Slackware 13.0slackware-13.0

Wed Aug 26 10:00:38 CDT 2009
Slackware 13.0 x86_64 is released as stable!  Thanks to everyone who
helped make this release possible -- see the RELEASE_NOTES for the
credits.  The ISOs are off to the replicator.  This time it will be a
6 CD-ROM 32-bit set and a dual-sided 32-bit/64-bit x86/x86_64 DVD.
We're taking pre-orders now at store.slackware.com.  Please consider
picking up a copy to help support the project.  Once again, thanks to
the entire Slackware community for all the help testing and fixing
things and offering suggestions during this development cycle.
As always, have fun and enjoy!  -P.

1 files changed, 194 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/source/a/mkinitrd/mkinitrd.8 b/source/a/mkinitrd/mkinitrd.8
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+.\" -*- nroff -*-
+.ds g \" empty
+.ds G \" empty
+.\" Like TP, but if specified indent is more than half
+.\" the current line-length - indent, use the default indent.
+.de Tp
+.ie \\n(.$=0:((0\\$1)*2u>(\\n(.lu-\\n(.iu)) .TP
+.el .TP "\\$1"
+..
+.TH MKINITRD 8 "04 March 2008" "Slackware Version 12.1"
+.SH NAME
+mkinitrd \- create or rebuilt an initrd (initial ramdisk) using initramfs (simple cpio+gzip).
+.SH SYNOPSIS
+.B mkinitrd
+[
+.B \-F
+]
+[
+.B \-c
+]
+[
+.B \-f filesystem
+]
+[
+.B \-h hibernate_partition
+]
+[
+.B \-k kernel_version
+]
+[
+.B \-m module1:module2:module3...
+]
+[
+.B \-o output_file
+]
+[
+.B \-r root_device
+]
+[
+.B \-s source_tree
+]
+[
+.B \-C crypt_device
+]
+[
+.B \-L
+]
+[
+.B \-R
+]
+[
+.B \-V
+]
+.SH DESCRIPTION
+.B mkinitrd
+is used to build an initial ramdisk.  An initial ramdisk is a very small
+set of files that are loaded into RAM and "mounted" (as initramfs doesn't
+actually use a filesystem) as the kernel boots (before the main root
+filesystem is mounted).  The usual reason to use an initrd is because
+you need to load kernel modules before mounting the root partition.
+Usually these modules are required to support the filesystem used by the
+root partition (ext3, reiserfs, xfs), or perhaps the controller that the
+hard drive is attached to (SCSI, RAID, etc).  Essentially, there are so many
+different options available in modern Linux kernels that it isn't practical
+to try to ship many different kernels to try to cover everyone's needs.
+It's a lot more flexible to ship a generic kernel and a set of kernel
+modules for it.
+.SH OPTIONS
+.TP
+.B \-F
+Use the contents of /etc/mkinitrd.conf as options to mkinitrd (optional).
+If this is used in conjunction with any other options passed on the command 
+line, the command-line options will override the config file options.  
+.br
+See mkinitrd.conf(5) for details.
+.TP
+.B \-c
+Clear the existing initrd tree (by default in /boot/initrd-tree/) first.
+If this is not done, running mkinitrd will add additional modules to the
+existing initrd.
+.TP
+.B \-f filesystem
+Specify the filesystem to use for the root partition.  If this isn't given,
+mount will usually figure it out.  This option must be used together with the
+\-r option in order to be beneficial.
+.TP
+.B \--help
+Display a help summary.
+.TP
+.B \-h hibernate_partition
+Specify the swap partition holding the hibernation image.
+.TP
+.B \-k kernel version
+Use kernel modules from the specified kernel version.  mkinitrd will look
+for them in /lib/modules/(kernel version).
+.TP
+.B \-l keymap
+Load an alternative keyboard mapping. All supported keyboard mappings
+can be found in /usr/share/mkinitrd/keymaps.tar.gz
+Leave the '.bmap' out when you supply this parameter. E.g. '-l nl' will 
+add support for dutch keyboard mapping to the initrd.
+.TP
+.B \-m module list
+This is a list of colon-delimited modules to build into the initrd.
+Any dependencies of requested modules will also be added to the initrd.
+Additional options may be added to use when loading the kernel modules
+(but in this case the entire list must be wrapped with double quotes). 
+.TP
+.B \-o output image
+The file to write the initrd to.  (default: /boot/initrd.gz)
+.TP
+.B \-r root partition
+Specify the device to be used as the root partition.  If this isn't given, the
+kernel default will be used (which is usually fine).  This option must be used
+together with the \-f option in order to be beneficial.
+.TP
+.B \-s source tree
+The directory to use as the source for the initrd.  (default: /boot/initrd-tree/)
+.TP
+.B \-w
+The -w option specifies how long to wait in seconds before assuming that all the
+drives are spun up and ready to go.
+.TP
+.B \-C
+Use cryptsetup to enable the underlying device of an encrypted root partition.
+Requires '-r' parameter.  Two scenarios are possible.
+.br
+(1) root filesystem was created on the encrypted disk/LVM partition, example:
+
+  -C /dev/sda2 -r cryptroot
+
+where /dev/sda2 is the encrypted partition and the actual root device name in /etc/fstab is:
+
+  /dev/mapper/cryptroot
+
+(2) the encrypted partition contains a LVM volume which holds the root filesystem, example:
+
+  -C /dev/sda2 -r /dev/vg/root
+
+where /dev/sda2 is the encrypted partition and the actual root device name in /etc/fstab is:
+
+  /dev/vg/root
+.TP
+.B \-L
+This option adds LVM support to the initrd, if the tools are
+available on the system.
+.TP
+.B \-R
+This option adds RAID support to the initrd, if a static mdadm binary is
+available on the system.
+.TP
+.B \-V
+Display version information and exit.
+.SH EXAMPLES
+A simple example:  Build an initrd for a reiserfs root partition:
+
+  mkinitrd -c -m reiserfs
+
+Another example:  Build an initrd image using Linux 2.6.24.5 kernel
+modules for a system with an ext3 root partition on /dev/hdb3:
+
+  mkinitrd -c -k 2.6.24.5 -m ext3 -f ext3 -r /dev/hdb3
+
+If run without options, mkinitrd will rebuild an initrd image using
+the contents of the $SOURCE_TREE directory, or, if that directory
+does not exist it will be created and populated, and then mkinitrd
+will exit.  These options are handy for building an initrd mostly
+by hand.  After creating /boot/initrd-tree/, you can add modules and
+edit files by hand, and then rerun mkinitrd to create the initrd.
+
+Once the initrd is created, you'll need to tell your boot loader
+to load it.  If you boot with LILO, you will need to add an initrd
+line to /etc/lilo.conf.  Here's a section of lilo.conf that shows
+how to set this up:
+
+ # Linux bootable partition config begins
+ image = /boot/vmlinuz-generic-2.6.24.5
+   initrd = /boot/initrd.gz
+   root = /dev/hda6
+   label = Linux26245
+   read-only
+ # Linux bootable partition config ends
+
+Once you've created the initrd and editing /etc/lilo.conf, you will
+need to run 'lilo' to write out the changed boot block.  The next
+time you reboot the initrd should be loaded along with the kernel.
+
+Have fun!
+
+.SH SEE ALSO
+mkinitrd.conf (5)
+
+.SH AUTHOR
+Patrick J. Volkerding <volkerdi@slackware.com>