mkinitramfs
creates an initial ramdisk image for Linux
TLDR
Generate initramfs for current kernel
$ mkinitramfs -o [/boot/initrd.img]
Generate for specific kernel$ mkinitramfs -o [/boot/initrd.img-5.10.0] [5.10.0-generic]
Verbose output$ mkinitramfs -v -o [/boot/initrd.img]
Keep temporary files$ mkinitramfs -k -o [/boot/initrd.img]
SYNOPSIS
mkinitramfs [options] -o outfile [version]
DESCRIPTION
mkinitramfs creates an initial ramdisk image (initramfs) for Linux. The initramfs contains essential drivers and scripts needed to mount the root filesystem during boot.
This tool is Debian/Ubuntu specific; other distributions use different tools.
PARAMETERS
-o file
Output file.-d confdir
Config directory.-k
Keep temporary directory.-v
Verbose output.-c compress
Compression method.
CONFIGURATION
$ /etc/initramfs-tools/
├── initramfs.conf
├── modules
├── hooks/
└── scripts/
├── initramfs.conf
├── modules
├── hooks/
└── scripts/
CAVEATS
Debian/Ubuntu specific (use mkinitcpio on Arch, dracut on Fedora). Must match kernel version. Requires root privileges.
HISTORY
mkinitramfs is part of initramfs-tools developed for Debian-based systems, replacing the older initrd system with a more flexible initramfs approach.
SEE ALSO
update-initramfs(8), mkinitcpio(8), dracut(8), initramfs(7)