[linux-lvm] Is lvmcreate_initrd expected to work?
Lars Kellogg-Stedman
lars at larsshack.org
Tue Nov 27 16:54:01 UTC 2001
Now that we've solved the pressing oh-my-goodness-my-system-won't-boot
problem, I've got a few other questions.
The lvm package comes with the nifty lvmcreate_initrd command...but in
my experience it simply doesn't work. While it's especially clever
about resolving library dependencies, it seems to ignore the issue of
kernel modules.
For instance, I'm running a "reasonably" stock RedHat/SGI 7.2
installation, which means that both SCSI support and the RAID5 module
are built as drivers. This means that my initrd needs, minimally:
- scsi_mod
- sd_mod
- xor
- raid5
- lvm-mod
And unfortunately, lvmcreate_initrd doesn't pick up on any of this.
I ended up custom building an initrd around busybox, which provides a
flexible pre-boot environment, including access to a shell prompt from
within the initrd (which proved extremely useful recently). But
obviously, not everybody is going to have the time or experience to do this.
I realize that the root-on-LVM design is fairly bleeding-edge, as these
things go, but it is in the FAQ. I suppose the best solution would be
for distribution vendors such as RedHat to include LVM support in their
own dist-specific 'mkinitrd' type script.
While it would probably be easier to build a custom kernel with all the
necessary drivers built in, I'll probably stick with this solution now
since I'm fond of my initrd. What are other folks doing?
-- Lars
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