dracut.conf(5) — Linux manual page

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | CONFIGURATION OPTIONS | FILES | AUTHOR | SEE ALSO | NOTES | COLOPHON

DRACUT.CONF(5)                    dracut                   DRACUT.CONF(5)

NAME         top

       dracut.conf - configuration file(s) for dracut

SYNOPSIS         top

       /etc/dracut.conf /etc/dracut.conf.d/*.conf
       /usr/lib/dracut/dracut.conf.d/*.conf

DESCRIPTION         top

       dracut.conf is loaded during the initialization phase of dracut.

       *.conf files are read from /usr/lib/dracut/dracut.conf.d and
       /etc/dracut.conf.d. Files with the same name in /etc/dracut.conf.d
       will replace files in /usr/lib/dracut/dracut.conf.d.

       The files are then read in alphanumerical order and will override
       parameters set in /etc/dracut.conf. Each line specifies an
       attribute and a value. A # indicates the beginning of a comment;
       the following characters, up to the end of the line, are not
       interpreted.

       dracut command line options will override any values set here.

       Configuration files must have the extension .conf; other
       extensions are ignored.

CONFIGURATION OPTIONS         top

       add_dracutmodules+=" <dracut modules> "
           Add a space-separated list of dracut modules to call when
           building the initramfs. Modules are located in
           /usr/lib/dracut/modules.d.

       force_add_dracutmodules+=" <dracut modules> "
           Force to add a space-separated list of dracut modules to the
           default set of modules, when host-only mode is specified. This
           parameter can be specified multiple times.

       omit_dracutmodules+=" <dracut modules> "
           Omit a space-separated list of dracut modules to call when
           building the initramfs. Modules are located in
           /usr/lib/dracut/modules.d.

               Warning
               Avoid manually omitting dracut modules, as you may
               inadvertently remove essential ones that dracut can’t
               detect or warn you about. Using this option is not
               recommended and is at your own risk.

       dracutmodules+=" <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 option forces dracut to only
           include the specified dracut modules. In most cases the
           "add_dracutmodules" option is what you want to use. This
           option is not recommended to use (use at your own risk).

       add_drivers+=" <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.

       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.

       omit_drivers+=" <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.

       drivers+=" <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 option forces
           dracut to only include the specified kernel modules. In most
           cases the "--add-drivers" option is what you want to use. This
           option is not recommended to use (use at your own risk).

       filesystems+=" <filesystem names> "
           Specify a space-separated list of kernel filesystem modules to
           exclusively include in the generic initramfs.

       drivers_dir="<kernel modules directory>"
           Specify the directory where to look for kernel modules.

       fw_dir+=" :<dir>[:<dir> ...] "
           Specify additional colon-separated list of directories where
           to look for firmware files.

       libdirs+=" <dir>[ <dir> ...] "
           Specify a space-separated list of directories where to look
           for libraries.

       install_items+=" <file>[ <file> ...] "
           Specify additional files to include in the initramfs,
           separated by spaces.

       install_optional_items+=" <file>[ <file> ...] "
           Specify additional files to include in the initramfs,
           separated by spaces, if they exist.

       compress="{cat|bzip2|lzma|xz|gzip|lzop|lz4|zstd|<compressor [args
       ...]>}"
           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 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.

           To disable compression, use "cat".

       squash_compress="{<compressor [args ...]>}"
           Compress the squashfs image using the passed compressor and
           compressor specific options for mksquashfs. You can refer to
           mksquashfs manual for supported compressors and compressor
           specific options.

           If squash module is not called when building the initramfs,
           this option will not take effect.

       do_strip="{yes|no}"
           Strip binaries in the initramfs (default=yes).

       aggressive_strip="{yes|no}"
           Strip more than just debug symbol and sections, for a smaller
           initramfs build. The "do_strip=yes" option must also be
           specified (default=no).

       do_hardlink="{yes|no}"
           Hardlink files in the initramfs (default=yes).

       prefix=" <directory> "
           Prefix initramfs files with <directory>.

       hostonly="{yes|no}"
           Host-only mode: Install only what is needed for booting the
           local host instead of a generic host and generate
           host-specific configuration (default=no).

       hostonly_mode="{sloppy|strict}"
           Specify the host-only mode to use (default=sloppy).

           In "sloppy" host-only mode, extra drivers and modules will be
           installed, so minor hardware change won’t make the image
           unbootable (e.g. changed keyboard), and the image is still
           portable among similar hosts.

           With "strict" mode enabled, anything not necessary for booting
           the local host in its current state will not be included, and
           modules may make additional efforts to save more space. Minor
           changes in hardware or environment can make the image
           unbootable.

       hostonly_cmdline="{yes|no}"
           If set to "yes", store the kernel command line arguments
           needed in the initramfs. If hostonly="yes" and this option is
           not configured, it’s automatically set to "yes".

       hostonly_nics+=" [<nic>[ <nic> ...]] "
           Only enable listed NICs in the initramfs. The list can be
           empty, so other modules can install only the necessary network
           drivers.

       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"), or "mapper" to use /dev/mapper device names
           (default=mapper).

       tmpdir="<temporary directory>"
           Specify temporary directory to use.

               Warning
               If chrooted to another root other than the real root
               device, use --fstab and provide a valid /etc/fstab.

       use_fstab="{yes|no}"
           Use /etc/fstab instead of /proc/self/mountinfo (default=no).

       add_fstab+=" <filename> "
           Add entries of <filename> to the initramfs /etc/fstab.

       add_device+=" <device> "
           Bring up <device> in initramfs, <device> should be the device
           name. This can be useful in host-only mode for resume support
           when your swap is on LVM an encrypted partition.

       mdadmconf="{yes|no}"
           Include local /etc/mdadm.conf (default=no).

       lvmconf="{yes|no}"
           Include local /etc/lvm/lvm.conf (default=no).

       fscks=" <fsck tools> "
           Add a space-separated list of fsck tools.

           If nothing is specified, the default is umount mount
           /sbin/fsck* xfs_db xfs_check xfs_repair e2fsck jfs_fsck
           btrfsck.

           The installation is opportunistic (non-existing tools are
           ignored).

       nofscks="{yes|no}"
           If specified, inhibit installation of any fsck tools
           (default=no).

       ro_mnt="{yes|no}"
           Mount / and /usr read-only by default (default=no).

       kernel_cmdline="parameters"
           Specify default kernel command line parameters. Despite its
           name, this command only sets initrd parameters.

       kernel_only="{yes|no}"
           Only install kernel drivers and firmware files (default=no).

       no_kernel="{yes|no}"
           Do not install kernel drivers and firmware files (default=no).

       acpi_override="{yes|no}"

               Caution
               Only use this if you know what you are doing!
           Override BIOS provided ACPI tables. For further documentation
           read Documentation/acpi/initrd_table_override.txt[1] in the
           kernel sources. Search for ACPI table files (must have .aml
           suffix) in acpi_table_dir= directory (see below) and add them
           to a separate uncompressed cpio archive.

           This cpio archive gets glued (concatenated, uncompressed one
           must be the first one) to the compressed cpio archive. The
           first, uncompressed cpio archive is for data which the kernel
           must be able to access very early (and cannot make use of
           uncompress algorithms yet) like microcode or ACPI tables

           (default=no).

       acpi_table_dir="<dir>"
           Directory to search for ACPI tables if acpi_override= is set
           to yes.

       early_microcode="{yes|no}"
           Combine early microcode with ramdisk (default=yes).

       stdloglvl="{0-6}"
           Specify logging level for standard error (default=4).

           Table 1. Logging Levels
           ┌───┬─────────────────────────┐
           │ 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)                   │
           └───┴─────────────────────────┘

       sysloglvl="{0-6}"
           Specify logging level for syslog (default=0).

       fileloglvl="{0-6}"
           Specify logging level for logfile (default=4).

       logfile="<file>"
           Path to logfile.

       sshkey="<file>"
           SSH key file used with ssh-client module.

       show_modules="{yes|no}"
           Print the name of the included modules to standard output
           during build (default=no).

       i18n_vars="<variable mapping>"
           Distribution specific variable mapping. See
           dracut/modules.d/10i18n/README for a detailed description.

       i18n_default_font="<fontname>"
           The font <fontname> to install, if not specified otherwise.
           Default is "eurlatgr".

       i18n_install_all="{yes|no}"
           Install everything regardless of generic or host-only mode
           (default=no).

       reproducible="{yes|no}"
           Create reproducible images (default=no).

       noimageifnotneeded="{yes|no}"
           Do not create an image in host-only mode, if no kernel driver
           is needed and no /etc/cmdline/*.conf will be generated into
           the initramfs (default=no).

       loginstall="<directory>"
           Log all files installed from the host to <directory>.

       uefi="{yes|no}"
           Instead of creating an initramfs image, dracut will create an
           UEFI executable, which can be executed by an UEFI BIOS
           (default=no).

           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-existent
           or empty.

       machine_id="{yes|no}"
           Affects the default output filename of the UEFI executable,
           including the <MACHINE_ID> part (default=yes).

       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
           /lib/systemd/boot/efi/linux<EFI-MACHINE-TYPE-NAME>.efi.stub.

       uefi_splash_image="<file>"
           Specifies the UEFI stub loader’s splash image. Requires bitmap
           (.bmp) image format.

       uefi_secureboot_cert="<file>", uefi_secureboot_key="<file>"
           Specifies a certificate and corresponding key, which are used
           to sign the created UEFI executable. Requires both certificate
           and key need to be specified and sbsign to be installed.

       uefi_secureboot_engine="parameter"
           Specifies an engine to use when signing the created UEFI
           executable. E.g. "pkcs11"

       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>.

       sbat="parameters"
           Specifies the SBAT parameters, which to include in the UEFI
           executable. By default the default SBAT string added is
           +sbat,1,SBAT
           Version,sbat,1,https://github.com/rhboot/shim/blob/main/SBAT.md+.

       enhanced_cpio="{yes|no}"
           Attempt to use the dracut-cpio binary, which optimizes archive
           creation for copy-on-write filesystems (default=no).

           When specified, initramfs archives are also padded to ensure
           optimal data alignment for extent sharing. To retain reflink
           data deduplication benefits, this should be used alongside the
           compress="cat" and do_strip="no" parameters, with initramfs
           source files, tmpdir staging area and destination all on the
           same copy-on-write capable file-system.

       parallel="{yes|no}"
           If set to yes, try to execute tasks in parallel (currently
           only supported for --regenerate-all).

       initrdname="<filepattern>"
           Specifies the file name for the generated initramfs if it is
           not set otherwise.

           The initrdname configuration option is required to match the
           initr*${kernel}* file pattern and only one file with this
           pattern should exists in the directory where initramfs is
           loaded from.

           Defaults to initramfs-${kernel}.img.

FILES         top

       /etc/dracut.conf
           Old configuration file. It is recommended to use individual
           files in /etc/dracut.conf.d/.

       /etc/dracut.conf.d/
           Any /etc/dracut.conf.d/*.conf file can override the values in
           /etc/dracut.conf. The configuration files are read in
           alphanumerical order.

AUTHOR         top

       Harald Hoyer

SEE ALSO         top

       dracut(8) dracut.cmdline(7)

NOTES         top

        1. Documentation/acpi/initrd_table_override.txt
           https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/acpi/initrd_table_override.txt

COLOPHON         top

       This page is part of the dracut (event driven initramfs
       infrastructure) project.  Information about the project can be
       found at ⟨https://github.com/dracut-ng//dracut-ng⟩.  If you have a
       bug report for this manual page, see
       ⟨https://github.com/dracut-ng/dracut-ng/issues⟩.  This page was
       obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
       ⟨https://github.com/dracut-ng/dracut-ng.git⟩ on 2025-02-02.  (At
       that time, the date of the most recent commit that was found in
       the repository was 2025-01-30.)  If you discover any rendering
       problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there is
       a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
       corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON
       (which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail to
       man-pages@man7.org

dracut 105-413-g314a2141        02/02/2025                 DRACUT.CONF(5)

Pages that refer to this page: dracut.cmdline(7)dracut(8)