zfs-bookmark · shipping · also OpenZFS bookmark

ZFS bookmark

A ZFS bookmark is a snapshot-history reference that can anchor an incremental send without exposing the snapshot's file contents.

A bookmark survives removal of its source snapshot. It cannot be read or cloned as that snapshot can. [1] Creating one requires the bookmarks pool feature. [2]

Relations

related

snapshot, incremental-backup, zfs-receive-resume-token

Limitations

• For an ordinary incremental receive, the destination's most recent snapshot must match the stream's source snapshot. [3]

Citations

1. OpenZFS v2.3: zfsconcepts(7), bookmarks and snapshots (accessed 2026-10-18)
2. OpenZFS v2.3: zfs-bookmark(8) (accessed 2026-10-18)
3. OpenZFS v2.3: zfs-receive(8), incremental and raw receives (accessed 2026-10-18)

Further reading

4. Hesela: Snapshots and backups: which failures can you recover from? (accessed 2026-10-18)

JSON: /data/terms/zfs-bookmark.json