MKRLCONF(8)

📦
version 0.14.2 · 2 versions
, in arch rolling, debian trixie, fedora 43, fedora 44, nixpkgs unstable, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💅 MKRLCONF(8) — the rEFInd Manual, bestie edition 🎀

okay so before we even start, there's a little scrap of license text floating around up top that just says any later version — that's it, that's the whole line, it's giving orphaned license fragment energy and we're keeping it because ✨ details ✨.

✨ NAME ✨

mkrlconf — literally just: create a Linux kernel configuration file for rEFInd. that's the whole job. she's a one-task queen 👑

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

mkrlconf [ --force ]

look at her. so simple. so powerful. one optional flag and she's done 🫶

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so picture this: rEFInd wants to boot a Linux kernel directly, right? no bootloader middleman, just straight to the kernel, main character energy. but here's the thing — the kernel is kinda clueless on its own 😭 it needs system-specific parameters handed to it so it can find its initial RAM disk (initrd) file, figure out where the installation's root filesystem lives, and so on. the kernel is not gonna figure that out by itself, bestie.

so rEFInd keeps all that info in a file called refind_linux.conf, and that file lives in the same directory as the kernel(s) it applies to. iykyk.

now here's where mkrlconf comes in 💖 she creates that config file in /boot, and she populates /boot/refind_linux.conf using your current boot options (which she reads straight out of /proc/cmdline). the result is a set of boot options that are probably — and i do mean probably, not certainly — correct. no cap, "probably" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there 🙈

the file she makes has three lines, and each line = one entry on the rEFInd suboptions menu. let's break it down:

  1. the first entry boots using the options found in /proc/cmdline — aka exactly what you're running right now.
  2. the second entry boots with the same options as the first, except with single added. (rescue mode vibes ✨)
  3. the third entry boots with the most minimal options: ro root={CURRENT_ROOT_DEVICE}, where {CURRENT_ROOT_DEVICE} identifies your current root (/) filesystem.

and like, obviously you can manually edit the refind_linux.conf file to suit your needs afterward. it's your file, babe, you do you 💅

👑 OPTIONS 👑

  • --force — okay so normally, if mkrlconf spots an existing /boot/refind_linux.conf file, she is very polite and flat-out refuses to replace it. she's not gonna touch your stuff without permission, that's just basic respect 🫶 but the --force option? that's you telling her to go ahead and replace the existing file anyway, in favor of the fresh one she generates. so like… she's overwriting your old file. deliberately. on purpose. just so we're clear 👀

💜 AUTHORS 💜

Primary author: Roderick W. Smith (rodsmith@rodsbooks.com)

shoutout to the legend who made all this happen 🌈

🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

and the official site, if you wanna go read more:

https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/

⭐ AVAILABILITY ⭐

the mkrlconf command is part of the rEFInd package and is available from Roderick W. Smith. that's the whole availability situation, periodt 💅

okay bestie that's the whole page, we ate and left no crumbs 🍓

cute lil sign-off: this was written by Roderick W. Smith, and it's from version 0.14.2 of the rEFInd manual — MKRLCONF(8), that's the one 💖✨

📦 where this page comes from