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>--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>--raidtab=<filename>raidtab</filename></term>
  91         <listitem>
  92           <para>Use <filename>raidtab</filename> to automatically
  93             determine raid settings of the root device. Normally,
  94             <filename>/etc/raidtab</filename> is used.</para>
  95         </listitem>
  96       </varlistentry>
  97       <varlistentry>
  98         <term>--ifneeded</term>
  99         <listitem>
 100           <para>Only builds the image if their are modules that need
 101             to be loaded at boot time.</para>
 102         </listitem>
 103       </varlistentry>
 104       <varlistentry>
 105         <term>--image-version</term>
 106         <listitem>
 107           <para>Append kernel version to initrd name.</para>
 108         </listitem>
 109       </varlistentry>
 110       <varlistentry>
 111         <term>--nocompress</term>
 112         <listitem>
 113           <para>Don't compress initrd.</para>
 114         </listitem>
 115       </varlistentry>
 116       <!-- varlistentry>
 117     <term>-(hack)-no-bsp</term>
 118     <listitem>
 119     <para>Don't use Braindamaged Script Processor (/bin/bsp) and use /bin/trash instead.</para>
 120     </listitem>
 121     </varlistentry -->
 122       <varlistentry>
 123         <term>--preload=<filename>module</filename></term>
 124         <listitem>
 125           <para>Load the module <filename>module</filename> in the
 126             initial ramdisk image. The module gets loaded before any
 127             SCSI modules which are specified in
 128             <filename>/etc/modules.conf</filename>. This option may be
 129             used as many times as necessary.
 130           </para>
 131         </listitem>
 132       </varlistentry>
 133       <varlistentry>
 134         <term>--with=<filename>module</filename></term>
 135         <listitem>
 136           <para>Alias to --preload.</para>
 137         </listitem>
 138       </varlistentry>
 139       <varlistentry>
 140         <term>-v</term>
 141         <listitem>
 142           <para>Prints out verbose information while creating the
 143             image (normally the <application>geninitrd</application>
 144             runs silently).
 145           </para>
 146         </listitem>
 147       </varlistentry>
 148       <varlistentry>
 149         <term>--version</term>
 150         <listitem>
 151           <para>Prints the version of
 152             <application>geninitrd</application> that's being used and
 153             then exits.</para>
 154         </listitem>
 155       </varlistentry>
 156       <varlistentry>
 157         <term>--initrdfs=<filename>ext2|rom|cram</filename></term>
 158         <listitem>
 159           <para>Filesystem type to be used for the image. Only
 160             selected filesystem should always be compiled into
 161             kernel.</para>
 162         </listitem>
 163       </varlistentry>
 164       <varlistentry>
 165         <term>--with-insmod-static</term>
 166         <listitem>
 167                 <para>Use <filename>/sbin/insmod.static</filename> insteed of <command>bsp</command> bulitin insmod.</para>
 168         </listitem>
 169       </varlistentry>
 170     </variablelist>
 171 </refsect1>
 172 <refsect1>
 173         <title>SCSI support</title>
 174         <para>
 175                 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).
 176         </para>
 177 </refsect1>
 178 <refsect1>
 179         <title>ATA RAID support</title>
 180         <para>
 181                 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.
 182         </para>
 183         <para>For eg. if you have Promise FastTrack controler then add "alias ataraid_hostadapter pdcraid" to /etc/modules.conf.</para>
 184 </refsect1>
 185 <refsect1>
 186         <title>Linux 2.6.x support</title>
 187         <para>To bulild initrd for Linux 2.6.x kernels you must have module-init-tools and use --with-insmod-static switch or use busybox version that comes in busybox-initrd package.
 188         </para>
 189 </refsect1>
 190 <!-- refsect1>
 191         <title>Hardware RAID support</title>
 192         <para>
 193                 geninitrd support following RAID controlers:
 194                 <itemizedlist>
 195                         <listitem>
 196                                 <para></para>
 197                         </listitem>
 198                 </itemizedlist>
 199         </para>
 200 </refsect1 -->
 201   <refsect1>
 202     <title>FILES</title>
 203     <variablelist>
 204       <varlistentry>
 205         <term><filename>/etc/sysconfig/geninitrd</filename></term>
 206         <listitem>
 207           <para>Configuraton file with default options. Putting proper
 208             options there helps in automatic creation of initrd eg. on
 209             kernel upgrade.
 210           </para>
 211         </listitem>
 212       </varlistentry>
 213       <varlistentry>
 214         <term><filename
 215                         class="devicefile">/dev/loop*</filename></term>
 216         <listitem>
 217           <para>A block loopback device is used to create the image,
 218             which makes this script useless on systems without block
 219             loopback support available.
 220           </para>
 221         </listitem>
 222       </varlistentry>
 223       <varlistentry>
 224         <term><filename>/etc/modules.conf</filename></term>
 225         <listitem>
 226           <para>Specified SCSI modules to be loaded and module options
 227             to be used.</para>
 228         </listitem>
 229       </varlistentry>
 230     </variablelist>
 231   </refsect1>
 232   <refsect1>
 233     <title>SEE ALSO</title>
 234     <para><citerefentry>
 235         <refentrytitle>fstab</refentrytitle>
 236         <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
 237       </citerefentry>
 238       <citerefentry>
 239         <refentrytitle>insmod</refentrytitle>
 240         <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
 241       </citerefentry>
 242       <citerefentry>
 243         <refentrytitle>grub</refentrytitle>
 244         <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
 245       </citerefentry>
 246       <citerefentry>
 247         <refentrytitle>lilo</refentrytitle>
 248         <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
 249       </citerefentry>
 250       <citerefentry>
 251         <refentrytitle>genromfs</refentrytitle>
 252         <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
 253       </citerefentry>
 254     </para>
 255   </refsect1>
 256   <refsect1>
 257     <title>Authors</title>
 258     <para><application>geninitrd</application> is based on mkinitrd by
 259       Erik Troan <email>ewt(at)redhat.com</email> and contributors:
 260       <simplelist>
 261         <member>Elliot Lee <email>sopwith(at)cuc.edu</email></member>
 262         <member> Miguel de Icaza
 263           <email>miguel(at)nuclecu.unam.mx</email></member>
 264         <member>Christian 'Dr. Disk' Hechelmann
 265           <email>drdisk(at)ds9.au.s.shuttle.de</email></member>
 266         <member>Michael K. Johnson
 267           <email>johnsonm(at)redhat.com</email></member>
 268         <member>Pierre Habraken
 269           <email>Pierre.Habraken(at)ujf-grenoble.fr</email></member>
 270         <member>Jakub Jelinek
 271           <email>jj(at)ultra.linux.cz</email></member>
 272         <member>Carlo Arenas Belon
 273           <email>carenas(at)chasqui.lared.net.pe</email></member>
 274       </simplelist>
 275     </para>
 276     <para><application>geninitrd</application> is writen by Jacek
 277       Konieczny <email>jajcus(at)pld-linux.org</email> and contributors (in
 278       alphabetic order): <simplelist>
 279         <member>Witold Filipczyk <email>witekfl(at)poczta.onet.pl</email></member>
 280         <member>Artur Frysiak <email>wiget(at)pld-linux.org</email></member>
 281         <member>Dariusz Karolczak <email>inglod(at)pld-linux.org</email></member>
 282         <member>Tomasz KĹ\82oczko <email>kloczek(at)pld.org.pl</email></member>
 283         <member>Arkadiusz MiĹ\9bkiewicz <email>misiek(at)pld-linux.org</email></member>
 284         <member>MichaĹ\82 Moskal <email>malekith(at)pld-linux.org</email></member>
 285         <member>Jan RÄ\99korajski <email>baggins(at)pld-linux.org</email></member>
 286         <member>Sebastian Zagrodzki <email>zagrodzki(at)pld-linux.org</email></member>
 287         <member>MichaĹ\82 Zawalich <email>michuz(at)pld-linux.org</email></member>
 288       </simplelist>
 289     </para>
 290     <para> Manual page for <application>geninitrd</application> is
 291       based on mkinitrd.8 by Erik Troan <email>ewt(at)redhat.com</email>
 292       and writen by Jacek Konieczny
 293       <email>jajcus(at)pld-linux.org</email> and contributors.</para>
 294   </refsect1>
 295 </refentry>
 296 <!-- vim61: set fileencoding=utf-8 : -->