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