danielb2 · July 9, 2022 16:26 · Jul 11, 2020 · Jul 11, 2020
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
@@ -113,12 +113,21 @@ mount -t ext4 /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/
 
 ```bash
 setup-disk /mnt
-dd if=/usr/share/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sda
+dd if=/usr/share/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sda # write mbr so we can boot
 ```
 
+### Enable ZFS' services:
+```bash
+rc-update add zfs-import sysinit
+rc-update add zfs-mount sysinit
+```
+Edit the `/etc/mkinitfs/mkinitfs.conf` file and append zfs module to the features parameter:
+`features="ata base ide scsi usb virtio ext4 lvm zfs"`
+
+
 ## Reboot and enjoy!
 
 ;)
 
 **NOTE**
-If you went with the optional step, be sure to disable root login after you reboot.
+If you went with the optional step, be sure to disable root login after you reboot.
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+# Setting up  Alpine Linux using ZFS with a pool that uses ZFS' native encryption capabilities.
+
+## Download 
+
+Download the **extended** release from https://www.alpinelinux.org/downloads/ as only it contains the zfs kernel mods at the time of this writing (2020.07.10)
+
+Write it to a USB and boot from it.
+
+## Initial setup
+
+Run the following:
+
+```bash
+setup-alpine
+```
+
+Answer all the questions, and hit ctrl-c when promted for what disk you'd like to use.
+
+## OPTIONAL
+
+This section is optional and it assumes internet connectivity. You may enable sshd so you can ssh into the box and copy and paste the rest of the commands into my terminal window from these instructions.
+
+Edit `/etc/ssh/sshd_config` and search for `Permit`. Change the value after `PermitRootLogin` to read `yes`
+
+save and exit to shell. Run `service sshd restart`
+
+Now you can ssh in as root. Do not forget to go back and comment this line out when you're done since it will be enabled on your resulting machine. You will be reminded again at the end of this doc.
+
+## Add needed packages: 
+```bash
+apk add zfs sfdisk e2fsprogs syslinux
+```
+
+## Create our partitions
+
+We're assuming `/dev/sda` here and in the rest of the document but you can use whatever you need to. To see a list, type: `sfdisk -l`
+
+```bash
+echo -e "/dev/sda1: start=1M,size=100M,bootable\n/dev/sda2: start=101M" | sfdisk --quiet --label dos /dev/sda
+```
+
+## Create device nodes
+
+```bash
+mdev -s
+```
+
+## Create the /boot filesystem
+
+```bash
+mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1
+```
+
+## Create the root filesystem using zfs
+
+```bash
+modprobe zfs
+zpool create -f -o ashift=12 \
+    -O acltype=posixacl -O canmount=off -O compression=lz4 \
+    -O dnodesize=auto -O normalization=formD -O relatime=on -O xattr=sa \
+    -O encryption=aes-256-gcm -O keylocation=prompt -O keyformat=passphrase \
+    -O mountpoint=/ -R /mnt \
+    rpool /dev/sda2
+ ```
+
+You will have to enter your passphrase at this point. Choose wisely, as your passphrase is most likely [the weakest link in this setup](https://gitlab.com/cryptsetup/cryptsetup/wikis/FrequentlyAskedQuestions#5-security-aspects).
+
+A few notes on the options supplied to zpool:
+
+- `ashift=12` is recommended here because many drives today have 4KiB (or larger) physical sectors, even though they present 512B logical sectors
+
+- `acltype=posixacl` enables POSIX ACLs globally
+
+- `normalization=formD` eliminates some corner cases relating to UTF-8 filename normalization. It also enables `utf8only=on`, meaning that only files with valid UTF-8 filenames will be accepted.
+
+- `xattr=sa` vastly improves the performance of extended attributes, but is Linux-only. If you care about using this pool on other OpenZFS implementation don't specify this option.
+
+After completing this, confirm that the pool has been created:
+
+\# zpool status
+
+Should return something like:
+
+```plaintext
+  pool: rpool
+ state: ONLINE
+  scan: none requested
+config:
+
+	NAME        STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
+	rpool       ONLINE       0     0     0
+	  sda2      ONLINE       0     0     0
+
+errors: No known data errors
+```
+
+## Create the required datasets and mount root
+
+```bash
+zfs create -o mountpoint=none -o canmount=off rpool/ROOT
+zfs create -o mountpoint=legacy rpool/ROOT/alpine
+mount -t zfs rpool/ROOT/alpine /mnt/
+```
+
+## Mount the `/boot` filesystem
+
+```bash
+mkdir /mnt/boot/
+mount -t ext4 /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot/
+```
+
+## Install Alpine Linux
+
+```bash
+setup-disk /mnt
+dd if=/usr/share/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sda
+```
+
+## Reboot and enjoy!
+
+;)
+
+**NOTE**
+If you went with the optional step, be sure to disable root login after you reboot.
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