Jail images and historical differential packages

The old differential-package workflow used record/unionfs and package to layer application changes over a matching vanilla release. Those command names were already undispatched in 2.2.0, and create -c was already unsupported. Removing old recipes using create -c, record start/stop and package corrects misleading documentation; 2.3.0 is not removing a working 2.2.0 deployment interface. See Changelog for actual compatibility changes.

For reusable application configuration, use a stopped basejail template and clone it; see How to create and use templates. For a stopped jail image:

iocell export myjail

Ordinary exports are recursive raw ZFS streams stored under /iocell/images with identity/type/date/release in their name. They are not necessarily UUID.tar.xz archives and do not automatically get a SHA256 sidecar. A basejail image still needs its shared release on the receiving host.

Place a trusted compatible image in the receiver’s image directory and fetch its required release, then select it by full UUID or a unique image prefix:

iocell import FULL_IMAGE_UUID

Verify native datasets, properties and content before setting per-jail properties or starting it. Extra properties are not applied to ordinary stream imports; use a separate verified set afterward. A raw ZFS receive error returns nonzero, keeps diagnostics and does not print success. The input image is retained, and the importer does not automatically destroy received datasets. ZFS itself may roll back an incomplete receive; inspect any remaining partial namespace before retrying rather than blindly removing an existing jail.

Legacy thick-jail archives use a separate import/checksum path. Match the image to its importer rather than assuming every archive is a raw ZFS stream; see Known limitations.