mkinitrd creates an initial image used by the kernel for
preloading the block device modules (such as IDE, SCSI or RAID)
which are needed to access the root filesystem. mkinitrd
automatically loads filesystem modules (such as ext3 and jbd), IDE modules, all
scsi_hostadapter entries in /etc/modprobe.conf, and raid
modules if the system's root partition is on raid, which makes it simple
to build and use kernels using modular device drivers.
Any module options specified in /etc/modprobe.conf are passed
to the modules as they are loaded by the initial ramdisk.
The root filesystem used by the kernel is specified in the boot configuration
file, as always. The traditional root=/dev/hda1 style device
specification is allowed. If a label is used, as in root=LABEL=rootPart
the initrd will search all available devices for an ext2 or ext3 filesystem
with the appropriate label, and mount that device as the root filesystem.
OPTIONS
--builtin=module
Act as if module is built into the kernel being used. mkinitrd
will not look for this module, and will not emit an error if it does not
exist. This option may be used multiple times.
-f
Allows mkinitrd to overwrite an existing image file.
--fstab=fstab
Use fstab to automatically determine what type of filesystem the
root device is on. Normally, /etc/fstab is used.
--image-version
The kernel version number is appended to the initrd image path before the image
is created.
--nocompress
Normally the created initrd image is compressed with gzip
. If this
option is specified, the compression is skipped.
--nopivot
Do not use the pivot_root
system call as part of the initrd. This
lets mkinitrd build proper images for Linux 2.2 kernels at the expense
of some features. In particular, some filesystems (such as ext3) will not
work properly and filesystem options will not be used to mount root. This
option is not recommended, and will be removed in future versions.
--omit-lvm-modules
Do not load any lvm modules, even if /etc/fstab expects them.
--omit-raid-modules
Do not load any raid modules, even if /etc/fstab and /etc/raidtab expect them.
--omit-scsi-modules
Do not load any scsi modules, including 'scsi_mod' and 'sd_mod'
modules, even if they are present.
--preload=
module
Load the module module in the initial ramdisk image. The module gets
loaded before any SCSI modules which are specified in /etc/modprobe.conf.
This option may be used as many times as necessary.
-v
Prints out verbose information while creating the image (normally
the mkinitrd runs silently).
--version
Prints the version of mkinitrd that's being used and then exits.
--with=module
Load the modules module in the initial ramdisk image. The module
gets loaded after any SCSI modules which are specified in
/etc/modprobe.conf. This option may be used as many times as
necessary.
FILES
/dev/loop*
A block loopback device is used to create the image, which makes this
script useless on systems without block loopback support available
(only used on kernels < 2.6)
/etc/modprobe.conf
Specifies SCSI modules to be loaded and module options to be used.
/etc/modules.conf
Specifies SCSI modules to be loaded and module options to be used.
(only used on kernels < 2.6)
