9 dracut - low-level tool for generating an initramfs image
13 *dracut* [__OPTION...__] [__<image>__ [__<kernel version>__]]
18 Create an initramfs <image> for the kernel with the version <kernel version>.
19 If <kernel version> is omitted, then the version of the actual running
20 kernel is used. If <image> is omitted or empty, then the default location
21 /boot/initramfs-<kernel version>.img is used.
23 dracut creates an initial image used by the kernel for preloading the block
24 device modules (such as IDE, SCSI or RAID) which are needed to access the root
25 filesystem, mounting the root filesystem and booting into the real system.
27 At boot time, the kernel unpacks that archive into RAM disk, mounts and uses it
28 as initial root file system. All finding of the root device happens in this
31 For a complete list of kernel command line options see *dracut.cmdline*(7).
33 If you are dropped to an emergency shell, while booting your initramfs,
34 the file _/run/initramfs/rdsosreport.txt_ is created, which can be saved to a
35 (to be mounted by hand) partition (usually /boot) or a USB stick.
36 Additional debugging info can be produced by adding **rd.debug** to the kernel
37 command line. _/run/initramfs/rdsosreport.txt_ contains all logs and the output
38 of some tools. It should be attached to any report about dracut problems.
43 include::dracut.usage.asc[]
47 **--kver** _<kernel version>_::
48 set the kernel version. This enables to specify the kernel version, without
49 specifying the location of the initramfs image. For example:
51 # dracut --kver 3.5.0-0.rc7.git1.2.fc18.x86_64
55 overwrite existing initramfs file.
57 **-m, --modules** _<list of dracut modules>_::
58 specify a space-separated list of dracut modules to call when building the
59 initramfs. Modules are located in _/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d_. This
60 parameter can be specified multiple times.
63 ===============================
64 If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put these in quotes. For
67 # dracut --modules "module1 module2" ...
69 ===============================
71 **-o, --omit** _<list of dracut modules>_::
72 omit a space-separated list of dracut modules. This parameter can be
73 specified multiple times.
76 ===============================
77 If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put these in quotes. For
80 # dracut --omit "module1 module2" ...
82 ===============================
84 **-a, --add** _<list of dracut modules>_::
85 add a space-separated list of dracut modules to the default set of modules.
86 This parameter can be specified multiple times.
89 ===============================
90 If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put these in quotes. For
93 # dracut --add "module1 module2" ...
95 ===============================
97 **--force-add** _<list of dracut modules>_::
98 force to add a space-separated list of dracut modules to the default set of
99 modules, when -H is specified. This parameter can be specified multiple
103 ===============================
104 If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put these in quotes. For
107 # dracut --force-add "module1 module2" ...
109 ===============================
111 **-d, --drivers** _<list of kernel modules>_::
112 specify a space-separated list of kernel modules to exclusively include
113 in the initramfs. The kernel modules have to be specified without the ".ko"
114 suffix. This parameter can be specified multiple times.
117 ===============================
118 If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put these in quotes. For
121 # dracut --drivers "kmodule1 kmodule2" ...
123 ===============================
125 **--add-drivers** _<list of kernel modules>_::
126 specify a space-separated list of kernel modules to add to the initramfs.
127 The kernel modules have to be specified without the ".ko" suffix. This
128 parameter can be specified multiple times.
131 ===============================
132 If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put these in quotes. For
135 # dracut --add-drivers "kmodule1 kmodule2" ...
137 ===============================
139 **--force-drivers** _<list of kernel modules>_::
140 See add-drivers above. But in this case it is ensured that the drivers
141 are tried to be loaded early via modprobe.
144 ===============================
145 If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put these in quotes. For
148 # dracut --force-drivers "kmodule1 kmodule2" ...
150 ===============================
152 **--omit-drivers** _<list of kernel modules>_::
153 specify a space-separated list of kernel modules not to add to the
155 The kernel modules have to be specified without the ".ko" suffix. This
156 parameter can be specified multiple times.
159 ===============================
160 If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put these in quotes. For
163 # dracut --omit-drivers "kmodule1 kmodule2" ...
165 ===============================
167 **--filesystems** _<list of filesystems>_::
168 specify a space-separated list of kernel filesystem modules to exclusively
169 include in the generic initramfs. This parameter can be specified multiple
173 ===============================
174 If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put these in quotes. For
177 # dracut --filesystems "filesystem1 filesystem2" ...
179 ===============================
181 **-k, --kmoddir** _<kernel directory>_::
182 specify the directory, where to look for kernel modules
184 **--fwdir** _<dir>[:<dir>...]++_::
185 specify additional directories, where to look for firmwares. This parameter
186 can be specified multiple times.
188 **--kernel-cmdline <parameters>**::
189 specify default kernel command line parameters
193 only install kernel drivers and firmware files
196 do not install kernel drivers and firmware files
198 **--early-microcode**::
199 Combine early microcode with ramdisk
201 **--no-early-microcode**::
202 Do not combine early microcode with ramdisk
204 **--print-cmdline**::
205 print the kernel command line for the current disk layout
208 include local _/etc/mdadm.conf_
211 do not include local _/etc/mdadm.conf_
214 include local _/etc/lvm/lvm.conf_
217 do not include local _/etc/lvm/lvm.conf_
220 add a space-separated list of fsck tools, in addition to _dracut.conf_'s
221 specification; the installation is opportunistic (non-existing tools are
225 ===============================
226 If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put these in quotes. For
229 # dracut --fscks "fsck.foo barfsck" ...
231 ===============================
234 inhibit installation of any fsck tools
237 strip binaries in the initramfs (default)
240 do not strip binaries in the initramfs
243 prelink binaries in the initramfs (default)
246 do not prelink binaries in the initramfs
249 hardlink files in the initramfs (default)
252 do not hardlink files in the initramfs
254 **--prefix** _<dir>_::
255 prefix initramfs files with the specified directory
258 do not prefix initramfs files (default)
261 display help text and exit.
264 output debug information of the build process
267 increase verbosity level (default is info(4))
269 **-q, --quiet**:: decrease verbosity level (default is info(4))
271 **-c, --conf** _<dracut configuration file>_::
272 specify configuration file to use.
277 **--confdir** _<configuration directory>_::
278 specify configuration directory to use.
283 **--tmpdir** _<temporary directory>_::
284 specify temporary directory to use.
289 **--sshkey** _<sshkey file>_:: ssh key file used with ssh-client module.
291 **--logfile** _<logfile>_:: logfile to use; overrides any setting from
292 the configuration files.
295 _/var/log/dracut.log_
298 activates the local mode. dracut will use modules from the current working
299 directory instead of the system-wide installed modules in
300 _/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d_.
301 This is useful when running dracut from a git checkout.
304 Host-Only mode: Install only what is needed for booting the local host
305 instead of a generic host and generate host-specific configuration.
309 If chrooted to another root other than the real root device, use "--fstab" and
310 provide a valid _/etc/fstab_.
313 **-N, --no-hostonly**::
314 Disable Host-Only mode
316 **--hostonly-cmdline**:
317 Store kernel command line arguments needed in the initramfs
319 **--no-hostonly-cmdline**:
320 Do not store kernel command line arguments needed in the initramfs
322 **--persistent-policy** _<policy>_::
323 Use _<policy>_ to address disks and partitions.
324 _<policy>_ can be any directory name found in /dev/disk.
325 E.g. "by-uuid", "by-label"
328 Use _/etc/fstab_ instead of _/proc/self/mountinfo_.
330 **--add-fstab** _<filename>_::
331 Add entries of _<filename>_ to the initramfs /etc/fstab.
333 **--mount** "_<device>_ _<mountpoint>_ _<filesystem type>_ [_<filesystem options>_ [_<dump frequency>_ [_<fsck order>_]]]"::
334 Mount _<device>_ on _<mountpoint>_ with _<filesystem type>_ in the
335 initramfs. _<filesystem options>_, _<dump options>_ and _<fsck order>_ can
336 be specified, see fstab manpage for the details.
337 The default _<filesystem options>_ is "defaults".
338 The default _<dump frequency>_ is "0".
339 the default _<fsck order>_ is "2".
341 **--add-device** _<device>_ ::
342 Bring up _<device>_ in initramfs, _<device>_ should be the device name.
343 This can be useful in hostonly mode for resume support when your swap is on
344 LVM or an encrypted partition.
345 [NB --device can be used for compatibility with earlier releases]
347 **-i, --include** _<SOURCE>_ _<TARGET>_::
348 include the files in the SOURCE directory into the
349 TARGET directory in the final initramfs. If SOURCE is a file, it will be
350 installed to TARGET in the final initramfs. This parameter can be specified
353 **-I, --install** _<file list>_::
354 install the space separated list of files into the initramfs.
357 ===============================
358 If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put these in quotes. For
361 # dracut --install "/bin/foo /sbin/bar" ...
363 ===============================
365 **--install-optional** _<file list>_::
366 install the space separated list of files into the initramfs, if they exist.
369 Compress the generated initramfs using gzip. This will be done by default,
370 unless another compression option or --no-compress is passed. Equivalent to
374 Compress the generated initramfs using bzip2.
378 Make sure your kernel has bzip2 decompression support compiled in, otherwise you
379 will not be able to boot. Equivalent to "--compress=bzip2"
383 Compress the generated initramfs using lzma.
387 Make sure your kernel has lzma decompression support compiled in, otherwise you
388 will not be able to boot. Equivalent to "lzma --compress=lzma -9"
392 Compress the generated initramfs using xz.
396 Make sure your kernel has xz decompression support compiled in, otherwise you
397 will not be able to boot. Equivalent to
398 "lzma --compress=xz --check=crc32 --lzma2=dict=1MiB"
402 Compress the generated initramfs using lzop.
405 Make sure your kernel has lzo decompression support compiled in, otherwise you
406 will not be able to boot.
410 Compress the generated initramfs using lz4.
413 Make sure your kernel has lz4 decompression support compiled in, otherwise you
414 will not be able to boot.
417 **--compress** _<compressor>_::
418 Compress the generated initramfs using the passed compression program. If
419 you pass it just the name of a compression program, it will call that
420 program with known-working arguments. If you pass a quoted string with
421 arguments, it will be called with exactly those arguments. Depending on what
422 you pass, this may result in an initramfs that the kernel cannot decompress.
425 Do not compress the generated initramfs. This will override any other
429 Create reproducible images.
432 List all available dracut modules.
434 **-M, --show-modules**::
435 Print included module's name to standard output during build.
438 Keep the initramfs temporary directory for debugging purposes.
441 Print out the module install size
444 Output profile information of the build process
447 Mount / and /usr read-only by default.
449 **-L, --stdlog** _<level>_::
450 [0-6] Specify logging level (to standard error)
452 0 - suppress any messages
453 1 - only fatal errors
457 5 - debug info (here starts lots of output)
458 6 - trace info (and even more)
461 **--regenerate-all**::
462 Regenerate all initramfs images at the default location with the kernel
463 versions found on the system. Additional parameters are passed through.
465 **--loginstall _<DIR>_::
466 Log all files installed from the host to _<DIR>_.
469 Instead of creating an initramfs image, dracut will create an UEFI executable,
470 which can be executed by an UEFI BIOS.
472 **--uefi-stub _<FILE>_::
473 Specifies the UEFI stub loader, which will load the attached kernel, initramfs and
474 kernel command line and boots the kernel. The default is
475 _/lib/systemd/boot/efi/linux<EFI-MACHINE-TYPE-NAME>.efi.stub_
476 or _/usr/lib/gummiboot/linux<EFI-MACHINE-TYPE-NAME>.efi.stub_
478 **--kernel-image _<FILE>_::
479 Specifies the kernel image, which to include in the UEFI executable. The default is
480 _/lib/modules/<KERNEL-VERSION>/vmlinuz_ or _/boot/vmlinuz-<KERNEL-VERSION>_
484 _/var/log/dracut.log_::
485 logfile of initramfs image creation
488 logfile of initramfs image creation, if _/var/log/dracut.log_ is not
494 _/etc/dracut.conf.d/*.conf_::
497 _/usr/lib/dracut/dracut.conf.d/*.conf_::
500 Configuration in the initramfs
501 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
503 Any files found in _/etc/conf.d/_ will be sourced in the initramfs to
504 set initial values. Command line options will override these values
505 set in the configuration files.
508 Can contain additional command line options. Deprecated, better use
509 /etc/cmdline.d/*.conf.
511 _/etc/cmdline.d/*.conf_::
512 Can contain additional command line options.
516 The dracut command is part of the dracut package and is available from
517 link:$$https://dracut.wiki.kernel.org$$[https://dracut.wiki.kernel.org]
539 *dracut.cmdline*(7) *dracut.conf*(5)