pfSense Boot Environment Improvements (ZFS / bectl)¶

Summary¶

Boot environment management lacks safeguards and visibility, leading to unbootable systems and difficult recovery.

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Feature 1 — Auto-Unmount Mounted Boot Environments¶

Request:
Automatically unmount any BE mounted via bectl mount during shutdown/reboot.

Alternative:
Warn user before reboot if any BE is still mounted.

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Feature 2 — Ensure Standalone /boot per BE¶

Request:
During BE creation or upgrade, copy required boot files into the new dataset:

• /boot/lua/
• /boot/kernel/
• loader.conf
• loader.conf.lua

Reason:
Bootloader cannot access inherited ZFS clone data.

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Feature 3 — Enforce Kernel/Module Consistency¶

Request:
Ensure each BE contains a complete, version-matched kernel and module set.

Reason:
Prevent mismatched linker.hints and inherited modules.

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Feature 4 — Fix loader.conf.lua Handling¶

Request:
Remove:

loader_conf_files="/boot/loader.conf.lua" 

Lua configs should only be handled by Lua-capable loader.

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Feature 5 — Improve bectl mount Visibility¶

Request:
Provide one of the following:

• Option like bectl mount --full
• Documentation explaining clone limitations
• GUI warning for clone-based BEs

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Feature 6 — Boot Environment Health Checks¶

Request:
Before activation, verify required files exist:

• /boot/lua/loader.lua
• /boot/kernel/kernel

Enhancement:
Display warnings in GUI for incomplete BEs.

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Goal¶

Prevent unbootable environments and reduce need for manual recovery by improving BE reliability and visibility.