1 README
2 ======
3
4 Description
5 -----------
6
7 Mkinitramfs is a shell script that will generate a cpio init ram filesystem.
8
9 The script itself simply checks for minimum required kernel capabilities,
10 recursively copies in useful applications and their library dependencies (using
11 ldd), and uses cpio to generate an init ram filesystem.
12
13 Note that this also includes an init script used for booting from the initrd
14 image, into the actual system. It includes support for dm-crypt encrypted root
15 volumes, as well as providing simple debugging capabilities.
16
17
18 Usage
19 -----
20
21 The script, mkinitramfs, creates a new init ram filesystem.
22
23 To use it, simply execute it, with the version of the kernel specified, and it
24 will create the initrd file, written to `/boot/initrd-${version}`. A
25 corresponding `/boot/vmlinuz-${version}` and `/boot/System.map-${version}` is
26 required. This version format is recognized by grub, so grub-mkconfig will
27 detect these files.
28
29 **NOTE**: This will overwrite the `/boot/initrd-${version}` file if it exists.
30 If you have something there that you want to keep, be sure to back it up before
31 running mkinitramfs.
32
33
34 Init Arguments
35 --------------
36
37 ### root
38
39 * **required**: yes
40 * **examples**:
41 ** root=/dev/sda3
42 ** root=UUID=92b74fd7-6e4f-4a52-ad40-fac874410ca3
43 ** root=LABEL=system
44
45 Path to the root device. Supports a dev path, LABEL, and UUID values. If device
46 is encrypted, the user will be prompted to decrypt it with a password. The
47 decrypted device will be mounted at _/dev/mapper/_dev_sda3_ (per the example).
48
49 **NOTE**: This only works with encrypted devices where the encrypted device
50 contains only a filesystem. If the encrypted device contains its own partition
51 table, see the _cryptroot_ directive.
52
53
54
55 ### quiet
56
57 * **required**: no
58 * **examples**: NA
59
60 Applying this kernel parameter will quiet the boot process significantly. This
61 parameter is respected by the mkinitramfs init process as well as the Linux
62 kernel.
63
64
65 ### initdebug
66
67 * **required**: no
68 * **examples**: NA
69
70 Enables step-by-step boot mode. Each step requires the user to hit the return
71 key.
72
73 **NOTE**: Enabling this will probably make the boot process go very slowly as
74 it requires a user response for every step.
75
76
77 ### interractive
78
79 * **required**: no
80 * **examples**: NA
81
82 Drops the user into an interractive shell, but before performing the first
83 mount operation, which is where most problems start to occur. This can be
84 useful for implementing new features in the init script, debugging problems,
85 checking the environment, etc.
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