[SOLVED] initramfs only installation

KairiTech · 2014-10-14 12:05:34

Synopsys: Have to modify init myself. Will post the modifications here once I have it working the way I want.

Is there a simple way to have mkinitcpio generate an initramfs as the final rootfs without mounting any underlying permanant storage as the real root? Or will I have to manually alter init to accomplish this?

I'm trying to figure out how to use a compressed copy of a fully configured rootfs (desktop and all) that may or may not be included in the initramfs. After all it will get loaded to RAM during boot so why not use it from RAM without the need to load anything from the permanent storage.

Something else that might be an option is to store the compressed rootfs in the same location as the initramfs and somehow gain access to the archive even though it's external to the initramfs. That would have the advantage of easily keeping the system up to date without having to regenerate the initrafms. Only creating an updated rootfs archive would be necessary.

Last edited by KairiTech (2014-10-15 12:00:59)

falconindy · 2014-10-14 13:18:49

You'll have to provide your own /init.

KairiTech · 2014-10-14 15:00:10

[Edit] What an idiot I am. Was just thinking aloud. What I meant to ask was will I have everything I need to mount the media holding the archive using UUID. Guess I'll find out soon enough and if not make it so.

Thought so but how would I mount just the media (USB) where I store the initramfs so I can access the archive without it being include in the initramfs and without bothering to mounting the real root?

Last edited by KairiTech (2014-10-15 11:41:57)

Trilby · 2014-10-14 15:37:52

This sounds like a very odd approach, and possibly an X-Y problem. What is your intended goal? Just to get the full system loaded into memory at startup? There are much better ways of accomplishing that (making your own iso is one, readahead-like tools might be another).

KairiTech · 2014-10-15 11:58:12

I currently have the ESP on a USB that has all my LUKS keyfiles and headers. No USB, no boot and full system and data encryption without the need to type in passphrases. So I figure why not take it a step further and make the rootfs available from the USB too? If I get it right I can completely unplug my storage or plug the USB into a similar machine and still boot to my day to day, fully functional desktop. RAM is cheap and I have lots of it which I almost never use so why not? And keeping things up to date would just require creating a new rootfs archive and nothing more.

I've become so used to the performance of a RAID0 SSD array that I now consider booting from an ISO image excruciatingly slow. Painful even.

Arch Linux

#1 2014-10-14 12:05:34

[SOLVED] initramfs only installation

#2 2014-10-14 13:18:49

Re: [SOLVED] initramfs only installation

#3 2014-10-14 15:00:10

Re: [SOLVED] initramfs only installation

#4 2014-10-14 15:37:52

Re: [SOLVED] initramfs only installation

#5 2014-10-15 11:58:12

Re: [SOLVED] initramfs only installation

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