swift 12/04/05 19:40:55 Modified: metadoc.xml Added: initramfs-guide.xml Log: Fix bug #408971 - Add an initramfs-guide
Revision Changes Path 1.238 xml/htdocs/doc/en/metadoc.xml file : http://sources.gentoo.org/viewvc.cgi/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/metadoc.xml?rev=1.238&view=markup plain: http://sources.gentoo.org/viewvc.cgi/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/metadoc.xml?rev=1.238&content-type=text/plain diff : http://sources.gentoo.org/viewvc.cgi/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/metadoc.xml?r1=1.237&r2=1.238 Index: metadoc.xml =================================================================== RCS file: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/metadoc.xml,v retrieving revision 1.237 retrieving revision 1.238 diff -u -r1.237 -r1.238 --- metadoc.xml 15 Jan 2012 15:54:44 -0000 1.237 +++ metadoc.xml 5 Apr 2012 19:40:55 -0000 1.238 @@ -1,8 +1,8 @@ <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE metadoc SYSTEM "/dtd/metadoc.dtd"> -<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/metadoc.xml,v 1.237 2012/01/15 15:54:44 swift Exp $ --> +<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/metadoc.xml,v 1.238 2012/04/05 19:40:55 swift Exp $ --> <metadoc lang="en"> - <version>1.159</version> + <version>1.160</version> <members> <lead>nightmorph</lead> <member>cam</member> @@ -357,6 +357,7 @@ <file id="conky">/doc/en/conky-howto.xml</file> <file id="man-guide">/doc/en/man-guide.xml</file> <file id="info-guide">/doc/en/info-guide.xml</file> + <file id="initramfs-guide">/doc/en/initramfs-guide.xml</file> <file id="java-upgrade">/proj/en/java/java-upgrade.xml</file> <file id="kernel-config">/doc/en/kernel-config.xml</file> <file id="zsh">/doc/en/zsh.xml</file> @@ -1093,6 +1094,9 @@ <doc fileid="info-guide"> <memberof>sysadmin_general</memberof> </doc> + <doc fileid="initramfs-guide"> + <memberof>sysadmin_general</memberof> + </doc> <doc fileid="java-upgrade"> <memberof>upgrade</memberof> </doc> 1.1 xml/htdocs/doc/en/initramfs-guide.xml file : http://sources.gentoo.org/viewvc.cgi/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/initramfs-guide.xml?rev=1.1&view=markup plain: http://sources.gentoo.org/viewvc.cgi/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/initramfs-guide.xml?rev=1.1&content-type=text/plain Index: initramfs-guide.xml =================================================================== <?xml version='1.0' encoding="UTF-8"?> <!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/initramfs-guide.xml,v 1.1 2012/04/05 19:40:55 swift Exp $ --> <!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd"> <guide> <title>Gentoo Linux Initial RAM File System Guide</title> <author title="Author"> <mail link="sw...@gentoo.org">Sven Vermeulen</mail> </author> <abstract> More and more systems require an initramfs to boot up properly. In this guide, we tackle the concepts of the initramfs as well as how to properly create and manage initramfs instances. </abstract> <!-- The content of this document is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license --> <!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0 --> <license/> <version>1</version> <date>2012-03-31</date> <chapter> <title>Initramfs concepts</title> <section> <title>Introduction</title> <body> <p> For many users, an initramfs system is of no concern. Their system uses a simple partitioning schema with no exotic drivers or setups (like encrypted file systems), so the Linux kernel is well able to hand over control to the <c>init</c> binary on their system. But for many systems, an initramfs is almost mandatory. </p> <p> The key concept to understanding what an initramfs is (or is needed for) is to understand how the Linux boot process works, even in a high-level approach. </p> </body> </section> <section> <title>Linux boot process</title> <body> <p> Once the Linux kernel has control over the system (which it gets after being loaded by the boot loader), it prepares its memory structures and drivers as good as it can. It then hands over control to an application (usually <c>init</c>) whose task it is to further prepare the system and make sure that, at the end of the boot process, all necessary services are running and the user is able to log on. The <c>init</c> application does that by launching, amongst other services, the <c>udev</c> daemon who will further load up and prepare the system based on the detected devices. When <c>udev</c> is launched, all remaining file systems that have not been mounted are mounted, and the remainder of services is started. </p> <p> For systems where all necessary files and tools reside on the same file system, the <c>init</c> application can perfectly control the further boot process. But when multiple file systems are defined (or more exotic installations are done), this might become a bit more tricky: </p> <ul> <li> When the <path>/usr</path> partition is on a separate file system, tools and drivers that have files stored within <path>/usr</path> cannot be used unless <path>/usr</path> is available. If those tools are needed to make <path>/usr</path> available, then we cannot boot up the system. </li> <li> If the root file system is encrypted, then the Linux kernel will not be able to find the <c>init</c> application, resulting in an unbootable system. </li> </ul> <p> The solution for this problem has since long been to use an <e>initrd</e> (initial root device). </p> </body> </section> <section> <title>The initial root disk</title> <body> <p> The <e>initrd</e> is an in-memory disk structure (ramdisk) that contains the necessary tools and scripts to mount the needed file systems before control is handed over to the <c>init</c> application on the root file system. The Linux kernel triggers the setup script (usually called <c>linuxrc</c> but that is not mandatory) on this root disk, which prepares the system, switches to the real root file system and then calls <c>init</c>. </p> <p> Although the initrd method is all that is needed, it had a few drawbacks: </p> <ul> <li> It is a full-fledged block device, requiring the overhead of an entire file system on it, and has a fixed size. Choose an initrd that is too small, and you won't be able to fit in all needed scripts. Make it too big, and you're wasting memory. </li> <li> Because it is a real device, it also consumes cache memory in the Linux kernel and is prone to the memory- and file management methods in use (such as paging), making it even worse in memory consumption. </li> </ul> <p> To resolve these (for some perhaps hardly called) issues, the initramfs was created. </p> </body> </section> <section> <title>The initial ram file system</title> <body> <p> An <e>initramfs</e> is an initial ram file system based on <e>tmpfs</e> (a size-flexible, in-memory lightweight file system), which also didn't use a separate block device (so no caching was done and all overhead mentioned earlier disappears). Just like the initrd, it contains the tools and scripts needed to mount the file systems before the <c>init</c> binary on the real root file system is called. These tools can be decryption abstraction layers (for encrypted file systems), logical volume managers, software raid, bluetooth driver based file system loaders, etc. </p> <p> The content of the initramfs is made by creating a cpio archive. <c>cpio</c> is an old (but proven) file archiver solution (and its resulting archive files are called <e>cpio files</e>). You can definitely compare it to <c>tar</c>. The choice of <c>cpio</c> here was because it is easier to implement (code-wise) and supported (back then) device files (which <c>tar</c> couldn't). </p> <p> All files, tools, libraries, configuration settings (if applicable), etc. are put into the cpio archive. This archive is then compressed using the <c>gzip</c> utility and stored alongside the Linux kernel. The boot loader will then offer it to the Linux kernel at boot time so the kernel knows an initramfs is needed. </p> <p> Once detected, the Linux kernel will create a tmpfs file system, extract the contents of the archive on it, and then launches the <c>init</c> script located in the root of the tmpfs file system. This script will then mount the real root file system (after making sure it can mount it, for instance by loading additional modules, preparing an encryption abstraction layer, etc.) as well as vital other file systems (such as <path>/usr</path> and <path>/var</path>). </p> <p> Once the root file system and the other vital file systems are mounted, the <c>init</c> script from the initramfs will switch the root towards the real root file system and finally call the <c>/sbin/init</c> on that system to continue the boot process. </p> </body> </section> </chapter> <chapter> <title>Creating an initramfs</title> <section> <title>Introduction and bootloader configuration</title> <body> <p> To create an initramfs, it is important that you know what additional drivers, scripts and tools you need to boot your system. For instance, if you use LVM, then you will need to support LVM tools on the initramfs. Likewise, if you use software RAID, you need <c>mdadm</c>, etc. </p> <p> Some tools exist that help you create initramfs' (compressed cpio archives) for your system. But for those that want total control, you can easily create your own initramfs as well. </p> <p> Once created, you will need to adjust the bootloader configuration to tell it that an initramfs is to be used. For instance, if the initramfs file is stored as <path>/boot/initramfs-3.2.2-gentoo-r5</path>, then the configuration in <path>/boot/grub/grub.conf</path> could look like so: </p> <pre caption="Example entry in grub.conf for booting with an initramfs"> title Gentoo Linux 3.2.2-r5 root (hd0,0) kernel /boot/kernel-3.2.2-gentoo-r5 initrd /boot/initramfs-3.2.2-gentoo-r5 </pre> </body> </section> <section id="genkernel"> <title>Using genkernel</title> <body> <p> Gentoo's kernel building utility, <c>genkernel</c>, can be used to generate an initramfs, even if you didn't use <c>genkernel</c> to configure and build your kernel. </p> <p> To use <c>genkernel</c> for generating an initramfs, it is recommended that you include all necessary drivers and code that is needed to mount your <path>/</path> and <path>/usr</path> file systems in the kernel (and not as modules). Then, call <c>genkernel</c> as follows: </p> <pre caption="Running genkernel to setup an initramfs"> # <i>genkernel --install --no-ramdisk-modules initramfs</i> </pre> <p> Depending on your system, you might want to add one or more of the following options: </p> <table> <tr> <th>Option</th> <th>Description</th> </tr> <tr> <ti>--disklabel</ti> <ti>Add support for <c>LABEL=</c> settings in your <path>/etc/fstab</path></ti> </tr> <tr> <ti>--dmraid</ti> <ti>Add support for fake hardware RAID</ti> </tr> <tr> <ti>--firmware</ti> <ti>Add in firmware code found on the system</ti> </tr> <tr> <ti>--gpg</ti> <ti>Add in GnuPG support</ti> </tr> <tr> <ti>--iscsi</ti> <ti>Add support for iSCSI</ti> </tr> <tr> <ti>--luks</ti> <ti>Add support for luks encryption containers</ti> </tr> <tr> <ti>--lvm</ti> <ti>Add support for LVM</ti> </tr> <tr> <ti>--mdadm</ti> <ti>Add support for software RAID</ti> </tr> <tr> <ti>--multipath</ti> <ti>Add support for multiple I/O access towards a SAN</ti> </tr> <tr> <ti>--zfs</ti> <ti>Add support for ZFS</ti> </tr> </table> <p> When finished, the resulting initramfs file will be stored in your <path>/boot</path>. </p> </body> </section> <section id="dracut"> <title>Using dracut</title> <body> <warn> At the time of writing, dracut is not marked stable yet, so you might need to unmask it before continuing. </warn> <p> The <c>dracut</c> utility is created for the sole purpose of managing initramfs files. It uses a highly modular approach on which support you want to include and which not. </p> <p> When you install <c>dracut</c>, you will need to take care to include support for the correct <c>DRACUT_MODULES</c>. This is a variable you can set in <path>/etc/make.conf</path> to include support for specific setups: </p> <pre caption="Preparing to install dracut"> DRACUT_MODULES="dmraid lvm syslog -biosdevname -btrfs -caps -crypt -crypt-gpg -dmsquash-live -gensplash -iscsi -livenet -mdraid -multipath -nbd -nfs -plymouth -ssh-client" </pre> <p> It is adviseable to set (or unset) those modules you need (and don't need). Afterwards, <c>emerge dracut</c> to install the utility on your system. </p> <p> The next step is to configure <c>dracut</c> by editing <path>/etc/dracut.conf</path>. In the configuration file, which is well commented, you can add in support for specific modules where needed. </p> <p> Once configured, create an initramfs by calling <c>dracut</c> as follows: </p> <pre caption="Calling dracut to generate an initramfs"> # <i>dracut</i> </pre> <p> The resulting image supports generic system boots based on the configuration in <path>/etc/dracut.conf</path>. You can also opt to generate an initramfs specifically tailored to your system (in which <c>dracut</c> tries to detect the needed tools, drivers, etc. from your existing system). If you know that the needed support (code and drivers) is built in in your kernel (and not as module), then you can even add in <c>--no-kernel</c>: </p> <pre caption="Allowing dracut to generate a host-specific initramfs"> # <i>dracut --host-only --no-kernel</i> </pre> <p> For more information, check out the <c>dracut</c> and <c>dracut.cmdline</c> manual pages. </p> </body> </section> </chapter> <chapter> <title>Additional resources</title> <section> <title>Gentoo-specific</title> <body> <ul> <li> <uri link="http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Initramfs";>Initramfs</uri> on Gentoo-wiki.com </li> <li> <uri link="http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Initramfs";>Initramfs</uri> on the official Gentoo Wiki </li> <li> <uri link="http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Dracut";>Dracut</uri> on the official Gentoo Wiki </li> </ul> </body> </section> <section> <title>General resources</title> <body> <ul> <li> <uri link="https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/filesystems/ramfs-rootfs-initramfs.txt";>ramfs-rootfs-initramfs.txt</uri> within the Linux kernel documentation </li> </ul> </body> </section> </chapter> </guide>
