geninitrd.8.xml

   1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   2 <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
   3                          "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
   4 <refentry>
   5   <refmeta>
   6     <refentrytitle>geninitrd</refentrytitle>
   7     <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
   8     <refmiscinfo class="software">PLD</refmiscinfo>
   9     <refmiscinfo class="date">$Date: 2003/04/09 11:40:39 $</refmiscinfo>
  10   </refmeta>
  11   <refnamediv>
  12     <refname>geninitrd</refname>
  13     <refpurpose>
  14       creates initial ramdisk images for preloading modules
  15     </refpurpose>
  16   </refnamediv>
  17   <refsynopsisdiv>
  18     <cmdsynopsis>
  19       <command>geninitrd</command>
  20       <arg>-f</arg>
  21       <arg>-v</arg>
  22       <arg rep="repeat">--with=module</arg>
  23       <arg rep="repeat">--preload=module</arg>
  24       <arg>--fstab=fstab</arg>
  25       <arg>--raidtab=raidtab</arg>
  26       <arg>--lvmtoolsversion=1|2</arg>
  27       <arg>--modules-conf=modules.conf</arg>
  28           <arg>--fs=rom|ext2|cram</arg>
  29           <arg>--with-insmod-static</arg>
  30       <arg choice="req">image</arg>
  31       <arg choice="req">kernel-version</arg>
  32     </cmdsynopsis>
  33     <cmdsynopsis>
  34       <command>geninitrd</command>
  35       <arg>--version</arg>
  36     </cmdsynopsis>
  37   </refsynopsisdiv>
  38
  39   <refsect1>
  40     <title>Description</title>
  41     <para>
  42       <application>geninitrd</application> creates filesystem images
  43       which are suitable for use as Linux initial ramdisk (initrd)
  44       images. Such images are often used for preloading the block
  45       device modules (such as IDE, SCSI or RAID) which are needed to
  46       access the root filesystem. <application>geninitrd</application>
  47       automatically loads all <varname>scsi_hostadapter</varname>
  48       entries in <filename>/etc/modules.conf</filename> when it finds
  49       that root fs is mounted on SCSI device, which makes it simple to
  50       build and use kernels using modular SCSI devices. It will also
  51       load IDE and RAID modules when needed. </para>
  52     <para>Any module options specified in
  53       <filename>/etc/modules.conf</filename> are passed to the modules
  54       as they are loaded by the initial ramdisk. </para>
  55     <para>If the root filesystem is modular, initrd will automatically
  56       add the filesystem's modules to the initrd image.</para>
  57
  58     <!--    <para>If the root device is on a loop device (such as
  59   <filename>/dev/loop0</filename>), <application>geninitrd</application>
  60     will attempt to build an initrd which sets up the loopback file
  61     properly. To do this, the fstab must contain a comment of the form:
  62   <literal>
  63     # LOOP0: /dev/hda1 vfat /linux/rootfs
  64   </literal>
  65     LOOP0 must be the name of the loop device which needs to be configured, in
  66     all capital lettes. The parameters after the color are the device which
  67     contains the filesystem with the loopback image on it, the filesystem which
  68     is on the device, and the full path to the loopback image.
  69   </para> -->
  70   </refsect1>
  71   <refsect1>
  72     <title>Options</title>
  73
  74     <variablelist>
  75       <varlistentry>
  76         <term>-f</term>
  77         <listitem>
  78           <para>Allows <application>geninitrd</application> to
  79             overwrite an existing image file.</para>
  80         </listitem>
  81       </varlistentry>
  82       <varlistentry>
  83         <term>--fstab=<filename>fstab</filename></term>
  84         <listitem>
  85           <para>Use <filename>fstab</filename> to automatically
  86             determine what type of filesystem the root device is on.
  87             Normally, <filename>/etc/fstab</filename> is used.</para>
  88         </listitem>
  89       </varlistentry>
  90       <varlistentry>
  91         <term>--raidtab=<filename>raidtab</filename></term>
  92         <listitem>
  93           <para>Use <filename>raidtab</filename> to automatically
  94             determine raid settings of the root device. Normally,
  95             <filename>/etc/raidtab</filename> is used.</para>
  96         </listitem>
  97       </varlistentry>
  98       <varlistentry>
  99         <term>--ifneeded</term>
 100         <listitem>
 101           <para>Only builds the image if their are modules that need
 102             to be loaded at boot time.</para>
 103         </listitem>
 104       </varlistentry>
 105       <varlistentry>
 106         <term>--image-version</term>
 107         <listitem>
 108           <para>Append kernel version to initrd name.</para>
 109         </listitem>
 110       </varlistentry>
 111       <varlistentry>
 112         <term>--nocompress</term>
 113         <listitem>
 114           <para>Don't compress initrd.</para>
 115         </listitem>
 116       </varlistentry>
 117       <!-- varlistentry>
 118     <term>-(hack)-no-bsp</term>
 119     <listitem>
 120     <para>Don't use Braindamaged Script Processor (/bin/bsp) and use /bin/trash instead.</para>
 121     </listitem>
 122     </varlistentry -->
 123       <varlistentry>
 124         <term>--preload=<filename>module</filename></term>
 125         <listitem>
 126           <para>Load the module <filename>module</filename> in the
 127             initial ramdisk image. The module gets loaded before any
 128             SCSI modules which are specified in
 129             <filename>/etc/modules.conf</filename>. This option may be
 130             used as many times as necessary.
 131           </para>
 132         </listitem>
 133       </varlistentry>
 134       <varlistentry>
 135         <term>--with=<filename>module</filename></term>
 136         <listitem>
 137           <para>Alias to --preload.</para>
 138         </listitem>
 139       </varlistentry>
 140       <varlistentry>
 141         <term>-v</term>
 142         <listitem>
 143           <para>Prints out verbose information while creating the
 144             image (normally the <application>geninitrd</application>
 145             runs silently).
 146           </para>
 147         </listitem>
 148       </varlistentry>
 149       <varlistentry>
 150         <term>--version</term>
 151         <listitem>
 152           <para>Prints the version of
 153             <application>geninitrd</application> that's being used and
 154             then exits.</para>
 155         </listitem>
 156       </varlistentry>
 157       <varlistentry>
 158         <term>--initrdfs=<filename>ext2|rom|cram</filename></term>
 159         <listitem>
 160           <para>Filesystem type to be used for the image. Only
 161             selected filesystem should always be compiled into
 162             kernel.</para>
 163         </listitem>
 164       </varlistentry>
 165       <varlistentry>
 166         <term>--with-insmod-static</term>
 167         <listitem>
 168                 <para>Use <filename>/sbin/insmod.static</filename> insteed of <command>bsp</command> bulitin insmod.</para>
 169         </listitem>
 170         </varlistentry>
 171         <varlistentry>
 172                 <term>--lvmtoolsversion=1|2</term>
 173                 <listitem>
 174                         <para>Tell which version of LVM tools are used.</para>
 175                 </listitem>
 176         </varlistentry>
 177     </variablelist>
 178 </refsect1>
 179 <refsect1>
 180         <title>SCSI support</title>
 181         <para>
 182                 If geninitrd detect rootfs on SCSI disk then lookup for "scsi_hostadapter" alias in /etc/modules.conf file and use it to load proper SCSI low-level driver(s).
 183         </para>
 184 </refsect1>
 185 <refsect1>
 186         <title>ATA RAID support</title>
 187         <para>
 188                 If geninitrd detect rootfs on ATA RAID then lookup for "ataraid_hostadapter" alias in /etc/modules.conf and use it to load proper ATA RAID low level driver.
 189         </para>
 190         <para>For eg. if you have Promise FastTrack controler then add "alias ataraid_hostadapter pdcraid" to /etc/modules.conf.</para>
 191 </refsect1>
 192 <refsect1>
 193         <title>Linux 2.6.x support</title>
 194         <para>To bulild initrd for Linux 2.6.x kernels you must have module-init-tools and use --with-insmod-static switch or use initrd version of recent busybox that comes in busybox-initrd package.
 195         </para>
 196 </refsect1>
 197 <!-- refsect1>
 198         <title>Hardware RAID support</title>
 199         <para>
 200                 geninitrd support following RAID controlers:
 201                 <itemizedlist>
 202                         <listitem>
 203                                 <para></para>
 204                         </listitem>
 205                 </itemizedlist>
 206         </para>
 207 </refsect1 -->
 208   <refsect1>
 209     <title>FILES</title>
 210     <variablelist>
 211       <varlistentry>
 212         <term><filename>/etc/sysconfig/geninitrd</filename></term>
 213         <listitem>
 214           <para>Configuraton file with default options. Putting proper
 215             options there helps in automatic creation of initrd eg. on
 216             kernel upgrade.
 217           </para>
 218         </listitem>
 219       </varlistentry>
 220       <varlistentry>
 221         <term><filename
 222                         class="devicefile">/dev/loop*</filename></term>
 223         <listitem>
 224           <para>A block loopback device is used to create the image,
 225             which makes this script useless on systems without block
 226             loopback support available.
 227           </para>
 228         </listitem>
 229       </varlistentry>
 230       <varlistentry>
 231         <term><filename>/etc/modules.conf</filename></term>
 232         <listitem>
 233           <para>Specified SCSI modules to be loaded and module options
 234             to be used.</para>
 235         </listitem>
 236       </varlistentry>
 237     </variablelist>
 238   </refsect1>
 239   <refsect1>
 240     <title>SEE ALSO</title>
 241     <para><citerefentry>
 242         <refentrytitle>fstab</refentrytitle>
 243         <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
 244       </citerefentry>
 245       <citerefentry>
 246         <refentrytitle>insmod</refentrytitle>
 247         <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
 248       </citerefentry>
 249       <citerefentry>
 250         <refentrytitle>grub</refentrytitle>
 251         <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
 252       </citerefentry>
 253       <citerefentry>
 254         <refentrytitle>lilo</refentrytitle>
 255         <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
 256       </citerefentry>
 257       <citerefentry>
 258         <refentrytitle>genromfs</refentrytitle>
 259         <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
 260       </citerefentry>
 261     </para>
 262   </refsect1>
 263   <refsect1>
 264     <title>Authors</title>
 265     <para><application>geninitrd</application> is based on mkinitrd by
 266       Erik Troan <email>ewt(at)redhat.com</email> and contributors:
 267       <simplelist>
 268         <member>Elliot Lee <email>sopwith(at)cuc.edu</email>, </member>
 269         <member> Miguel de Icaza
 270           <email>miguel(at)nuclecu.unam.mx</email>, </member>
 271         <member>Christian 'Dr. Disk' Hechelmann
 272           <email>drdisk(at)ds9.au.s.shuttle.de</email>, </member>
 273         <member>Michael K. Johnson
 274           <email>johnsonm(at)redhat.com</email>, </member>
 275         <member>Pierre Habraken
 276           <email>Pierre.Habraken(at)ujf-grenoble.fr</email>, </member>
 277         <member>Jakub Jelinek
 278           <email>jj(at)ultra.linux.cz</email>, </member>
 279         <member>Carlo Arenas Belon
 280           <email>carenas(at)chasqui.lared.net.pe</email>.</member>
 281       </simplelist>
 282     </para>
 283     <para><application>geninitrd</application> is writen by Jacek
 284       Konieczny <email>jajcus(at)pld-linux.org</email> and contributors (in
 285       alphabetic order): <simplelist>
 286         <member>Witold Filipczyk <email>witekfl(at)poczta.onet.pl</email>, </member>
 287         <member>Artur Frysiak <email>wiget(at)pld-linux.org</email>, </member>
 288         <member>Dariusz Karolczak <email>inglod(at)pld-linux.org</email>, </member>
 289         <member>Tomasz Kloczko <email>kloczek(at)pld.org.pl</email>, </member>
 290         <member>Arkadiusz Miskiewicz <email>arekm(at)pld-linux.org</email>, </member>
 291         <member>Michal Moskal <email>malekith(at)pld-linux.org</email>, </member>
 292         <member>Jan Rekorajski <email>baggins(at)pld-linux.org</email>, </member>
 293         <member>Sebastian Zagrodzki <email>zagrodzki(at)pld-linux.org</email>, </member>
 294         <member>Michal Zawalich <email>michuz(at)pld-linux.org</email>.</member>
 295       </simplelist>
 296     </para>
 297     <para> Manual page for <application>geninitrd</application> is
 298       based on mkinitrd.8 by Erik Troan <email>ewt(at)redhat.com</email>
 299       and writen by Jacek Konieczny
 300       <email>jajcus(at)pld-linux.org</email> and contributors.</para>
 301   </refsect1>
 302 </refentry>
 303 <!-- vim61: set fileencoding=utf-8 : -->