QNAP QuTS Hero ZFS Rescue

What it does

Guides operators through diagnosing QNAP QuTS Hero (QZFS) metadata corruption and performing a safe, read-only rescue by extracting QNAP's ZFS tools and running them inside a QEMU VM. The skill documents how to verify QNAP-specific magic numbers, gather kernel and userspace utilities from a running NAS, prepare a custom initrd, boot a VM with virtio devices, import the pool read-only, and copy critical datasets to an external target.

When to use it

Use this skill when a QNAP QuTS Hero NAS shows ZFS pool import failures (e.g., ZFS-8000-72), the pool is FAULTED while disks appear ONLINE, or standard OpenZFS tools fail due to QNAP's proprietary metadata layout. It is intended for emergency data recovery scenarios where preserving original disks is critical.

What's included

• Scripts: none bundled, but detailed shell commands and QEMU launch examples are provided in the instructions.
• References: procedural steps for extracting QNAP binaries, building a custom initrd, bridge/tap networking, and example QEMU invocation.
• Instructions: step-by-step diagnostics, extraction of QNAP zdb/zpool/zfs and libs, building a VM environment, importing the pool read-only, and copying datasets out via NFS.

Compatible agents

Inference: Suitable for operators or agents with shell/infra tooling; expected to be used alongside CLI tooling (ssh, scp, qemu) and system-level privileges.