README

1. Introduction
2. Features
3. Configuration
4. Examples
5. Authors
6. Original Authors
7. Repository

INTRODUCTION

mistral is derived from mkinitrd from Slackware, and is used to build
an initial ramdisk or runself archive.

An initial ramdisk is a very small set of files that are loaded into RAM
and 'mounted' (as initramfs doesn't use a filesystem) as the kernel boots
(before the main root filesystem is mounted).

An initrd is used when kernel modules need to be loaded before mounting
the root partition. Usually these modules are required to support the root
filesystem (ext3, reiserfs, xfs), or perhaps the controller that the hard
drive is attached to (SCSI, RAID, etc). Essentially, there are so many
different options available in modern Linux kernels that it isn't practical
to try to ship many different kernels to try to cover everyone's needs.
It's a lot more flexible to ship a generic kernel and a set of kernel
modules for it.

A runself archive is a self-extracting shell archive with a built-in
executable script. The runself script is derived from the script
Makeself version 2.4.0. All runself archives are dependent on the
mistral infra-structure.

The command set of mistral is not compatible with the Slackware mkinitrd
command set. If run without options, mistral will build an initrd image,
based on your host machine's installation.

FEATURES

• Support for overlay file tree (initrd/runself).
• Support for SysV and OpenRC (initrd).
• Support for RAID file systems (initrd).
• Support for LVM file systems (initrd).
• Support for LUKS encryption (initrd, WIP -- Work in Progress).
• Support for Frame Buffer splash (initrd, todo).
• Support for Mistral framebuffer splash (initrd, todo).
• Support for Plymouth framebuffer splash (initrd, todo).

CONFIGURATION

INI-style configuration file at /etc/mistral/initrd.conf.
The configuration entries are self-explanatory.

EXAMPLES

Build an initrd for a reiserfs root partition:

mistral -c -f reiserfs

Build a runself archive for the package manager:

mistral.runself -c brzpkg

Build an initrd image using Linux 2.6.33.1 kernel modules for a
system with an ext3 root partition on /dev/sdb3:

mistral -c -k 2.6.33.1 -f ext3 -r /dev/sdb3

An example of a single encrypted partition setup:

mistral -c -k 2.6.33.1 -C -L -R -U -f ext4 -r /dev/mapper/luksroot

AUTHORS

Pierre Innocent (dev@breezeos.com)
The Breeze::OS website: http://www.breezeos.com

ORIGINAL AUTHORS

Patrick J. Volkerding (volkerdi@slackware.com)

REPOSITORY

Mistral github.io: https://dev-breeze-com.github.io/mistral
Mistral v1.0.0: https://www.github.com/dev-breeze-com/mistral