MKINITRD(8)

📦 version 051, in ubuntu jammy

💖 MKINITRD — bestie edition 💖

okay so you're in the mkinitrd manual, section 8, part of the dracut family. buckle up, this one's a little retro but she's iconic 💅

✨ NAME ✨

mkinitrd-suse — she's a compat wrapper, a little bestie-in-the-middle whose whole job is to call dracut and generate an initramfs for you 🫶

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

mkinitrd [OPTION...]

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

mkinitrd creates an initramfs image <initrd-image> for the kernel with version <kernel-version>, and the way she does it is by calling dracut for you. no cap, that's the whole trick ✨

important bestie!! this version of mkinitrd exists purely for compatibility with older versions of mkinitrd. if you want more fine-grained control over the resulting image, you should call dracut directly. like, actually directly. don't be shy, she's right there 🎀

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -R, --version — print info about the version. cute, quick, done 💖
  • -k <kernel_list> — the list of kernel images for which initrd files get created (relative to boot_dir). the image name has to start with this string. defaults to vmlinux on ppc/ppc64, image on s390/s390x, and vmlinuz for everything else. yes, every architecture gets her own little default, we love that for them 🌈
  • -i <initrd_list> — list of file names (relative to boot_dir) for the initrd. the positions have to match the kernel_list — like, match them up properly, don't be chaotic 💀 defaults to initrd.
  • -m <module_list> — modules to include in the initrd. defaults to the INITRD_MODULES variable in /etc/sysconfig/kernel.
  • -f <feature_list> — features to enable for the initrd. in general, mkinitrd configures the initrd for the root device it is started from. with this option you can enable additional features on top. extra. we love extra 💅
  • -b <bootdir> — boot directory, defaults to /boot, and that's where the initrd gets created.
  • -d <root_device> — root device. defaults to the device from which the root_dir is mounted; overwrites the rootdev environment variable if it's set. so like, she overrules the env var. periodt 👑
  • -s <size> — add splash animation and bootscreen to the initrd. aesthetic boot sequence, we're obsessed 🌸
  • -D <interface> — run dhcp on the specified interface (for example "eth0").
  • -I <interface> — configure the specified interface statically.
  • -a <acpi_dsdt> — attach a compiled ACPI DSDT (Differentiated System Description Table) to the initrd. this replaces the DSDT of the BIOS. defaults to the ACPI_DSDT variable in /etc/sysconfig/kernel. she's swapping out the BIOS table, very main character energy ✨
  • -M <map> — the System.map file to use.
  • -B — don't run the update-bootloader(8) script after the initrd(s) have been created. this is useful if you call mkinitrd(8) for anything other than the running system. like, if you're doing surgery on some other system, don't let her touch your bootloader, mmkay? 🙈
  • -A — create a so-called "monster initrd" which includes all available features and modules. internally this calls dracut with --no-hostonly and --no-hostonly-cmdline instead of the default --hostonly and --hostonly-cmdline. monster. initrd. she's huge and she ate 🔥
  • -v, --verbose — increase verbosity level. more words, more info, more everything 💜
  • -L — disable logging to /var/log/YaST2/mkinitrd.log. useful for testing when you don't want to clutter the system log. keeping it lowkey 🦋
  • --help — print a help message and exit. the classic.

✨ AVAILABILITY ✨

the mkinitrd command is part of the dracut package and is available from https://dracut.wiki.kernel.org 🌐

✨ AUTHORS ✨

Harald Hoyer, Hannes Reinecke — legends, fr fr 👑

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

and that's the whole page bestie 🎀 this one's from the dracut package, dated 2018-08-30, so go forth and build your initramfs. slay, stay hydrated, and remember: when in doubt, call dracut directly 💖✨🦋

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