zstream.8

ZSTREAM(8) System Manager's Manual ZSTREAM(8)

zstreammanipulate ZFS send streams

zstream dump [-Cvd] [file]

zstream decompress [-v] [object,offset[,type...]]

zstream drop_record [-v] [object,offset[...]]

zstream redup [-v] file

zstream token resume_token

zstream recompress [-l level] algorithm

The utility manipulates ZFS send streams output by the command.

zstream dump [-Cvd] [file]
Print information about the specified send stream, including headers and record counts. The send stream may either be in the specified file, or provided on standard input.
Suppress the validation of checksums.
Verbose. Print metadata for each record.
Dump data contained in each record. Implies verbose.

The zstreamdump alias is provided for compatibility and is equivalent to running zstream dump.

zstream token resume_token
Dumps zfs resume token information
zstream decompress [-v] [object,offset[,type...]]
Decompress selected records in a ZFS send stream provided on standard input, when the compression type recorded in ZFS metadata may be incorrect. Specify the object number and byte offset of each record that you wish to decompress. Optionally specify the compression type. Valid compression types include off, , lz4, , , and . The default is lz4. Every record for that object beginning at that offset will be decompressed, if possible. It may not be possible, because the record may be corrupted in some but not all of the stream's snapshots. Specifying a compression type of off will change the stream's metadata accordingly, without attempting decompression. This can be useful if the record is already uncompressed but the metadata insists otherwise. The repaired stream will be written to standard output.
Verbose. Print summary of decompressed records.
zstream drop_record [-v] [object,offset[ ...]]
Drop selected records from a ZFS send stream provided on standard input, specified by object number and byte offset. Only WRITE and WRITE_EMBEDDED are records are supported, currently. The repaired stream will be written to standard output.
Verbose. Print summary of dropped records.
zstream redup [-v] file
Deduplicated send streams can be generated by using the zfs send -D command. The ability to send deduplicated send streams is deprecated. In the future, the ability to receive a deduplicated send stream with zfs receive will be removed. However, deduplicated send streams can still be received by utilizing zstream redup.

The zstream redup command is provided a file containing a deduplicated send stream, and outputs an equivalent non-deduplicated send stream on standard output. Therefore, a deduplicated send stream can be received by running:

# zstream redup DEDUP_STREAM_FILE | zfs receive
Verbose. Print summary of converted records.
zstream recompress [-l level] algorithm
Recompresses a send stream, provided on standard input, using the provided algorithm and optional level, and writes the modified stream to standard output. All WRITE records in the send stream will be recompressed, unless they fail to result in size reduction compared to being left uncompressed. The provided algorithm can be any valid value to the compress property. Note that encrypted send streams cannot be recompressed.
level
Specifies compression level. Only needed for algorithms where the level is not implied as part of the name of the algorithm (e.g. gzip-3 does not require it, while zstd does, if a non-default level is desired).

First, determine which records are corrupt. That cannot be done automatically; it requires information beyond ZFS's metadata. If object is corrupted at offset and is compressed using lz4, then run this command:

# zfs send -c  | zstream decompress 128,0,lz4 | zfs recv 

The bogus records typically have an absurdly large offset, and can be seen with a command like zdb -ddddd dataset object or zstream dump -v. To recover, send the dataset and use zstream to drop the bogus record, then receive into a new dataset.

# zfs send ... | zstream drop_record 3545761,18446744073709486080 | zfs recv ...

zdb(8), zfs(8), zfs-receive(8), zfs-send(8), https://github.com/openzfs/zfs/issues/12762 https://github.com/openzfs/zfs/issues/18239

February 20, 2026 Debian