System Information

Distribution:           Debian (armbian)

Kernel Version:      6.1.115-vendor-rk35xx

OpenZFS Version:  2.3.5

 

The kernel module does load.

# zfs -V
zfs-2.3.5-2~bpo13+1
zfs-kmod-2.3.5-2~bpo13+1

 

# zfs version
Failed to initialize the libzfs library.

 

Note: 

To keep this post short, I only pasted the errors from the trace below.

 

# strace zfs version

prctl(PR_CAPBSET_READ, 0x30 /* CAP_??? */) = -1 EINVAL (Invalid argument)
prctl(PR_CAPBSET_READ, CAP_CHECKPOINT_RESTORE) = 1
prctl(PR_CAPBSET_READ, 0x2c /* CAP_??? */) = -1 EINVAL (Invalid argument)
prctl(PR_CAPBSET_READ, 0x2a /* CAP_??? */) = -1 EINVAL (Invalid argument)
prctl(PR_CAPBSET_READ, 0x29 /* CAP_??? */) = -1 EINVAL (Invalid argument)

openat(AT_FDCWD, "/dev/zfs", O_RDWR|O_EXCL|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENODEV (No such device)
                               
openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en_US.UTF-8/LC_MESSAGES/zfs-linux-user.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en_US.utf8/LC_MESSAGES/zfs-linux-user.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en_US/LC_MESSAGES/zfs-linux-user.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en.UTF-8/LC_MESSAGES/zfs-linux-user.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en.utf8/LC_MESSAGES/zfs-linux-user.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/zfs-linux-user.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
write(2, "Failed to initialize the libzfs "..., 41Failed to initialize the libzfs library.
) = 41
exit_group(1)                           = ?
+++ exited with 1 +++

 

The /dev/zfs file does exist

# ll /dev/zfs
crw-rw-rw- 1 root root 10, 249 Jan  9 16:48 /dev/zfs

 

In addition the trace also contains the following, confirming the existence of the file

faccessat(AT_FDCWD, "/dev/zfs", F_OK)   = 0

 

zpool also has the same issue.

Workaround solution: downgrade to 2.3.2

apt install zfs-dkms=2.3.2-2 zfsutils-linux=2.3.2-2 libzpool6linux=2.3.2-2 libzfs6linux=2.3.2-2 libuutil3linux=2.3.2-2 libnvpair3linux=2.3.2-2
# block unwanted upgrade: apt-mark hold zfs-dkms=2.3.2-2 zfsutils-linux=2.3.2-2 libzpool6linux=2.3.2-2 libzfs6linux=2.3.2-2 libuutil3linux=2.3.2-2 libnvpair3linux=2.3.2-2

 

Edited January 11Jan 11 by PyG

On 1/10/2026 at 2:48 AM, Matt W. said:

Kernel Version:      6.1.115-vendor-rk35xx

It is not recommended to match ZFS with vendor kernel(s). In general. Use mainline based current / edge kernels. Here v6.18.y we also might not have suitable ZFS yet as the kernel is too fresh. But if not today, it will be avail within days / weeks.