linux-kernel - Re: Linux mdadm superblock question.

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Message-ID: <20100218141230.GA26473@emergent.ellipticsemi.com>
Date:	Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:12:30 -0500
From:	Nick Bowler <nbowler@...iptictech.com>
To:	Goswin von Brederlow <goswin-v-b@....de>
Cc:	david@...g.hm, Kyle Moffett <kyle@...fetthome.net>,
	Rudy Zijlstra <rudy@...mpydevil.homelinux.org>,
	Neil Brown <neilb@...e.de>,
	"Mr. James W. Laferriere" <babydr@...y-dragons.com>,
	Bill Davidsen <davidsen@....com>,
	Volker Armin Hemmann <volkerarmin@...glemail.com>,
	Michael Evans <mjevans1983@...il.com>,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, linux-raid@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Linux mdadm superblock question.

On 04:33 Thu 18 Feb     , Goswin von Brederlow wrote:
> Nick Bowler <nbowler@...iptictech.com> writes:
> 
> > On 09:41 Wed 17 Feb     , david@...g.hm wrote:
> >> however for people who run systems that are known ahead of time and
> >> static (and who build their own kernels instead of just relying on the
> >> distro default kernel), all of this is unnessesary complication, which
> >> leaves more room for problems to creep in.
> >
> > Such people can easily construct an initramfs containing busybox and
> > mdadm with a shell script hardcoded to mount their root fs and run
> > switch_root.  It's a ~10 minute jobbie that only needs to be done once.
> 
> Except when mdadm, cryptsetup, lvm change you need to update it.
> Esspecially when you set up a new system that might have newer
> metadata.

I meant "once per system".  One typically doesn't _need_ to update the
mdadm in the initramfs, as long as it's capable of assembling the root
array.

> Also at least Debian doesn't (yet) support a common initramfs for their
> kernel packaging. You either build a kernel without need for one or you
> have a per kernel initramfs that is automatically build and updated
> whenever anything in the initrmafs changes. Not often, but still too
> often, the initramfs then doesn't work.

The scenario was when users configure and build their own kernel.  These
users are presumably capable of using grub's "initrd" command or the
CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE kernel option.

-- 
Nick Bowler, Elliptic Technologies (http://www.elliptictech.com/)
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