Unbootable initramfs with --sysroot

[ahesford]

On a Void Linux system with a mostly stock configuration (for the distribution), dracut --sysroot does not produce bootable initramfs images. The major problem seems to be the omission of important udev rules that prevent device recognition.

Steps to reproduce:

1. From a stock dracut-050 installation, try to build an image from the root of desired sysroot:

cd / && dracut -N -q --sysroot . tmp/initramfs-$(uname -r).img $(uname -r)

2. Confirm that the following files are missing from the resulting initramfs, when they are present in images built without the --sysroot . argument:

etc/udev/rules.d/10-console.rules
etc/udev/rules.d/59-persistent-storage.rules
etc/udev/rules.d/61-persistent-storage.rules
usr/lib/dracut/need-initqueue
usr/lib/udev/ata_id
usr/lib/udev/cdrom_id
usr/lib/udev/rules.d/50-udev-default.rules
usr/lib/udev/rules.d/60-block.rules
usr/lib/udev/rules.d/60-persistent-storage.rules
usr/lib/udev/rules.d/75-net-description.rules
usr/lib/udev/rules.d/80-drivers.rules
usr/lib/udev/rules.d/80-net-name-slot.rules
usr/lib/udev/scsi_id

3. Attempt to boot the image.

4. Attempt to resolve the sysroot to an absolute path:

cd / && dracut -N -q --sysroot $(readlink -f .) tmp/initramfs-$(uname -r).img $(uname -r)

5. Watch a cascade of installation errors flood the screen.

Expected behavior

The image proeduced with --sysroot . should include the missing udev files and allow the system to boot, and the --sysroot $(readlink -f .) (which, in this example, should resolve to --sysroot /) should produce a similarly bootable image.

Actual behavior

The image produced wth --sysroot . lacks the udev configuration necessary to identify root devices, so the image will not be capable of booting the system. Attempting to use --sysroot $(readlink -f .) causes numerous errors that prevent an image from being created in the first place.

Motivation

In Void Linux, we have automatic post-installation hooks that generate initramfs images for newly installed kernels. The XBPS package manager can support installing to alternate roots; the hooks are always executed with the CWD as the target root. Running dracut without --sysroot will ignore the difference between the "host" installation and the target root (when the two differ), so the resulting images will be built against the wrong root fs (the host and target roots might not even have the same collection of kernel modules). Proper support for --sysroot would allow the installation hook to change to the target root and run dracut --sysroot . and build an image against files in the target root.

[johannbg]

Out of curiosity does Void Linux use the system management framework ( systemd ) or is Void Linux a non-systemd system?

[ahesford]

Void uses runit instead of systemd.

[stale]

This issue is being marked as stale because it has not had any recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. If this is still an issue in the latest release of Dracut and you would like to keep it open please comment on this issue within the next 7 days. Thank you for your contributions.

[ahesford]

This issue is not stale.

[stale]

This issue is being marked as stale because it has not had any recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. If this is still an issue in the latest release of Dracut and you would like to keep it open please comment on this issue within the next 7 days. Thank you for your contributions.