lvmcreate_initrd

LVMCREATE_INITRD(8)                                        LVMCREATE_INITRD(8)



NAME
       lvmcreate_initrd  -  create  an  initial ramdisk to boot with root on a
       logical volume

SYNOPSIS
       lvcmreate_initrd [-i|--iop IOP] [-D|--devfs] [-v|--verbose]  [-V|--ver-
       sion] [KernelVersion]

DESCRIPTION
       lvmcreate_initrd creates a new compressed initial ramdisk /boot/initrd-
       lvm-KernelVersion.gz.  The initial ramdisk contains all necessary bina-
       ries, shared libraries and a linuxrc file to switch to a logical volume
       based root filesystem.  To build an initial ramdisk for a kernel  other
       than  the  one  currently running add the KernelVersion parameter (e.g.
       lvmcreate_initrd 2.3.25) on the command line.

   OPTIONS
       -h, --help
              Print a usage message on standard output and exit.

       -i, --iop IOP
              Specify the LVM kernel IOP version  if  you  are  using  wrapper
              scripts in /sbin.  This is only necessary if you are building an
              initrd for a kernel other than the current  one,  and  you  have
              tools for multiple IOP versions installed.

       -D, --devfs
              Force the use of devfs when building the initrd.  lvmcreate_ini-
              trd by default probes for devfs by  checking  for  /dev/.devfsd,
              which  is created by devfsd when it is running. This option will
              force lvmcreate_initrd to do this, when devfsd is not  currently
              running.

       -v, --verbose
              Gives  verbose runtime information about the creation of the ram
              disk image.

       -V, --version
              Print version number and exit successfully.

       The necessary actions to change your system into  a  "root  on  logical
       volume" one are:

       Create  a  small  (~20MB) partition which is BIOS reachable to hold the
       /boot filesystem (if you already have  a  small  partition  based  root
       filesystem  this  can  be used instead). If you want to boot standalone
       from this partition in an emergency, copy all  the  necessary  binaries
       and  libraries  to  that  filesystem as well and create a corresponding
       /etc/lilo.conf entry. In order to be able to edit lilo.conf when booted
       standalone,  you should move /etc/lilo.conf to /boot/lilo.conf and cre-
       ate a symbolic link to it in /etc.  This is not needed if  you  have  a
       boot/root floppy which contains the LVM binaries and the library.

       Create  all  logical volumes you need (for root, usr, opt etc.), create
       filesystems in them, mount them and transfer all files from the  parti-
       tion based filesystems into the logical volume based ones.

       Set up your /etc/lilo.conf with a boot configuration like:

       image = /boot/vmlinuz
       initrd = /boot/initrd-lvm-KernelVersion.gz
       root = /dev/YourVG/YourRootLV
       label = rootonlv
       append = 'ramdisk_size=8192'

       Replace YourVG and YourRootLV by your actual volume group and root log-
       ical volume names.  You also need to change the ramdisk size to  be  at
       least  as large as that reported while lvmcreate_initrd is run.  If you
       have enough memory, it is OK if the ramdisk size in  /etc/lilo.conf  is
       larger  than  what  lvmcreate_initrd reports (the memory is freed after
       booting).  Also, your /etc/fstab in the root logical volume should con-
       tain  entries  for  the root LV, and the boot partition, along with any
       other LVs you have configured:

       /dev/YourVG/YourRootLV      /     ext2   defaults   0   1
       /dev/YourBootPartition      /boot ext2   defaults   0   2
       /dev/YourVG/YourUsrLV       /usr  ext2   defaults   0   3
       /dev/YourVG/YourOptLV       /opt  ext2   defaults   0   4
       etc.

       You can use other supported filesystem types as well (e.g. reiserfs) if
       you have support for those in your kernel.  Run lilo, reboot and try...

       The partitions containing the former /usr, /opt  etc.  filesystems  can
       now be used as physical volumes.  Use pvcreate(8) to turn them into PVs
       and then use vgextend(8) to add them to e.g.  YourVG.

DIAGNOSTICS
       lvcmcreate_initrd returns 0 for success.  1 is returned  in  all  other
       cases.

SEE ALSO
       lilo(8),  lilo.conf(5),  fstab(5),  lvm(8),  pvcreate(8),  vgextend(8),
       lvcreate(8), vgcreate(8)

AUTHOR
       Heinz Mauelshagen <Linux-LVM@Sistina.com>



Heinz Mauelshagen                  LVM TOOLS               LVMCREATE_INITRD(8)