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Tools & Commands

30+ tools that make ZFS and Linux feel like they were always meant to work this way.

Every kldload install ships a complete toolbox — short, memorable commands that wrap ZFS, package management, boot environments, and system diagnostics into something you can actually use without reading a man page every time. These work identically on Debian and RHEL. Same command, same output, any distro.

Everyday tools

These are the commands you'll use most. Short names, no flags to memorize, sensible defaults.

kst
System status at a glance. Pool health, dataset usage, compression ratios, snapshot counts, service status, memory, uptime — one screen, everything you need.
ksnap
Snapshot management. ksnap snapshots everything. ksnap list shows all snapshots. ksnap rollback /home rolls back. Simple.
kclone
Instant copy-on-write clones. kclone /home/alice /home/alice-backup — takes milliseconds, uses zero extra space until data diverges.
kdf
ZFS-aware disk usage. Shows datasets with used space, available space, compression ratio, quota, and mountpoint. Color-coded.
kdir
Create a ZFS dataset instead of a directory. kdir /srv/myapp creates rpool/srv/myapp with its own snapshot and quota policies. Like mkdir but with superpowers.
kpkg
Universal package manager. Wraps apt or dnf automatically. Takes a ZFS snapshot before every install, remove, or upgrade. If a package breaks something, roll back in seconds.

Boot environment management

Boot environments are the killer feature. Snapshot your entire OS, upgrade, and if it breaks, reboot into the old version. Fifteen seconds. No reinstall.

kbe list
List all boot environments with creation date, size, and which one is active.
kbe create stable
Snapshot the current root as a named boot environment. Do this before anything risky.
kbe activate stable
Set a boot environment as the next boot target. Reboot to switch.
kbe rollback stable
Roll the root filesystem back to a previous snapshot. The nuclear option — but fast.
kupgrade
Run a full system upgrade with automatic pre-upgrade snapshot. If the upgrade breaks, kbe rollback fixes it.
krecovery
Emergency recovery. Import pools, chroot into broken systems, reinstall bootloader, export logs. Your last resort when things go wrong.

Snapshot automation

Snapshots happen automatically. You don't have to remember.

APT/DNF hook
Every package operation automatically snapshots the root filesystem first. Retention: last 10 snapshots.
/srv timer
Service data (/srv) snapshotted every 15 minutes via systemd timer. Retention: last 4.
Boot snapshot
Hourly automatic snapshot of the boot environment. Always have a known-good state.
snapshot-policy.sh
Audit your snapshot retention. Shows count vs. limit per dataset and prefix. Flags anything over-limit.

System administration

adduser alice
Automatically creates a dedicated ZFS dataset for the user's home directory. Proper ownership, proper permissions, proper isolation. Runs via adduser.local hook.
khold
Marks critical packages (kernel, ZFS, bootloader) as held so they don't auto-upgrade and break your boot chain.
kpoof
Scrub all sensitive ephemeral data from RAM. Shreds SSH keys, WireGuard keys, CA keys, temp files, drops page cache. For live sessions that shouldn't leave traces.
khelp
Built-in command reference. Every tool, every alias, every shortcut — right in your terminal.

Shell aliases

50+ aliases and functions loaded automatically. Context-aware — Kubernetes, Helm, Salt, Docker, virsh, and ZFS aliases only appear if the tool is installed.

ZFS

zls — list datasets
zsnap — list snapshots
zbe — list boot environments

Kubernetes

k, kgp, kgn, kgs — get pods/nodes/svc
kns — switch namespace
ksh <ns> <pod> — shell into pod
kshow <ns> — full namespace overview

Salt

slist — formatted fleet inventory
sping — ping all minions
shighstate — apply state

Infrastructure

vls, vstart, vstop — virsh shortcuts
dps, dcu, dcd — Docker shortcuts
ports — listening ports

Everything is a readable script Every tool is a bash script you can open and read. No compiled binaries. No vendor SDKs. If you want to know how ksnap works, cat $(which ksnap). That's the point.
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