Use com.sun:auto-snapshot attribute to enable snapshots for datasets the syntax is: zfs set com.sun:auto-snapshot=[true|false] or: zfs set com.sun:auto-snapshot:=[true|false] for example: # zfs set com.sun:auto-snapshot=false zroot Will disalbe all snapshots for zroot and all nested datasets will inherit the property. # zfs set com.sun:auto-snapshot=true zroot/ROOT/default Will enable all types of snapshots for given dataset. # zfs set com.sun:auto-snapshot:weekly=true pool/var Will enable only weekly snapshots for given dataset. for details please visit: https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19120-01/open.solaris/817-2271/ghzuk/index.html