linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] initrd: support erofs as initrd

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Message-ID: <81788d65-968a-4225-ba1b-8ede4deb0f61@linux.alibaba.com>
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2025 17:58:02 +0800
From: Gao Xiang <hsiangkao@...ux.alibaba.com>
To: Askar Safin <safinaskar@...omail.com>
Cc: Byron Stanoszek <gandalf@...ds.org>, Christoph Hellwig <hch@....de>,
 gregkh <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>,
 "julian.stecklina" <julian.stecklina@...erus-technology.de>,
 linux-fsdevel <linux-fsdevel@...r.kernel.org>,
 linux-kernel <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>, rafael <rafael@...nel.org>,
 torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>, viro <viro@...iv.linux.org.uk>,
 Thomas Weißschuh <thomas.weissschuh@...utronix.de>,
 Christian Brauner <brauner@...nel.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH] initrd: support erofs as initrd



On 2025/8/27 17:48, Gao Xiang wrote:
> 
> 
> On 2025/8/27 17:22, Askar Safin wrote:
>>   ---- On Tue, 26 Aug 2025 19:32:34 +0400  Gao Xiang <hsiangkao@...ux.alibaba.com> wrote ---
>>   > I completely agree with that point. However, since EROFS is a
>>   > block-based filesystem (Thanks to strictly block alignment, meta(data)
>>   > can work efficiently on both block-addressed storage
>>   > devices and byte-addressed memory devices. Also if the fsblock size
>>
>> As I said previously, just put your erofs image to initramfs
>> (or to disk) and then (in your initramfs init) create ramdisk out of it
>> or loop mount it (both ramdisks and loop devices are block devices).
>>
>> This way you will have erofs on top of block device.
>>
>> And you will not depend on initrd. (Again: I plan to remove initial ramdisk
>> support, not ramdisk support per se.)
> 
> It doesn't work if end users put `init` into erofs image and sign
> the whole erofs initram images with their certifications.
> 
> And it doesn't have any relationship with cpio because users need
> signed image and load from memory.

Again, I don't think initramfs is the same concept as a golden
signed initramdisk, and cpio doesn't support those advanced usage.

The additional cpio extraction destroys bit-for-bit identical data
protection, or some other new verification approach is needed for
initramfs tmpfs.

Thanks,
Gao Xiang

> 
> Thanks,
> Gao Xiang