dracut (software)

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Dracut
Original author(s)Harald Hoyer and others
Initial releaseJuly 2009; 14 years ago (2009-07)
Stable release
060 / 30 October 2023; 4 months ago (2023-10-30)
Repository
Written inC, Bash, Rust
Operating systemLinux
PlatformLinux kernel
Typeinitramfs
LicenseGPLv2+, LGPLv2+
Websitegithub.com/dracutdevs/dracut/wiki

Dracut is a set of tools that provide enhanced functionality for automating the Linux boot process. The tool named dracut is used to create a Linux boot image (initramfs) by copying tools and files from an installed system and combining it with the Dracut framework, which is usually found in /usr/lib/dracut/modules.d.

Unlike existing Linux boot images, the Dracut framework attempts to introduce as little hard-coded logic into the initramfs as possible.[1] The initramfs has essentially one purpose: locating and mounting the real root file system so that the boot process can transition to it.[1] This functionality is dependent on device availability.[1] Therefore, instead of having hard-coded scripts to determine device availability and suitability, Dracut's initramfs depends on the Linux device manager (udev) to create symbolic links to device nodes. When the root file system's device node appears, Dracut mounts it as the new root file system. This helps to minimize the time required in initramfs so that things like a 5-second boot are now made possible.[1]

Most of the initramfs generation functionality in Dracut is provided by generator modules that are sourced by the main dracut tool to install specific functionality into the initramfs.[1] They live in the modules subdirectory, and use functionality provided by dracut-functions to do their work.[1]

Currently, dracut supports booting from ext2, ext3, ext4, btrfs, ISO_9660, DM RAID, MD RAID, LVM2, device mapper multipath I/O, dm-crypt, cifs, FCoE, iSCSI, NBD and NFS.[2]

Adoption[edit]

Red Hat is the original author of dracut. Red Hat-derived Linux distributions use dracut for initramfs creation.

Distributions which include dracut, but do not use it by default for initramfs creation:

Most other distributions have made dracut available as an optional package to replace the distribution's default initramfs generator.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f dracut Wiki, kernel.org, retrieved 2012-10-10
  2. ^ dracut documentation, kernel.org, retrieved 2012-10-10
  3. ^ Features/Dracut, FedoraProject, retrieved 2012-10-10
  4. ^ RHEL6 SRPMS FTP, redhat.com, retrieved 2012-10-10
  5. ^ openSUSE 13.2 Major features, openSUSE project, retrieved 2014-11-04
  6. ^ Kernel - Void Linux Handbook, voidlinux.org, retrieved 2022-12-14
  7. ^ dracut-010-6-mdv2011.0.noarch.rpm, pkgs.org, retrieved 2012-10-10
  8. ^ Kernel[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ Mageia App Db, mageia.madb.org, retrieved 2012-10-10
  10. ^ kernel-install.eclass: Install logic for dist-kernels, Gentoo Foundation, retrieved 2022-11-06
  11. ^ Dracut - Gentoo Wiki, wiki.gentoo.org, retrieved 2012-10-10
  12. ^ Package: dracut (005-1), debian.org, retrieved 2012-10-10
  13. ^ "Arch Linux - dracut 049-2 (x86_64)", www.archlinux.org, retrieved 2019-05-21
  14. ^ Package: dracut (047-2) [universe], ubuntu.com, retrieved 2022-02-27
  15. ^ "Alpine - dracut", www.alpinelinux.org, retrieved 2022-02-27

External links[edit]