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INITRD(4)                  Linux Programmer's Manual                 INITRD(4)

NAME
       initrd - boot loader initialized RAM disk

CONFIGURATION
       /dev/initrd is a read-only block device assigned major number 1 and mi-
       nor number 250.  Typically /dev/initrd is owned by root:disk with  mode
       0400  (read  access  by  root only).  If the Linux system does not have
       /dev/initrd already created, it can be created with the following  com-
       mands:

           mknod -m 400 /dev/initrd b 1 250
           chown root:disk /dev/initrd

       Also,  support  for  both "RAM disk" and "Initial RAM disk" (e.g., CON-
       FIG_BLK_DEV_RAM=y and CONFIG_BLK_DEV_INITRD=y)  must  be  compiled  di-
       rectly  into the Linux kernel to use /dev/initrd.  When using /dev/ini-
       trd, the RAM disk driver cannot be loaded as a module.

DESCRIPTION
       The special file /dev/initrd is a read-only block device.  This  device
       is a RAM disk that is initialized (e.g., loaded) by the boot loader be-
       fore the kernel is started.  The kernel then can use /dev/initrd's con-
       tents for a two-phase system boot-up.

       In  the first boot-up phase, the kernel starts up and mounts an initial
       root filesystem from the contents of /dev/initrd (e.g., RAM  disk  ini-
       tialized  by the boot loader).  In the second phase, additional drivers
       or other modules are loaded from the initial  root  device's  contents.
       After  loading the additional modules, a new root filesystem (i.e., the
       normal root filesystem) is mounted from a different device.

   Boot-up operation
       When booting up with initrd, the system boots as follows:

       1. The boot loader loads the kernel program and /dev/initrd's  contents
          into memory.

       2. On  kernel  startup, the kernel uncompresses and copies the contents
          of the device /dev/initrd onto device /dev/ram0 and then  frees  the
          memory used by /dev/initrd.

       3. The  kernel  then read-write mounts the device /dev/ram0 as the ini-
          tial root filesystem.

       4. If the indicated normal root filesystem is  also  the  initial  root
          filesystem  (e.g., /dev/ram0) then the kernel skips to the last step
          for the usual boot sequence.

       5. If the executable file /linuxrc  is  present  in  the  initial  root
          filesystem,  /linuxrc  is  executed  with UID 0.  (The file /linuxrc
          must have executable permission.  The file /linuxrc can be any valid
          executable, including a shell script.)

       6. If  /linuxrc is not executed or when /linuxrc terminates, the normal
          root filesystem is mounted.  (If /linuxrc exits with any filesystems
          mounted  on  the  initial  root filesystem, then the behavior of the
          kernel is UNSPECIFIED.  See the NOTES section for the current kernel
          behavior.)

       7. If  the  normal  root filesystem has a directory /initrd, the device
          /dev/ram0 is moved from / to /initrd.  Otherwise, if  the  directory
          /initrd  does  not  exist, the device /dev/ram0 is unmounted.  (When
          moved from / to /initrd, /dev/ram0 is not  unmounted  and  therefore
          processes  can  remain running from /dev/ram0.  If directory /initrd
          does not exist on the normal root filesystem and any  processes  re-
          main running from /dev/ram0 when /linuxrc exits, the behavior of the
          kernel is UNSPECIFIED.  See the NOTES section for the current kernel
          behavior.)

       8. The  usual  boot  sequence  (e.g., invocation of /sbin/init) is per-
          formed on the normal root filesystem.

   Options
       The following boot loader options, when used with  initrd,  affect  the
       kernel's boot-up operation:

       initrd=filename
              Specifies  the file to load as the contents of /dev/initrd.  For
              LOADLIN this is a command-line option.  For LILO you have to use
              this  command  in  the LILO configuration file /etc/lilo.config.
              The filename specified with this  option  will  typically  be  a
              gzipped filesystem image.

       noinitrd
              This  boot option disables the two-phase boot-up operation.  The
              kernel performs the usual boot sequence as  if  /dev/initrd  was
              not  initialized.  With this option, any contents of /dev/initrd
              loaded into memory by the boot loader  contents  are  preserved.
              This  option  permits the contents of /dev/initrd to be any data
              and need not be limited to a filesystem image.  However,  device
              /dev/initrd  is  read-only  and  can be read only one time after
              system startup.

       root=device-name
              Specifies the device to be used as the normal  root  filesystem.
              For  LOADLIN  this is a command-line option.  For LILO this is a
              boot time option or can be used as an option line  in  the  LILO
              configuration  file  /etc/lilo.config.   The device specified by
              the this option must be a mountable  device  having  a  suitable
              root filesystem.

   Changing the normal root filesystem
       By  default,  the  kernel's settings (e.g., set in the kernel file with
       rdev(8) or compiled into the kernel file), or the  boot  loader  option
       setting  is  used  for the normal root filesystems.  For an NFS-mounted
       normal  root  filesystem,  one  has  to  use  the   nfs_root_name   and
       nfs_root_addrs  boot options to give the NFS settings.  For more infor-
       mation on NFS-mounted root see the kernel documentation file Documenta-
       tion/filesystems/nfs/nfsroot.txt   (or   Documentation/filesystems/nfs-
       root.txt before Linux 2.6.33).  For more  information  on  setting  the
       root filesystem see also the LILO and LOADLIN documentation.

       It  is  also  possible for the /linuxrc executable to change the normal
       root device.  For /linuxrc to change the normal root device, /proc must
       be mounted.  After mounting /proc, /linuxrc changes the normal root de-
       vice by writing into  the  proc  files  /proc/sys/kernel/real-root-dev,
       /proc/sys/kernel/nfs-root-name,   and  /proc/sys/kernel/nfs-root-addrs.
       For a physical root device, the root device is changed by having  /lin-
       uxrc  write  the  new root filesystem device number into /proc/sys/ker-
       nel/real-root-dev.  For an NFS root  filesystem,  the  root  device  is
       changed   by   having   /linuxrc  write  the  NFS  setting  into  files
       /proc/sys/kernel/nfs-root-name and /proc/sys/kernel/nfs-root-addrs  and
       then  writing  0xff  (e.g.,  the  pseudo-NFS-device  number)  into file
       /proc/sys/kernel/real-root-dev.  For example, the following shell  com-
       mand line would change the normal root device to /dev/hdb1:

           echo 0x365 >/proc/sys/kernel/real-root-dev

       For  an NFS example, the following shell command lines would change the
       normal root device to the NFS directory /var/nfsroot on  a  local  net-
       worked  NFS server with IP number 193.8.232.7 for a system with IP num-
       ber 193.8.232.2 and named "idefix":

           echo /var/nfsroot >/proc/sys/kernel/nfs-root-name
           echo 193.8.232.2:193.8.232.7::255.255.255.0:idefix \
               >/proc/sys/kernel/nfs-root-addrs
           echo 255 >/proc/sys/kernel/real-root-dev

       Note: The use of  /proc/sys/kernel/real-root-dev  to  change  the  root
       filesystem  is  obsolete.   See the Linux kernel source file Documenta-
       tion/admin-guide/initrd.rst (or Documentation/initrd.txt  before  Linux
       4.10) as well as pivot_root(2) and pivot_root(8) for information on the
       modern method of changing the root filesystem.

   Usage
       The main motivation for implementing initrd was to  allow  for  modular
       kernel configuration at system installation.

       A possible system installation scenario is as follows:

       1. The  loader  program boots from floppy or other media with a minimal
          kernel (e.g.,  support  for  /dev/ram,  /dev/initrd,  and  the  ext2
          filesystem) and loads /dev/initrd with a gzipped version of the ini-
          tial filesystem.

       2. The executable /linuxrc determines what is needed to (1)  mount  the
          normal  root filesystem (i.e., device type, device drivers, filesys-
          tem) and (2) the distribution media (e.g.,  CD-ROM,  network,  tape,
          ...).   This  can be done by asking the user, by auto-probing, or by
          using a hybrid approach.

       3. The executable /linuxrc loads the necessary modules from the initial
          root filesystem.

       4. The  executable  /linuxrc creates and populates the root filesystem.
          (At this stage the normal root filesystem does not have to be a com-
          pleted system yet.)

       5. The executable /linuxrc sets /proc/sys/kernel/real-root-dev, unmount
          /proc, the normal root filesystem and any other filesystems  it  has
          mounted, and then terminates.

       6. The kernel then mounts the normal root filesystem.

       7. Now  that  the  filesystem is accessible and intact, the boot loader
          can be installed.

       8. The boot loader is configured to load into /dev/initrd a  filesystem
          with  the  set  of  modules  that  was  used to bring up the system.
          (e.g., Device /dev/ram0 can be modified,  then  unmounted,  and  fi-
          nally, the image is written from /dev/ram0 to a file.)

       9. The  system is now bootable and additional installation tasks can be
          performed.

       The key role of /dev/initrd in the above is to reuse the  configuration
       data  during  normal  system operation without requiring initial kernel
       selection, a large generic kernel or, recompiling the kernel.

       A second scenario is for installations where Linux runs on systems with
       different  hardware  configurations in a single administrative network.
       In such cases, it may be desirable to use only a small set  of  kernels
       (ideally  only  one) and to keep the system-specific part of configura-
       tion information as small as possible.  In this case, create  a  common
       file  with  all needed modules.  Then, only the /linuxrc file or a file
       executed by /linuxrc would be different.

       A third scenario is more convenient recovery disks.   Because  informa-
       tion  like  the location of the root filesystem partition is not needed
       at boot time, the system loaded  from  /dev/initrd  can  use  a  dialog
       and/or auto-detection followed by a possible sanity check.

       Last  but  not  least, Linux distributions on CD-ROM may use initrd for
       easy installation from the CD-ROM.  The distribution can use LOADLIN to
       directly load /dev/initrd from CD-ROM without the need of any floppies.
       The distribution could also use a LILO boot floppy and then bootstrap a
       bigger RAM disk via /dev/initrd from the CD-ROM.

FILES
       /dev/initrd
       /dev/ram0
       /linuxrc
       /initrd

NOTES
       1. With  the  current  kernel, any filesystems that remain mounted when
          /dev/ram0 is moved from / to  /initrd  continue  to  be  accessible.
          However, the /proc/mounts entries are not updated.

       2. With  the  current kernel, if directory /initrd does not exist, then
          /dev/ram0 will not be fully unmounted if /dev/ram0 is  used  by  any
          process  or  has  any filesystem mounted on it.  If /dev/ram0 is not
          fully unmounted, then /dev/ram0 will remain in memory.

       3. Users of /dev/initrd should not depend on the behavior give  in  the
          above  notes.   The  behavior  may  change in future versions of the
          Linux kernel.

SEE ALSO
       chown(1), mknod(1), ram(4), freeramdisk(8), rdev(8)

       Documentation/admin-guide/initrd.rst (or  Documentation/initrd.txt  be-
       fore  Linux  4.10) in the Linux kernel source tree, the LILO documenta-
       tion, the LOADLIN documentation, the SYSLINUX documentation

COLOPHON
       This page is part of release 5.05 of the Linux  man-pages  project.   A
       description  of  the project, information about reporting bugs, and the
       latest    version    of    this    page,    can     be     found     at
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.

Linux                             2019-03-06                         INITRD(4)

NAME | CONFIGURATION | DESCRIPTION | FILES | NOTES | SEE ALSO | COLOPHON