How to: Wipe free space in ZFS

[Arwen]

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How to: Wipe free space in ZFS - Clearing a pool's free space

Occasionally the subject comes up on how to wipe free space in ZFS. Read the whole resource before attempting the procedure.

ZFS does not include any built in method to clear free space. However, since ZFS is a COW, Copy On Write, file system, this means prior data can hang around in un-allocated space for a long time, depending on the size of the pool. ZFS does have native encryption, which if used, when the user wants to wipe it, simply destroy the dataset and erase any keys or...

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