How to make initrd?

[Shatter]

What's the correct way to make an initrd image on BT3f?

[gromeo]

there is none. Don't touch the kernel.
P.S. actually, there is, but if you're asking this question - don't touch the kernel.

[Phoneywar]

there is none. Don't touch the kernel.
P.S. actually, there is, but if you're asking this question - don't touch the kernel.

heh. And what part of "Senior Member" did you misunderstand

Seriously, he may have a genuine reason for needing to do this even if it is just experimenting.

[Shatter]

Exactly. Personally, I find experimentation an excellent way to learn new linux stuff and I've learned a lot of things this way. Unfortunately, creating an initrd image isn't on that list. I've taken a "Google ride" on this topic and it seems a number of linux distros come with some tool (e.g. mkinitrd) for the job. Sadly, I was unable to find any instructions for Backtrack, which is why I'm asking for help.

Maybe I should let out some more words. I'm not going to modify the kernel or anything, I just need a way to load a number of modules at pre-boot. Following some tutorials, I am trying to do a hard drive install of BT3f with an encrypted root and swap partitions using LUKS and possibly LVM. As you may have guessed, certain programs and/or modules are needed at pre-boot to authenticate & decrypt the main partition so that the system may boot.

There is one other topic on this subject here, but it's incomplete and a bit outdated.

Perhaps there is a different way?

[imported_cybrsnpr]

xCPPx; Have you tried looking for how to make a initrd image for slax? Since BT3 is based off of it, the steps should be similar. I did a quick google for "slax custom initrd" and came up with lots of hits (haven't dug into them though).

[Shatter]

I found an interesting document over here that documents a lot about hard drive encryption, particularly the last part. It covers the creation of initrd with the mkinitrd tool. The problem is that in Backtract 3 final, mkinitrd = 404.

[larryhaja]

What's the correct way to make an initrd image on BT3f?

One of the developers for mkinitrd as well as slackware has a little writeup on making an initrd image. You can find it here. He also has a script you can run that can help guide you with some settings specific to your running system. His script is here. I've never ran it before but it is recommended by some people in the slackware community. If you have some specific questions about it then you can get help on #slackware on the freenode network.

[Shatter]

Well thanks for all the replies, but neither post actually tells how and where to *get* the mkinitrd script for BT3f. I took the liberty to do a google search and soon I came across a post on some forums where they actually show how to install a slackware version of mkinitrd on slax. Surely, I followed the guide and managed to install the mkinitrd. Here's how:

• Download the latest version of the mkinitrd script package from a slackware mirror (any should do). The script package should be located in "slackware-current/slackware/a" and the package name should be "mkinitrd-1.3.3-i486-1.tgz".
• Run a shell, cd to the directory where you downloaded the package and use this command to install it: "installpkg mkinitrd-1.3.3-i486-1.tgz".
• The mkinitrd script should be working now.

Oddly, I noticed that a similar thread on mkinitrd installation already exists on the forums, but I guess it doesn't hurt to have a few more for verification.

I am currently in the process of experimenting and compiling some static binaries for the initrd image. I'll see if I can get the thing to work with dm-crypt/LUKS and LVM. There are lots of things yet to be done, but if I get the encryption with pre-boot authentication to work (likely), then there's a new tutorial coming up!