The default journaling file system on non-boot partitions on Ubuntu 11.04 is ext4. Other journaling file systems supported are ext3, xfs, jfs, reiserfs, and btrfs. The journaling file system of interest in this article is btrfs, the B-Tree File System. Btrfs is an ongoing attempt to create a ZFS-like file system for Linux. It is still a long way from matching ZFS feature for feature, and it not yet recommended for use in production, but is good enough for those who just want to see what it has to offer.

This brief tutorial gives step by step instructions on how to install Ubuntu 11.04 on a btrfs file system.