NAME¶

mkdumprd - creates initial ramdisk images for kdump crash recovery

SYNOPSIS¶

mkdumprd [--version] [-v] [-f] [-d]
[--preload=module] [--omit-scsi-modules]
[--omit-raid-modules] [--omit-lvm-modules]
[--image-version] [--allow-missing]
[--fstab=fstab] [--nocompress]
[--builtin=module]
image kernel-version

DESCRIPTION¶

mkdumprd creates an initial ram file system for use in conjunction with the booting of a kernel within the kdump framework for crash recovery. mkdumprds purpose is to create an initial ram filesystem capable of copying the crashed systems vmcore image to a location specified in /etc/kdump.conf

Any module options specified in /etc/modprobe.conf are passed to the modules as they are loaded by the initial ramdisk.

mkdumprd interrogates the running system to understand what modules need to be loaded in the initramfs (based on configuration retrieved from /etc/kdump.conf)

mkdumprd was origionally derived from the mkinitrd utility (hence the simmilarity in option sets), however mkdumprds purpose and mission is significantly different than that of mkinitrd. As such, while most of the options still exist, and may work, they are largely vestigual at this point. mkdumprd was not intended for casual use outside of the service initialization script for the kdump utility, and should not be run manually. If you require a custom kdump initramfs image, it is suggested that you use the kdump service infrastrucutre to create one, and then manually unpack, modify and repack the image.

OPTIONS¶

--builtin=module

Act as if module is built into the kernel being used. mkdumprd will not look for this module, and will not emit an error if it does not exist. This option may be used multiple times.

-f

Allows mkdumprd to overwrite an existing image file.

--fstab=fstab

Use fstab to automatically determine what type of filesystem the root device is on. Normally, /etc/fstab is used.

--image-version

The kernel version number is appended to the initrd image path before the image is created.

--allow-missing

Continue even if kernel module is not found in normal kernel module path.
Note: Capturing vmcore will fail if the kernel module or any modules which depends on it is mandatory. Make sure it's safe when you use this option.

--nocompress

Normally the created initrd image is compressed with gzip. If this option is specified, the compression is skipped.

--omit-lvm-modules

Do not load any lvm modules, even if /etc/fstab expects them.

--omit-raid-modules

Do not load any raid modules, even if /etc/fstab and /etc/raidtab expect them.

--omit-scsi-modules

Do not load any scsi modules, including 'scsi_mod' and 'sd_mod' modules, even if they are present.

--preload=module

Load the module module in the initial ramdisk image. The module gets loaded before any SCSI modules which are specified in /etc/modprobe.conf. This option may be used as many times as necessary.

-v

Prints out verbose information while creating the image (normally the mkdumprd runs silently).

-d

Query /etc/kdump for initrd construction configuration

--version

Prints the version of mkdumprd that's being used and then exits.

FILES¶

/etc/modprobe.conf

Specifies modules to be loaded and module options to be used.

SEE ALSO¶

fstab(5), insmod(1) mkinitrd(8)