Options Utility
Comprehensive system configuration & service management — boot options, kernel parameters,
and OviOS-specific flags
1 Overview
The options command manages all system-wide behaviors in OviOS: persistent configuration,
service control, ZFS pool tuning, networking, security, and monitoring. Most changes take effect immediately and
persist across reboots; the few exceptions say so in their description (SSH settings need
service ssh restart, arc.size and auditd.enable need a reboot). On
stateless nodes (6.2) every change is also saved to your pools automatically.
⚙️
Command Usage
Get, set, reset, or get help on any option with a single consistent syntax.
🚩
Global Flags
Silent mode, show only changed options, factory reset, and version information.
📋
9 Categories
System, ZFS, Backup, NFS, SMB, iSCSI, Security, Monitoring, and Multi-value options.
🔄
Live & Persistent
Changes are written to persistent config automatically and, on 6.2, saved to your pools for stateless restore.
2 Command Syntax
options [--silent|--no-silent] [--show-changed] [--reset-all] [--version]
options all # list all options and current values
options <name> # get current value of an option
options <name> help # show help text for an option
options <name> reset # reset a single option to default
options <name> <value> # set an option to a new value
💡
Run options <name> help on any option to see its full description, accepted values, and
current state directly in the shell.
3 Flags
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--silent |
Suppress most output messages (default behavior) |
--no-silent |
Show full service actions and verbose output |
--show-changed |
Display only options that differ from their defaults |
--reset-all |
Factory reset all options to defaults |
--version |
Show the options utility version |
Searches option names and descriptions across all categories
4 System & Core
| Option | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| cockpit.enable | Bool | off | Cockpit web management console |
| ssh.enable | Bool | on | SSH service |
| cron.enable | Bool | off | Cron daemon for scheduled tasks |
| ntp.enable | Bool | off | NTP time synchronization service |
| ntp.servers | String | time.google.com | NTP server list (space-separated) |
| multipathd.enable | Bool | off | DM-Multipath daemon |
| options.coloured | Bool | on | Colorized shell output |
| keep.tmp | Bool | off | Preserve /tmp contents on reboot |
| s3.enable | Bool | off | S3-compatible object storage service |
| s3.ui.enable | Bool | off | S3 web UI |
5 ZFS & Storage
| Option | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| arc.size | Int | 50 | ZFS ARC cache size as a percentage of total RAM (1–99). Applies after a reboot. Recommended: 60–80% for dedicated NAS/SAN. |
| zfs.dio.enable | Multi | None | Enable Direct I/O per pool. Accepts pool name, all, or reset. |
| zfs.zil.disable | Multi | None | Disable ZFS Intent Log for a pool. Only disable with UPS protection in place. Use reset
to re-enable all. |
| zfs.trim.enable | Multi | None | Enable TRIM on SSD-backed pools. Accepts pool name, all, or reset. |
| zfs.scrub.auto | Bool | off | Enable monthly automatic scrub timer across all pools |
| force.import | Bool | off | Force import pools even if they appear to be in use |
| skip.import | Bool | on | Skip automatic ZFS pool import on boot. Enabled by default on first run. |
| import.src | String | device | Set where to import pools from (default: device). Valid values: cache or
device.
|
| import.all.read-write | Bool | off | Import degraded pools in read-write mode |
| exclude.pools | Multi | None | Exclude specific pools from OviOS management |
6 Backup & Restore
| Option | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| autosync.enable | Bool | off | Push configuration changes (iSCSI targets, LUN mappings, SMB users and shares) to the replication
partners configured with retadm, automatically after each change. Does not create local
backups. See the Replication Guide. |
| auto.restore.enable | Bool | off | At boot, restore the configuration from the newest backup archive (sync-config bo) in the
backup pool's osbackup dataset or /tmp/osbackup. Alternative to the
ovios.autorestore=1 kernel option. |
| system.backup.pool | String | None | Pool where sync-config bo writes backup archives (dataset <pool>/osbackup).
If not set, archives go to /tmp/osbackup, which does not survive a reboot on a live
system. |
💡
On 6.2 the configuration is saved to your pools automatically on every change (Stateless Operation). For backup archives as well, set
system.backup.pool and schedule sync-config bo with edit-cron. Turn on
autosync.enable only if you replicate to a partner node.
7 NFS
| Option | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| nfs.enable | Bool | off | NFS server service |
| nfs.port | Int | — | NFS server port override |
| nfs.threads | Int | — | Number of NFS server threads |
| nfs.idmap | Bool | off | NFSv4 ID mapping daemon |
| nfs4.domain | String | localdomain | NFSv4 ID mapping domain |
| nfs.tcp.disable | Bool | off | Disable NFS over TCP |
| nfs.udp.disable | Bool | off | Disable NFS over UDP |
| nfs.disable.vers | String | None | Disable specific NFS versions (e.g. 3 to force NFSv4 only) |
| nfs.debug | Bool | off | Enable NFS debug logging |
| nfs.sys.log | Bool | off | Enable NFS system logging |
8 SMB
| Option | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| smb.enable | Bool | off | SMB/CIFS file sharing service |
| smb.port | String | None | SMB port override |
| smb.multichannel | Bool | on | SMB3 Multichannel — aggregates bandwidth across NICs. Requires Windows 8 / Server 2012 or newer on clients. |
| smb.signing.required | Bool | off | Require SMB packet signing on all connections |
| smb.min.protocol | String | SMB3 | Minimum SMB protocol version. Recommended: SMB3 or SMB3_02 for security.
|
| netbios.enable | Bool | off | NetBIOS name service (legacy; not required for modern clients) |
| smb.secrets.restore 6.2 | Bool | off | Stateless nodes: also save the Samba password database and secrets (SMB passwords, Active Directory
machine account, krb5.keytab) to the pools so they are restored at boot. Unix users and
passwords are always saved. When off, reset SMB passwords (smb-user) and
re-join AD (smb-join) after a stateless reboot; switching to off also deletes
older saved copies of the secrets. See Live OS guide. |
| smb.debug.level | Int | — | Samba debug log level |
| winbind.debug.level | Int | — | Winbind debug log level (Active Directory) |
| netbios.debug.level | Int | — | NetBIOS debug log level |
9 iSCSI
| Option | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| iscsi.enable | Bool | off | iSCSI target service |
| iscsi.address | IP | None | Portal IP address to bind the iSCSI service to. If blank, binds to all interfaces. Must match a valid current interface IP after a restore. |
| iscsi.port | Int | 3260 | iSCSI portal port (default is the standard iSCSI port) |
| iscsi.debug | Bool | off | Enable iSCSI target debug logging |
ℹ️
After a system restore, if iscsi.address is bound to an IP that no longer exists on the
hardware, the iSCSI service will fail to start. Update it to the current interface IP:
options iscsi.address 192.168.10.20
10 Security
| Option | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| auditd.enable | Bool | off | Linux audit daemon for security event logging. Changes the kernel command line, so it applies after a
reboot; not available when running live from RAM (set audit=1 on the boot line instead). |
| ssh.allow.root | Bool | off | Allow direct root login over SSH. Disabled by default for security. |
| ssh.pubkey.auth | Bool | on | SSH public key authentication |
| ssh.pwauth.enable | Bool | on | SSH password authentication |
| ssh.port | Int | 22 | SSH listening port |
| ssh.sessions | Int | — | Maximum concurrent SSH sessions |
| ssh.timeout | Int | — | SSH idle session timeout (seconds) |
11 Monitoring
| Option | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| ovios-web.enable | Bool | off | OviOS web monitoring interface and PDF report generation, at https://<ip>:8443 (user
oviosadm, default password ovios; change it with passwd oviosadm) |
| smartd.enable | Bool | off | S.M.A.R.T. disk monitoring daemon with email alerting |
| snmpd.enable | Bool | off | SNMP daemon for NMS integration |
| snmptrapd.enable | Bool | off | SNMP trap daemon |
| prometheus.enable | Bool | off | Prometheus metrics service (prometheus.service), port 9090 by default:
http://<ip>:9090. Manage it with service prometheus. |
| smtp.server | String | None | SMTP relay server for email alerts |
| smtp.port | Int | 25 | SMTP server port |
| smtp.user | String | None | SMTP authentication username |
| smtp.starttls | Bool | off | Enable STARTTLS for SMTP connections |
| sendlogs.from | String | localhost@localdomain | Sender address for diagnostic log emails |
| sendlogs.to | String | None | Recipient address for diagnostic log emails |
12 Shell & Cluster
| Option | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| cluster.enable | Bool | off | Run the ovios-cluster daemon (replication, failover). Run ovios-cluster init first; the flag is kept across stateless reboots and carried to the partners by config sync. Same as service ovios-cluster enable. |
| shell.prompt | String | default | Prompt style: default (ovios-shell ➤), hostname (this node's short hostname) or custom (uses shell.prompt.template). Applies on the next prompt. |
| shell.prompt.role | Bool | on | Show the cluster role in the default and hostname prompts: [PRIMARY] in red on the writable node, [replica] in green, [cluster?] if the daemon cannot be reached. Nothing is shown on nodes that are not in a cluster. |
| shell.prompt.template | String | {user}@{host} {marker}➤ | Template for shell.prompt custom. Variables: {host} {user} {cluster} {role} {marker} {time}. Colours: {red} {green} {yellow} {blue} {magenta} {cyan} {white} {bold} {reset}. Up to 200 characters; no quotes. Spaces need no quoting. |
💡
Make the prompt impossible to miss on the primary:
options shell.prompt custom then
options shell.prompt.template {green}{host} {marker}{cyan}➤. An empty or invalid template
falls back to the default prompt.
13 Multi-Value Options
The following options accept a pool name, the keyword all (to apply to every pool), or
reset (to clear the setting):
| Option | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| zfs.trim.enable | options zfs.trim.enable tank |
Recommended for all SSD-backed pools |
| zfs.dio.enable | options zfs.dio.enable all |
Enable Direct I/O globally |
| zfs.zil.disable | options zfs.zil.disable tank |
Only with UPS; use reset to re-enable all |
| exclude.pools | options exclude.pools backup |
Exclude pools from OviOS management |
14 Examples
# Service control
options ssh.enable on
options ntp.enable on
options smartd.enable on
# ZFS tuning
options arc.size 70
options zfs.trim.enable tank
options zfs.dio.enable all
options zfs.scrub.auto on
# SMB hardening
options smb.min.protocol SMB3_02
options smb.signing.required on
# Backup archives and partner sync
options system.backup.pool osb
options autosync.enable on # only with a replication partner
# Stateless nodes: keep SMB passwords and the AD join
options smb.secrets.restore on
# Email alerts
options smtp.server mail.example.com
options smtp.user backup-admin
options sendlogs.to admin@example.com
# Diagnostics
options --show-changed # review all non-default settings
options --reset-all # factory reset (use with caution)