--kver <kernel version>
set the kernel version. This enables to specify the kernel
version, without specifying the location of the initramfs
image. For example:
# dracut --kver 3.5.0-0.rc7.git1.2.fc18.x86_64
-f, --force
overwrite existing initramfs file.
-a, --add <list of dracut modules>
add a space-separated list of dracut modules to the default
set of modules. This parameter can be specified multiple
times.
Note
If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put
these in quotes. For example:
# dracut --add "module1 module2" ...
--force-add <list of dracut modules>
force to add a space-separated list of dracut modules to the
default set of modules, when -H is specified. This parameter
can be specified multiple times.
Note
If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put
these in quotes. For example:
# dracut --force-add "module1 module2" ...
-o, --omit <list of dracut modules>
omit a space-separated list of dracut modules. This parameter
can be specified multiple times.
Note
If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put
these in quotes. For example:
# dracut --omit "module1 module2" ...
-m, --modules <list of dracut modules>
specify a space-separated list of dracut modules to call when
building the initramfs. Modules are located in
/usr/lib/dracut/modules.d. This parameter can be specified
multiple times. This option forces dracut to only include the
specified dracut modules. In most cases the "--add" option is
what you want to use.
Note
If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put
these in quotes. For example:
# dracut --modules "module1 module2" ...
-d, --drivers <list of kernel modules>
specify a space-separated list of kernel modules to
exclusively include in the initramfs. The kernel modules have
to be specified without the ".ko" suffix. This parameter can
be specified multiple times.
Note
If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put
these in quotes. For example:
# dracut --drivers "kmodule1 kmodule2" ...
--add-drivers <list of kernel modules>
specify a space-separated list of kernel modules to add to
the initramfs. The kernel modules have to be specified
without the ".ko" suffix. This parameter can be specified
multiple times.
Note
If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put
these in quotes. For example:
# dracut --add-drivers "kmodule1 kmodule2" ...
--force-drivers <list of kernel modules>
See add-drivers above. But in this case it is ensured that
the drivers are tried to be loaded early via modprobe.
Note
If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put
these in quotes. For example:
# dracut --force-drivers "kmodule1 kmodule2" ...
--omit-drivers <list of kernel modules>
specify a space-separated list of kernel modules not to add
to the initramfs. The kernel modules have to be specified
without the ".ko" suffix. This parameter can be specified
multiple times.
Note
If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put
these in quotes. For example:
# dracut --omit-drivers "kmodule1 kmodule2" ...
--filesystems <list of filesystems>
specify a space-separated list of kernel filesystem modules
to exclusively include in the generic initramfs. This
parameter can be specified multiple times.
Note
If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put
these in quotes. For example:
# dracut --filesystems "filesystem1 filesystem2" ...
-k, --kmoddir <kernel directory>
specify the directory, where to look for kernel modules
--fwdir <dir>[:<dir>...]++
specify additional directories, where to look for firmwares.
This parameter can be specified multiple times.
--kernel-cmdline <parameters>
specify default kernel command line parameters
--kernel-only
only install kernel drivers and firmware files
--no-kernel
do not install kernel drivers and firmware files
--early-microcode
Combine early microcode with ramdisk
--no-early-microcode
Do not combine early microcode with ramdisk
--print-cmdline
print the kernel command line for the current disk layout
--mdadmconf
include local /etc/mdadm.conf
--nomdadmconf
do not include local /etc/mdadm.conf
--lvmconf
include local /etc/lvm/lvm.conf
--nolvmconf
do not include local /etc/lvm/lvm.conf
--fscks [LIST]
add a space-separated list of fsck tools, in addition to
dracut.conf's specification; the installation is
opportunistic (non-existing tools are ignored)
Note
If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put
these in quotes. For example:
# dracut --fscks "fsck.foo barfsck" ...
--nofscks
inhibit installation of any fsck tools
--strip
strip binaries in the initramfs (default)
--nostrip
do not strip binaries in the initramfs
--hardlink
hardlink files in the initramfs (default)
--nohardlink
do not hardlink files in the initramfs
--prefix <dir>
prefix initramfs files with the specified directory
--noprefix
do not prefix initramfs files (default)
-h, --help
display help text and exit.
--debug
output debug information of the build process
-v, --verbose
increase verbosity level (default is info(4))
--version
display version and exit
-q, --quiet
decrease verbosity level (default is info(4))
-c, --conf <dracut configuration file>
specify configuration file to use.
Default: /etc/dracut.conf
--confdir <configuration directory>
specify configuration directory to use.
Default: /etc/dracut.conf.d
--tmpdir <temporary directory>
specify temporary directory to use.
Default: /var/tmp
-r, --sysroot <sysroot directory>
specify the sysroot directory to collect files from. This is
useful to create the initramfs image from a cross-compiled
sysroot directory. For the extra helper variables, see
ENVIRONMENT below.
Default: empty
--sshkey <sshkey file>
ssh key file used with ssh-client module.
--logfile <logfile>
logfile to use; overrides any setting from the configuration
files.
Default: /var/log/dracut.log
-l, --local
activates the local mode. dracut will use modules from the
current working directory instead of the system-wide
installed modules in /usr/lib/dracut/modules.d. This is
useful when running dracut from a git checkout.
-H, --hostonly
Host-Only mode: Install only what is needed for booting the
local host instead of a generic host and generate
host-specific configuration.
Warning
If chrooted to another root other than the real root
device, use "--fstab" and provide a valid /etc/fstab.
-N, --no-hostonly
Disable Host-Only mode
--hostonly-cmdline: Store kernel command line arguments needed in
the initramfs
--no-hostonly-cmdline: Do not store kernel command line arguments
needed in the initramfs
--no-hostonly-default-device: Do not generate implicit host
devices like root, swap, fstab, etc. Use "--mount" or
"--add-device" to explicitly add devices as needed.
--hostonly-i18n: Install only needed keyboard and font files
according to the host configuration (default).
--no-hostonly-i18n: Install all keyboard and font files
available.
--persistent-policy <policy>
Use <policy> to address disks and partitions. <policy> can
be any directory name found in /dev/disk. E.g. "by-uuid",
"by-label"
--fstab
Use /etc/fstab instead of /proc/self/mountinfo.
--add-fstab <filename>
Add entries of <filename> to the initramfs /etc/fstab.
--mount "<device> <mountpoint> <filesystem type> [<filesystem
options> [<dump frequency> [<fsck order>]]]"
Mount <device> on <mountpoint> with <filesystem type> in the
initramfs. <filesystem options>, <dump options> and <fsck
order> can be specified, see fstab manpage for the details.
The default <filesystem options> is "defaults". The default
<dump frequency> is "0". the default <fsck order> is "2".
--mount "<mountpoint>"
Like above, but <device>, <filesystem type> and <filesystem
options> are determined by looking at the current mounts.
--add-device <device>
Bring up <device> in initramfs, <device> should be the device
name. This can be useful in hostonly mode for resume support
when your swap is on LVM or an encrypted partition. [NB
--device can be used for compatibility with earlier releases]
-i, --include <SOURCE> <TARGET>
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.
-I, --install <file list>
install the space separated list of files into the initramfs.
Note
If [LIST] has multiple arguments, then you have to put
these in quotes. For example:
# dracut --install "/bin/foo /sbin/bar" ...
--install-optional <file list>
install the space separated list of files into the initramfs,
if they exist.
--gzip
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"
--bzip2
Compress the generated initramfs using bzip2.
Warning
Make sure your kernel has bzip2 decompression support
compiled in, otherwise you will not be able to boot.
Equivalent to "--compress=bzip2"
--lzma
Compress the generated initramfs using lzma.
Warning
Make sure your kernel has lzma decompression support
compiled in, otherwise you will not be able to boot.
Equivalent to "lzma --compress=lzma -9"
--xz
Compress the generated initramfs using xz.
Warning
Make sure your kernel has xz decompression support
compiled in, otherwise you will not be able to boot.
Equivalent to "lzma --compress=xz --check=crc32
--lzma2=dict=1MiB"
--lzo
Compress the generated initramfs using lzop.
Warning
Make sure your kernel has lzo decompression support compiled
in, otherwise you will not be able to boot.
--lz4
Compress the generated initramfs using lz4.
Warning
Make sure your kernel has lz4 decompression support compiled
in, otherwise you will not be able to boot.
--zstd
Compress the generated initramfs using Zstandard.
Warning
Make sure your kernel has zstd decompression support compiled
in, otherwise you will not be able to boot.
--compress <compressor>
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. The default value can also be set
via the INITRD_COMPRESS environment variable.
--no-compress
Do not compress the generated initramfs. This will override
any other compression options.
--reproducible
Create reproducible images.
--no-reproducible
Do not create reproducible images.
--list-modules
List all available dracut modules.
-M, --show-modules
Print included module's name to standard output during build.
--keep
Keep the initramfs temporary directory for debugging
purposes.
--printsize
Print out the module install size
--profile: Output profile information of the build process
--ro-mnt: Mount / and /usr read-only by default.
-L, --stdlog <level>
[0-6] Specify logging level (to standard error)
0 - suppress any messages
1 - only fatal errors
2 - all errors
3 - warnings
4 - info
5 - debug info (here starts lots of output)
6 - trace info (and even more)
--regenerate-all
Regenerate all initramfs images at the default location with
the kernel versions found on the system. Additional
parameters are passed through.
--loginstall <DIR>
Log all files installed from the host to <DIR>.
--uefi
Instead of creating an initramfs image, dracut will create an
UEFI executable, which can be executed by an UEFI BIOS. The
default output filename is
<EFI>/EFI/Linux/linux-$kernel$-<MACHINE_ID>-<BUILD_ID>.efi.
<EFI> might be /efi, /boot or /boot/efi depending on where
the ESP partition is mounted. The <BUILD_ID> is taken from
BUILD_ID in /usr/lib/os-release or if it exists
/etc/os-release and is left out, if BUILD_ID is non-existant
or empty.
--no-uefi
Disables UEFI mode.
--no-machineid
affects the default output filename of --uefi and will
discard the <MACHINE_ID> part.
--uefi-stub <FILE>
Specifies the UEFI stub loader, which will load the attached
kernel, initramfs and kernel command line and boots the
kernel. The default is
$prefix/lib/systemd/boot/efi/linux<EFI-MACHINE-TYPE-NAME>.efi.stub
or
$prefix/lib/gummiboot/linux<EFI-MACHINE-TYPE-NAME>.efi.stub
--uefi-splash-image <FILE>
Specifies the UEFI stub loader's splash image. Requires
bitmap (.bmp) image format.
--kernel-image <FILE>
Specifies the kernel image, which to include in the UEFI
executable. The default is
/lib/modules/<KERNEL-VERSION>/vmlinuz or
/boot/vmlinuz-<KERNEL-VERSION>
