path: root/dracut.8.xml

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
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<refentry id="dracut8">
  <refentryinfo>
    <title>dracut</title>
    <productname>dracut</productname>
    <authorgroup>
      <author>
        <contrib>Project Leader, Developer</contrib>
        <firstname>Harald</firstname>
        <surname>Hoyer</surname>
        <email>harald@redhat.com</email>
      </author>
      <author>
        <contrib>Developer</contrib>
        <firstname>Victor</firstname>
        <surname>Lowther</surname>
        <email>victor.lowther@gmail.com</email>
      </author>
      <author>
        <contrib>Developer</contrib>
        <firstname>Warren</firstname>
        <surname>Togami</surname>
        <email>wtogami@redhat.com</email>
      </author>
      <author>
        <contrib>Developer</contrib>
        <firstname>Jeremy</firstname>
        <surname>Katz</surname>
        <email>katzj@redhat.com</email>
      </author>
      <author>
        <contrib>Developer</contrib>
        <firstname>Philippe</firstname>
        <surname>Seewer</surname>
        <email>philippe.seewer@bfh.ch</email>
      </author>
      <author>
        <contrib>Developer</contrib>
        <firstname>David</firstname>
        <surname>Dillow</surname>
        <email>dave@thedillows.org</email>
      </author>
      <author>
        <contrib>Developer</contrib>
        <firstname>Amadeusz</firstname>
        <surname>Żołnowski</surname>
        <email>aidecoe@aidecoe.name</email>
      </author>
    </authorgroup>
  </refentryinfo>
  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>dracut</refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
    <refmiscinfo class="version"/>
  </refmeta>
  <refnamediv>
    <refname>dracut</refname>
    <refpurpose>create initial ramdisk images for preloading modules</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>
  <refsynopsisdiv>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>dracut</command>
      <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">
        <replaceable>OPTION</replaceable>
      </arg>
      <arg choice="opt">
        <replaceable>&lt;image&gt;</replaceable>
        <arg choice="opt">
          <replaceable>&lt;kernel-version&gt;</replaceable>
        </arg>
      </arg>
      <sbr/>
    </cmdsynopsis>
  </refsynopsisdiv>
  <refsect1>
    <title>Description</title>
    <para><command>dracut</command>
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.</para>
    <para>
For a complete list of kernel command line options see
      <citerefentry>
        <refentrytitle>dracut.kernel</refentrytitle>
        <manvolnum>7</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>
</para>
    <refsect2>
      <title>Options</title>
      <variablelist>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>-f</option>
          </term>
          <term>
            <option>--force</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>overwrite existing initramfs file.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>-m</option>
          </term>
          <term>
            <option>--modules&nbsp;<replaceable>&lt;list of dracut modules&gt;</replaceable></option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>specify a space-separated list of dracut modules to call 
when building the initramfs. 
Modules are located in 
<filename>/usr/share/dracut/modules.d</filename>. This parameter can be specified multiple times.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>-o</option>
          </term>
          <term>
            <option>--omit&nbsp;<replaceable>&lt;list of dracut modules&gt;</replaceable></option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>omit a space-separated list of dracut modules. This parameter can be specified multiple times.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>-a</option>
          </term>
          <term>
            <option>--add&nbsp;<replaceable>&lt;list of dracut modules&gt;</replaceable></option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>add a space-separated list of dracut modules to the default set of modules. This parameter can be specified multiple times.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>-d</option>
          </term>
          <term>
            <option>--drivers&nbsp;<replaceable>&lt;list of kernel modules&gt;</replaceable></option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>specify a space-separated list of kernel modules to exclusively include
in the initramfs.
The kernel modules have to be specified without the &quot;.ko&quot; suffix. This parameter can be specified multiple times.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--add-drivers&nbsp;<replaceable>&lt;list of kernel modules&gt;</replaceable></option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>specify a space-separated list of kernel modules to add to the initramfs.
The kernel modules have to be specified without the &quot;.ko&quot; suffix. This parameter can be specified multiple times.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--filesystems&nbsp;<replaceable>&lt;list of filesystems&gt;</replaceable></option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>specify a space-separated list of kernel filesystem modules to exclusively 
include in the generic initramfs. This parameter can be specified multiple times.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>-k</option>
          </term>
          <term>
            <option>--kmoddir&nbsp;<replaceable>&lt;kernel directory&gt;</replaceable></option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>specify the directory, where to look for kernel modules</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option> --fwdir&nbsp;<replaceable>&lt;dir&gt;[:&lt;dir&gt;...]</replaceable></option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>specify additional directories, where to look for firmwares. This parameter can be specified multiple times.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--kernel-only</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>only install kernel drivers and firmware files</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--no-kernel</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>do not install kernel drivers and firmware files</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--mdadmconf</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>include local <filename>/etc/mdadm.conf</filename></para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--nomdadmconf</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>do not include local <filename>/etc/mdadm.conf</filename></para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--strip</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>strip binaries in the initramfs (default)</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--nostrip</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>do not strip binaries in the initramfs</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>-h</option>
          </term>
          <term>
            <option>--help</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>display help text and exit.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--debug</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>output debug information of the build process</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>-v</option>
          </term>
          <term>
            <option>--verbose</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>increase verbosity level (default is info(4))</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>-q</option>
          </term>
          <term>
            <option>--quiet</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>decrease verbosity level (default is info(4))</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>-c</option>
          </term>
          <term>
            <option>--conf&nbsp;<replaceable>&lt;dracut configuration file&gt;</replaceable></option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>specify configuration file to use.
Default: 
<filename>/etc/dracut.conf</filename></para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--confdir&nbsp;<replaceable>&lt;configuration directory&gt;</replaceable></option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>specify configuration directory to use.
Default: 
<filename>/etc/dracut.conf.d</filename></para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>-l</option>
          </term>
          <term>
            <option>--local</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>activates the local mode. dracut will use modules from the current working
directory instead of the system-wide installed modules in
<filename>/usr/share/dracut/modules.d</filename>.
This is useful when running dracut from a git checkout.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>-H</option>
          </term>
          <term>
            <option>--hostonly</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>Host-Only mode: Install only what is needed for booting 
the local host instead of a generic host. 
     <warning>
                <para>If chrooted to another root other than the real root device, use &quot;--fstab&quot; and provide a valid <filename>/etc/fstab</filename>.</para>
              </warning></para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--fstab</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>Use <filename>/etc/fstab</filename> instead of <filename>/proc/self/mountinfo</filename>.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>-i</option>
          </term>
          <term>
            <option>--include&nbsp;<replaceable>&lt;SOURCE&gt;</replaceable>&nbsp;<replaceable>&lt;TARGET&gt;</replaceable></option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>include the files in the SOURCE directory into the
TARGET directory in the final initramfs. If SOURCE is a file, it will be installed to TARGET in the final initramfs. This parameter can be specified multiple times.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>-I</option>
          </term>
          <term>
            <option>--install&nbsp;<replaceable>&lt;file list&gt;</replaceable></option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>install the space separated list of files into the initramfs.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--gzip</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>Compress the generated initramfs using gzip.
     This will be done by default, unless another compression option or --no-compress is passed. Equivalent to "--compress=gzip -9"</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--bzip2</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>Compress the generated initramfs using bzip2.
     <warning>
                <para>Make sure your kernel has bzip2 decompression support compiled in, otherwise you will not be able to boot. Equivalent to "--compress=bzip2"</para>
              </warning></para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--lzma</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>Compress the generated initramfs using lzma.
     <warning>
                <para>Make sure your kernel has lzma decompression support compiled in, otherwise you will not be able to boot. Equivalent to "--compress=lzma -9"</para>
              </warning></para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--xz</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>Compress the generated initramfs using xz.
     <warning>
                <para>Make sure your kernel has xz decompression support compiled in, otherwise you will not be able to boot. Equivalent to "--compress=xz --check=crc32 --lzma2=dict=1MiB"</para>
              </warning></para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--compress&nbsp;<replaceable>&lt;compressor&gt;</replaceable></option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>Compress the generated initramfs using the passed compression program.  If you pass it just the name of a compression program, it will call that program with known-working arguments.  If you pass a quoted string with arguments, it will be called with exactly those arguments.  Depending on what you pass, this may result in an initramfs that the kernel cannot decompress.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--no-compress</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>Do not compress the generated initramfs. This will override any other compression options.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>--list-modules</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>List all available dracut modules.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <option>-M</option>
          </term>
          <term>
            <option>--show-modules</option>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>Print included module's name to standard output during build.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
      </variablelist>
    </refsect2>
  </refsect1>
  <refsect1>
    <title>Files</title>
    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <filename>/var/log/dracut.log</filename>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>logfile of initramfs image creation</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <filename>/tmp/dracut.log</filename>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>logfile of initramfs image creation, if <filename>/var/log/dracut.log</filename> is not writable</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <filename>/etc/dracut.conf</filename>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>see <citerefentry>
              <refentrytitle>dracut.conf</refentrytitle>
              <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
            </citerefentry></para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <filename>/etc/dracut.conf.d/*.conf</filename>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>see <citerefentry>
              <refentrytitle>dracut.conf</refentrytitle>
              <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
            </citerefentry></para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
    <refsect2>
      <title>Configuration in the Initramfs</title>
      <variablelist>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <filename>/etc/conf.d/</filename>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>Any files found in <filename>/etc/conf.d/</filename> will be sourced in the initramfs to
set initial values. Command line options will override these values 
set in the configuration files.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
        <varlistentry>
          <term>
            <filename>/etc/cmdline</filename>
          </term>
          <listitem>
            <para>Can contain additional command line options.</para>
          </listitem>
        </varlistentry>
      </variablelist>
    </refsect2>
  </refsect1>
  <refsect1>
    <title>Availability</title>
    <para>The dracut command is part of the dracut package and is available from
<ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/dracut/wiki">http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/dracut/wiki</ulink></para>
  </refsect1>
  <refsect1>
    <title>See Also</title>
    <para>
      <citerefentry>
        <refentrytitle>dracut.kernel</refentrytitle>
        <manvolnum>7</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>
      <citerefentry>
        <refentrytitle>dracut.conf</refentrytitle>
        <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>
    </para>
  </refsect1>
</refentry>