STAP-ONBOOT(8)

✨ STAP-ONBOOT ✨

okay bestie, gather round 💖 this is the stap-onboot page from the System Manager's Manual — section 8, admin girlies only. it's giving "let's run SystemTap scripts before the root filesystem even wakes up" energy and honestly? iconic.

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🌸 NAME 🌸

stap-onboot — embed SystemTap scripts into an initramfs so they run at early boot 🦋

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

stap-onboot [OPTIONS] [SCRIPT...]

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💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

so like, stap-onboot takes your SystemTap scripts, compiles them, and then uses dracut to tuck them all cozy inside an initramfs 🎀 which means those scripts get to run during early boot — before the root filesystem is even mounted. main character behaviour, fr fr.

why would you want that? two reasons, bestie:

• debugging early-boot issues 😭 (the messy part of boot nobody wants to look at)
• applying CVE band-aid scripts that need to run as early as physically possible 🩹

scripts get read from /etc/systemtap/script.d/ ✨ and compiled modules get cached in /var/cache/systemtap/KERNEL/ 🧚

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👑 OPTIONS 👑

• -b — back up the existing initramfs before you overwrite it 🫶 the backup gets saved with a .bak extension. safety first, no cap.
• -c configfile — point at an alternate config file instead of the default /etc/systemtap/config 💜
• -o path.img — set the output initramfs file path 📁 by default the initramfs for the current kernel gets updated at /boot/initramfs-KERNEL.img
• -r kernelrelease — pick which kernel release to build the initramfs for 🌈 defaults to the currently running kernel, i.e. uname -r

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• SCRIPT — one or more script names (without the .stp extension, ok?) to compile and embed in the initramfs 💖 those scripts must exist in /etc/systemtap/script.d/ ⭐ and if you pass no scripts at all? you get a clean initramfs with zero SystemTap scripts in it. a little palate cleanser 🧼

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🎀 EXAMPLES 🎀

compile and embed myScript.stp into the initramfs, and back up the original while you're at it:

# stap-onboot -b myScript

build an initramfs for a whole different kernel, go off:

# stap-onboot -r 6.1.0-1.fc37.x86_64 earlyDebug

custom initramfs in a specific location? say less:

# stap-onboot -o /tmp/test-initramfs.img bandaid

and if you wanna remove all the SystemTap scripts from the initramfs:

# stap-onboot

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🍓 FILES 🍓

• /etc/systemtap/script.d/SCRIPT.stp — the source SystemTap scripts that get embedded ✨
• /etc/systemtap/config — config file for script options 💜 each script can have options defined as SCRIPTNAME_OPT=...
• /var/cache/systemtap/KERNEL/ — the directory where compiled .ko modules get cached 🧚
• /boot/initramfs-KERNEL.img — default output location for the generated initramfs 🌸
• /usr/lib/dracut/modules.d/99stap — dracut module directory for the SystemTap integration 🎀

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

stap(1), staprun(8), dracut(8), systemd.service(5)

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and that's the whole page bestie!! 💖 this was STAP-ONBOOT(8) straight outta the System Manager's Manual, section 8, mwah 😘 go forth and embed those scripts, you've got this 🫶✨💅