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dracut creates an initial image used by the kernel for preloading the block device modules (such as IDE, SCSI or RAID) which are needed to access the root filesystem. Upon installing linux, you can choose between mkinitcpio and dracut. dracut is used by Fedora, RHEL, Gentoo, and Debian, among others. Arch uses mkinitcpio by default.

You can read the full project documentation for dracut in the documentation.

## Installation

Install the dracut package, or dracut-gitAUR for the latest development version.

Tip: If dracut works on your machine after you test it, you can uninstall mkinitcpio.

## Usage

`dracut` is easy to use and typically does not require user configuration, even when using non-standard setups, like LVM on LUKS.

To generate an initramfs for the running kernel:

    # dracut --hostonly --no-hostonly-cmdline /boot/initramfs-linux.img

To generate a fallback initramfs run:

    # dracut /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img

`/boot/initramfs-linux.img` refers to the output image file. If you are using the non-regular kernel, consider changing the file name. For example, for the linux-lts kernel, the output file should be named `/boot/initramfs-linux-lts.img`. However, you can name these files whatever you wish as long as your boot loader configuration uses the same file names.

Note:

- The files created through these commands embed any installed Microcode images.
- Due to FS#59841, the hostonly mode includes all Intel microcode in the initramfs, not just that which is needed by the system.[1]

### Additional options

The `--force` flag overwrites the image file if it is already present.

The `--kver` option specifies which kernel to use. The argument to this option must match the name of a directory present in `/usr/lib/modules`.

More flags can be found with dracut(8).

## Advanced configuration

`dracut` can be configured by directly passing arguments on the command line (see dracut(8) § OPTIONS). If you wish to always execute `dracut` with a certain set of flags, you can save a specified configuration in a `.conf` file in `/etc/dracut.conf.d/`. For example:

    /etc/dracut.conf.d/myflags.conf

    hostonly="yes"
    compress="lz4"
    add_drivers+=" i915 "
    omit_dracutmodules+=" network iscsi "

You can see more configuration options with dracut.conf(5). Fuller descriptions of each option can be found with dracut(8). We will describe a few common options in what follows.

### Dracut modules

dracut uses a modular approach to build the initramfs (see dracut.modules(7)). All of dracut 's builtin modules are located in `/lib/dracut/modules.d` and can be listed with `dracut --list-modules`. Extra modules can be provided by external packages e.g. dracut-sshd-gitAUR. dracut 's built-in modules unfortunately lack documentation, although their names can be self-explanatory.

Some of the modules are active/inactive by default, and can be activated/deactivated with `--add`/`--omit` command line argument or with the `add_dracutmodules+=""`/`omit_dracutmodules+=""` persistent config entry lines.

    /etc/dracut.conf.d/myflags.conf

    # ...
    add_dracutmodules+=" <dracut modules to activate> "
    omit_dracutmodules+=" <dracut modules to deactivate> "
    # ...

#### TPM2

To make use of systemd 's unlocking of luks2 encrypted volumes using TPM2 through systemd-cryptenroll, install tpm2-tools package and enable the `tpm2-tss` dracut module.

### Early kernel module loading

Dracut enables early loading (at the initramfs stage, via `modprobe`) through it's `--force_drivers` command or `force_drivers+=""` config entry line. For example:

    /etc/dracut.conf.d/myflags.conf

    # ...
    force_drivers+=" nvidia nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm "
    # ...

### Kernel command line options

Kernel command line options can be placed in a .conf file in `/etc/dracut.conf.d/`, and set via the `kernel_cmdline=` flag. Dracut will automatically source this file and create a `01-default.conf` file and place it inside the initramfs directory `/etc/cmdline.d/`. For example, your kernel command line options file could look like:

    /etc/dracut.conf.d/cmdline.conf

    kernel_cmdline="rd.luks.uuid=luks-f6c738f3-ee64-4633-b6b0-eceddb1bb010 rd.lvm.lv=arch/root  rd.lvm.lv=arch/swap  root=/dev/arch/root rootfstype=ext4 rootflags=rw,relatime"

#### Miscellaneous notes

It is not necessary to specify the root block device for `dracut`. From dracut.cmdline(7):

  The root device used by the kernel is specified in the boot configuration file on the kernel command line, as always.

However, it may be useful to set some parameters early, and you can enable additional features like prompting for additional command line parameters. See dracut.cmdline(7) for all options. Here are some example configuration options:

- Resume from a swap partition: `resume=UUID=80895b78-7312-45bc-afe5-58eb4b579422`
- Prompt for additional kernel command line parameters: `rd.cmdline=ask`
  Warning: `rd.cmdline=ask` may cause an issue where the keyboard is not yet initialized prior to its prompt forcing a hard reset. See dracut issue 728.
- Print informational output even if `quiet` is set: `rd.info`

### Unified kernel image

dracut can produce unified kernel images with the `--uefi` command line option or with the `uefi="yes"` configuration option.

## Tips and tricks

### View information about generated image

You can view information about a generated initramfs image, which you may wish to view in a pager:

    # lsinitrd /path/to/initramfs_or_uefi_image | less

This command will list the arguments passed to `dracut` when the image was created, the list of included `dracut` modules, and the list of all included files.

### Change compression program

To reduce the amount of time spent compressing the final image, you may change the compression program used.

Warning:

- Make sure your kernel has your chosen decompression support compiled in, otherwise you will not be able to boot. You must also have the chosen compression program package installed.
- The upstream Linux kernel does not support zstd compressed initramfs before version 5.9. linux-zen supports it since version 5.8

Simply add any one of the following lines (not multiple) to your dracut configuration:

    compress="cat"
    compress="gzip"
    compress="bzip2"
    compress="lzma"
    compress="xz"
    compress="lzo"
    compress="lz4"
    compress="zstd"

gzip is the default compression program used. `compress="cat"` will make the initramfs with no compression.

You can also use a non-officially-supported compression program:

    compress="program"

### Generate a new initramfs on kernel upgrade

It is possible to automatically generate new initramfs images upon each kernel upgrade. The instructions here are for the default linux kernel, but it should be easy to add extra hooks for other kernels.

Tip: The dracut-hookAUR package includes hooks and scripts similar to the below. Alternatively, you may want dracut-uefi-hookAUR or dracut-hook-uefiAUR instead, if you want an initramfs image that is an EFI executable (i.e. `esp/EFI/Linux/linux-kernel-machine_id-build_id.efi`). EFI binaries in this directory are automatically detected by systemd-boot and therefore do not need an entry in `/boot/loader/loader.conf`.

As the command to figure out the kernel version is somewhat complex, it will not work by itself in a pacman hook. So create a script anywhere on your system. For this example it will be created in `/usr/local/bin/`.

The script will also copy the new `vmlinuz` kernel file to `/boot/`, since the kernel packages do not place files in `/boot/` anymore.[2]

    /usr/local/bin/dracut-install.sh

    #!/usr/bin/env bash

    args=('--force' '--no-hostonly-cmdline')

    while read -r line; do
    	if [[ "$line" == 'usr/lib/modules/'+([^/])'/pkgbase' ]]; then
    		read -r pkgbase < "/${line}"
    		kver="${line#'usr/lib/modules/'}"
    		kver="${kver%'/pkgbase'}"

    		install -Dm0644 "/${line%'/pkgbase'}/vmlinuz" "/boot/vmlinuz-${pkgbase}"
    		dracut "${args[@]}" --hostonly "/boot/initramfs-${pkgbase}.img" --kver "$kver"
    		dracut "${args[@]}" --no-hostonly "/boot/initramfs-${pkgbase}-fallback.img" --kver "$kver"
    	fi
    done

    /usr/local/bin/dracut-remove.sh

    #!/usr/bin/env bash

    while read -r line; do
    	if [[ "$line" == 'usr/lib/modules/'+([^/])'/pkgbase' ]]; then
    		read -r pkgbase < "/${line}"
    		rm -f "/boot/vmlinuz-${pkgbase}" "/boot/initramfs-${pkgbase}.img" "/boot/initramfs-${pkgbase}-fallback.img"
    	fi
    done

You need to make the scripts executable. If you wish to add or remove flags, you should add them to your dracut configuration.

The next step is creating pacman hooks:

    /etc/pacman.d/hooks/90-dracut-install.hook

    [Trigger]
    Type = Path
    Operation = Install
    Operation = Upgrade
    Target = usr/lib/modules/*/pkgbase

    [Action]
    Description = Updating linux initcpios (with dracut!)...
    When = PostTransaction
    Exec = /usr/local/bin/dracut-install.sh
    Depends = dracut
    NeedsTargets

    /etc/pacman.d/hooks/60-dracut-remove.hook

    [Trigger]
    Type = Path
    Operation = Remove
    Target = usr/lib/modules/*/pkgbase

    [Action]
    Description = Removing linux initcpios...
    When = PreTransaction
    Exec = /usr/local/bin/dracut-remove.sh
    NeedsTargets

You should stop mkinitcpio from creating and removing initramfs images as well, either by removing mkinitcpio or with the following commands:

    # ln -sf /dev/null /etc/pacman.d/hooks/90-mkinitcpio-install.hook
    # ln -sf /dev/null /etc/pacman.d/hooks/60-mkinitcpio-remove.hook

### Bluetooth keyboard support

Dracut will enable the bluetooth module automatically when a bluetooth keyboard is detected. However it is required that dracut is in hostonly mode for this. This seems to not be the default. To enable hostonly mode you can add the following to your dracut configuration:

    hostonly=yes

## Troubleshooting

### Hibernation

If resuming from hibernation does not work, you may need to configure `dracut` to include the `resume` module. You will need to add a configuration file:

    /etc/dracut.conf.d/resume-from-hibernate.conf

    add_dracutmodules+=" resume "

### LVM / software RAID / LUKS

If the kernel has issues auto discovering and mounting LVM / software RAID / LUKS blocks. You can retry generating an initramfs with the following kernel command line options:

    rd.auto rd.lvm=1 rd.dm=1 rd.md=1 rd.luks=1

### A stop job is running for "brltty"

If you have issues booting or very long shutdown processes while the system waits for `brllty`, add the following to the dracut configuration line:

    omit_dracutmodules+=" brltty "

Alternatively, uninstall brltty if it is not needed.

### No usable keyslot is available

    Cannot use whirlpool hash for keyslot encryption.
    Keyslot open failed.
    No usable keyslot is available.

A failure to boot with a message similar to the above typically will only require the user to include the `crypt` module via `add_dracutmodules`. However, if you continue to get the message after adding it, you may need to adjust your configuration with the following.

    install_items+=" /usr/lib/ossl-modules/legacy.so "

This is because OpenSSL deprecated the whirlpool hash and moved it to that library. Dracut does not automatically gather it when using Arch.

## See also

- Wikipedia:dracut (software)
- Gentoo:Dracut

Category:

- Initramfs