rAM диск инициализирован загрузчиком (boot loader initialized RAM disk)
Имя (Name)
initrd - boot loader initialized RAM disk
Описание (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 before the kernel is started. The kernel then can
use /dev/initrd's contents 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 initialized 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
initial 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 remain 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
performed 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 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 information on NFS-mounted root see the
kernel documentation file
Documentation/filesystems/nfs/nfsroot.txt (or
Documentation/filesystems/nfsroot.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 device 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 /linuxrc write the new root
filesystem device number into /proc/sys/kernel/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
command 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 networked NFS server with IP number 193.8.232.7 for a
system with IP number 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
Documentation/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 initial filesystem.
2. The executable /linuxrc determines what is needed to (1) mount
the normal root filesystem (i.e., device type, device drivers,
filesystem) 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 completed system yet.)
5. The executable /linuxrc sets /proc/sys/kernel/real-root-dev,
unmounts /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 finally, 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 configuration 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
information 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.
