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