1 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
3 # Configuration for initramfs
6 config INITRAMFS_SOURCE
7 string "Initramfs source file(s)"
10 This can be either a single cpio archive with a .cpio suffix or a
11 space-separated list of directories and files for building the
12 initramfs image. A cpio archive should contain a filesystem archive
13 to be used as an initramfs image. Directories should contain a
14 filesystem layout to be included in the initramfs image. Files
15 should contain entries according to the format described by the
16 "usr/gen_init_cpio" program in the kernel tree.
18 When multiple directories and files are specified then the
19 initramfs image will be the aggregate of all of them.
21 See <file:Documentation/driver-api/early-userspace/early_userspace_support.rst> for more details.
23 If you are not sure, leave it blank.
25 config INITRAMFS_FORCE
26 bool "Ignore the initramfs passed by the bootloader"
27 depends on CMDLINE_EXTEND || CMDLINE_FORCE
29 This option causes the kernel to ignore the initramfs image
30 (or initrd image) passed to it by the bootloader. This is
31 analogous to CMDLINE_FORCE, which is found on some architectures,
32 and is useful if you cannot or don't want to change the image
33 your bootloader passes to the kernel.
35 config INITRAMFS_ROOT_UID
36 int "User ID to map to 0 (user root)"
37 depends on INITRAMFS_SOURCE!=""
40 If INITRAMFS_SOURCE points to a directory, files owned by this UID
41 (-1 = current user) will be owned by root in the resulting image.
43 If you are not sure, leave it set to "0".
45 config INITRAMFS_ROOT_GID
46 int "Group ID to map to 0 (group root)"
47 depends on INITRAMFS_SOURCE!=""
50 If INITRAMFS_SOURCE points to a directory, files owned by this GID
51 (-1 = current group) will be owned by root in the resulting image.
53 If you are not sure, leave it set to "0".
56 bool "Support initial ramdisk/ramfs compressed using gzip"
58 select DECOMPRESS_GZIP
60 Support loading of a gzip encoded initial ramdisk or cpio buffer.
64 bool "Support initial ramdisk/ramfs compressed using bzip2"
66 select DECOMPRESS_BZIP2
68 Support loading of a bzip2 encoded initial ramdisk or cpio buffer
72 bool "Support initial ramdisk/ramfs compressed using LZMA"
74 select DECOMPRESS_LZMA
76 Support loading of a LZMA encoded initial ramdisk or cpio buffer
80 bool "Support initial ramdisk/ramfs compressed using XZ"
84 Support loading of a XZ encoded initial ramdisk or cpio buffer.
88 bool "Support initial ramdisk/ramfs compressed using LZO"
92 Support loading of a LZO encoded initial ramdisk or cpio buffer
96 bool "Support initial ramdisk/ramfs compressed using LZ4"
100 Support loading of a LZ4 encoded initial ramdisk or cpio buffer
104 prompt "Built-in initramfs compression mode"
105 depends on INITRAMFS_SOURCE != ""
107 This option allows you to decide by which algorithm the builtin
108 initramfs will be compressed. Several compression algorithms are
109 available, which differ in efficiency, compression and
110 decompression speed. Compression speed is only relevant
111 when building a kernel. Decompression speed is relevant at
112 each boot. Also the memory usage during decompression may become
113 relevant on memory constrained systems. This is usually based on the
114 dictionary size of the algorithm with algorithms like XZ and LZMA
115 featuring large dictionary sizes.
117 High compression options are mostly useful for users who are
118 low on RAM, since it reduces the memory consumption during
121 Keep in mind that your build system needs to provide the appropriate
122 compression tool to compress the generated initram cpio file for
125 If in doubt, select 'None'
127 config INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION_NONE
130 Do not compress the built-in initramfs at all. This may sound wasteful
131 in space, but, you should be aware that the built-in initramfs will be
132 compressed at a later stage anyways along with the rest of the kernel,
133 on those architectures that support this. However, not compressing the
134 initramfs may lead to slightly higher memory consumption during a
135 short time at boot, while both the cpio image and the unpacked
136 filesystem image will be present in memory simultaneously
138 config INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION_GZIP
142 Use the old and well tested gzip compression algorithm. Gzip provides
143 a good balance between compression ratio and decompression speed and
144 has a reasonable compression speed. It is also more likely to be
145 supported by your build system as the gzip tool is present by default
148 config INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION_BZIP2
152 It's compression ratio and speed is intermediate. Decompression speed
153 is slowest among the choices. The initramfs size is about 10% smaller
154 with bzip2, in comparison to gzip. Bzip2 uses a large amount of
155 memory. For modern kernels you will need at least 8MB RAM or more for
158 If you choose this, keep in mind that you need to have the bzip2 tool
159 available to be able to compress the initram.
161 config INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION_LZMA
165 This algorithm's compression ratio is best but has a large dictionary
166 size which might cause issues in memory constrained systems.
167 Decompression speed is between the other choices. Compression is
168 slowest. The initramfs size is about 33% smaller with LZMA in
171 If you choose this, keep in mind that you may need to install the xz
172 or lzma tools to be able to compress the initram.
174 config INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION_XZ
178 XZ uses the LZMA2 algorithm and has a large dictionary which may cause
179 problems on memory constrained systems. The initramfs size is about
180 30% smaller with XZ in comparison to gzip. Decompression speed is
181 better than that of bzip2 but worse than gzip and LZO. Compression is
184 If you choose this, keep in mind that you may need to install the xz
185 tool to be able to compress the initram.
187 config INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION_LZO
191 It's compression ratio is the second poorest amongst the choices. The
192 kernel size is about 10% bigger than gzip. Despite that, it's
193 decompression speed is the second fastest and it's compression speed
196 If you choose this, keep in mind that you may need to install the lzop
197 tool to be able to compress the initram.
199 config INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION_LZ4
203 It's compression ratio is the poorest amongst the choices. The kernel
204 size is about 15% bigger than gzip; however its decompression speed
207 If you choose this, keep in mind that most distros don't provide lz4
208 by default which could cause a build failure.