libzfs: improve error message for zpool create with ENXIO#18184
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behlendorf merged 1 commit intoopenzfs:masterfrom Feb 10, 2026
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libzfs: improve error message for zpool create with ENXIO#18184behlendorf merged 1 commit intoopenzfs:masterfrom
behlendorf merged 1 commit intoopenzfs:masterfrom
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When zpool create fails because a vdev cannot be opened (ENXIO), the error falls through to zpool_standard_error() which reports the generic 'one or more devices is currently unavailable'. This is misleading when the real cause is a block size mismatch or other device open failure. Add an explicit ENXIO case in zpool_create()'s error handling to provide a more descriptive message. Closes openzfs#11087 Signed-off-by: Christos Longros <[email protected]>
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Thanks! Not for this PR, but if you'd like to improve things further another common source of frustration is nothing tells the user which device is causing the problem. One reasonable way to handle this would be to update the user code to pass an nvlist stored in zc_nvlist_dst to kernel which it can populate with more detailed error information.
zpool_import_props() already does something similar today by reporting additional pool import information in the ZPOOL_CONFIG_LOAD_INFO nvlist. Adding a ZPOOL_CONFIG_CREATE_INFO would fit in that with model, it would just need to be treated as additional optional information when available.
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When zpool create fails because a vdev cannot be opened (ENXIO), the error falls through to zpool_standard_error() which reports the generic 'one or more devices is currently unavailable'. This is misleading when the real cause is a block size mismatch or other device open failure.
Add an explicit ENXIO case in zpool_create()'s error handling to provide a more descriptive message.
A companion kernel-side fix to return ZFS_ERR_ASHIFT_MISMATCH from spa_create() (matching the existing pattern in spa_vdev_add and spa_vdev_attach) is in progress as a separate PR.
Closes #11087