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Diffstat (limited to 'doc/guix.texi')
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/guix.texi | 47 |
1 files changed, 35 insertions, 12 deletions
diff --git a/doc/guix.texi b/doc/guix.texi index b6c89bc9b6..a602c701cb 100644 --- a/doc/guix.texi +++ b/doc/guix.texi @@ -13887,9 +13887,9 @@ kernel modules that may be needed to achieve that. The @code{initrd} field of an @code{operating-system} declaration allows you to specify which initrd you would like to use. The @code{(gnu -system linux-initrd)} module provides two ways to build an initrd: the -high-level @code{base-initrd} procedure, and the low-level -@code{expression->initrd} procedure. +system linux-initrd)} module provides three ways to build an initrd: the +high-level @code{base-initrd} procedure and the low-level +@code{raw-initrd} and @code{expression->initrd} procedures. The @code{base-initrd} procedure is intended to cover most common uses. For example, if you want to add a bunch of kernel modules to be loaded @@ -13910,9 +13910,16 @@ The @code{base-initrd} procedure also handles common use cases that involves using the system as a QEMU guest, or as a ``live'' system with volatile root file system. -The initial RAM disk produced by @code{base-initrd} honors several -options passed on the Linux kernel command line (that is, arguments -passed @i{via} the @code{linux} command of GRUB, or the +The @code{base-initrd} procedure is built from @code{raw-initrd} procedure. +Unlike @code{base-initrd}, @code{raw-initrd} doesn't do anything high-level, +such as trying to guess which kernel modules and packages should be included +to the initrd. An example use of @code{raw-initrd} is when a user has +a custom Linux kernel configuration and default kernel modules included by +@code{base-initrd} are not available. + +The initial RAM disk produced by @code{base-initrd} or @code{raw-initrd} +honors several options passed on the Linux kernel command line +(that is, arguments passed @i{via} the @code{linux} command of GRUB, or the @code{-append} option of QEMU), notably: @table @code @@ -13951,19 +13958,23 @@ Manual}, for more information on Guile's REPL. @end table Now that you know all the features that initial RAM disks produced by -@code{base-initrd} provide, here is how to use it and customize it -further. +@code{base-initrd} and @code{raw-initrd} provide, +here is how to use it and customize it further. @cindex initrd @cindex initial RAM disk -@deffn {Monadic Procedure} base-initrd @var{file-systems} @ - [#:qemu-networking? #f] [#:virtio? #t] [#:volatile-root? #f] @ - [#:extra-modules '()] [#:mapped-devices '()] -Return a monadic derivation that builds a generic initrd. @var{file-systems} is +@deffn {Monadic Procedure} raw-initrd @var{file-systems} @ + [#:linux-modules '()] [#:mapped-devices '()] @ + [#:helper-packages '()] [#:qemu-networking? #f] [#:volatile-root? #f] +Return a monadic derivation that builds a raw initrd. @var{file-systems} is a list of file systems to be mounted by the initrd, possibly in addition to the root file system specified on the kernel command line via @code{--root}. +@var{linux-modules} is a list of kernel modules to be loaded at boot time. @var{mapped-devices} is a list of device mappings to realize before @var{file-systems} are mounted (@pxref{Mapped Devices}). +@var{helper-packages} is a list of packages to be copied in the initrd. It may +include @code{e2fsck/static} or other packages needed by the initrd to check +root partition. When @var{qemu-networking?} is true, set up networking with the standard QEMU parameters. When @var{virtio?} is true, load additional modules so that the @@ -13971,6 +13982,18 @@ initrd can be used as a QEMU guest with para-virtualized I/O drivers. When @var{volatile-root?} is true, the root file system is writable but any changes to it are lost. +@end deffn + +@deffn {Monadic Procedure} base-initrd @var{file-systems} @ + [#:mapped-devices '()] [#:qemu-networking? #f] [#:volatile-root? #f]@ + [#:virtio? #t] [#:extra-modules '()] +Return a monadic derivation that builds a generic initrd. @var{file-systems} is +a list of file systems to be mounted by the initrd like for @code{raw-initrd}. +@var{mapped-devices}, @var{qemu-networking?} and @var{volatile-root?} +also behaves as in @code{raw-initrd}. + +When @var{virtio?} is true, load additional modules so that the +initrd can be used as a QEMU guest with para-virtualized I/O drivers. The initrd is automatically populated with all the kernel modules necessary for @var{file-systems} and for the given options. However, additional kernel |