proxmox.sources << 'EOL'
Types: deb
URIs: http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve
Suites: trixie
Components: pve-no-subscription
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/proxmox-archive-keyring.gpg
Types: deb
URIs: http://download.proxmox.com/debian/pve
Suites: trixie
Components: pve-test
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/proxmox-archive-keyring.gpg
EOL
wget https://enterprise.proxmox.com/debian/proxmox-archive-keyring-trixie.gpg -O /usr/share/keyrings/proxmox-archive-keyring.gpg
Step 3:
Update and install needed tools:
Bash:
apt update && apt upgrade
apt install devscripts sudo
Clone the Proxmox Kernel (Latest):
Bash:
git clone git://git.proxmox.com/git/pve-kernel.git
cd pve-kernel
Step 4:
If you are compiling the latest version of the Kernel on the Proxmox GIT (Option 2), Skip this step!!
If you are compiling an older version of the kernel, then run this:
Bash:
# Pick one of these for an older version of the pve Kernel. You can browse the commits for other kernel versions.
git checkout f69902f1a94f47ba64146751939ce82f0efff077 # For 6.14.11-3-pve
git chechout fba0ef932bdb87a2acc5ffb0466bcf0ce81bf98a # For 6.17.4-1-pve
git checkout 6e6197515ceed69bdbaf63a004acd70531a6665d # For 6.17.4-2-pve
# This updated the OpenZFS to 2.4.0 for kernels older than 6.17.9-1-pve.
git submodule update --init submodules/zfsonlinux
cd submodules/zfsonlinux/
git checkout 58b05906972f7f89967c8b6556c15353edda0991
cd ../../
git add -A
Step 5:
Now we install the Dependencies:
Bash:
mk-build-deps -ir submodules/zfsonlinux/debian/control
git submodule update --init --recursive
make build-dir-fresh
mk-build-deps -ir proxmox-kernel-*/debian/control
Step 6:
Now we build the Kernel and move the deb's to the shared folder after it finishes. You may want to grab something to eat, this will take a while.
Code:
make deb && mv *.deb /shared/deb/
Step 7:
Now we need to compile the OpenZFS tools to update them, and move the debs.
Bash:
cd submodules/zfsonlinux/
make deb && mv *.deb /shared/deb/
rm /shared/deb/*dbgsym*
Step 8:
Install the Kernel and OpenZFS. On your Proxmox Server, run the following to update the Kernel and openzfs:
Code:
dpkg --remove --force-depends libzfs6linux
dpkg --remove --force-depends libzpool6linux
apt install /shared/deb/{libnvpair3linux,libzfs7linux,libzpool7linux,libuutil3linux,zfs-initramfs,zfs-zed,zfsutils-linux}*.deb /shared/deb/proxmox-{headers,kernel}-6.17.*-pve_6.17.*_amd64.deb
# If you compiled a specific kernel, you will want to hold it here, or apt will want to update it with the official version that does not have OpenZFS 2.4.0 in it. Otherwise, skip this, and when the current curnel is puclicly released, it will update to their compiled version.
apt-mark hold proxmox-(headers,kernel)-[Current Version here]
Step 9: Finished!
Reboot! You will have a working OpenZFS 2.4.0. You should see this when you run
zfs --version, or
zpool --version:
Bash:
root@proxmox:~# zfs --version
zfs-2.4.0-pve1
zfs-kmod-2.4.0-pve1
root@proxmox:~# zpool --version
zfs-2.4.0-pve1
zfs-kmod-2.4.0-pve1
