8.47. dracut

Bug Fixes

BZ#1022766

The Anaconda "fcoe=edd:<dcb_setting>" option was introduced to allow systems in multi-path configuration to boot from the Storage Area Network (SAN). Previously, the option worked correctly only with the systems that used Enhanced Disk Drive Services (EDD) BIOS. Consequently, systems that did not use EDD, such as UEFI-based systems, could fail to boot from SAN. With this update, the option has been enhanced to work correctly with all systems.

BZ#1026302

In FIPS mode, the self checking of binaries is only done if the /etc/system-fips file is present. The dracut utility did not copy /etc/system-fips and certain checksum files in the initial ram file system (initramfs). As a consequence, the self check of the binaries, which was needed to decrypt a partition, was not done so that the partition could not been unlocked. Now, dracut copies all the needed files in the initramfs, and systems with encrypted disks can now boot successfully in FIPS mode.

BZ#1033784

The dracut(8) manual page did not describe certain new features. With this update, the missing information has been added to the manual page.

BZ#1041484

The nvme driver was missing from the initrd images. Consequently, when Red Hat Enterprise Linux was installed on a non-volatile memory express (NVMe) storage, the post-installation reboot failed. This update adds the missing driver and Red Hat Enterprise Linux can be installed on NVMe storages as expected.

BZ#1051448

Only the plymouth module was responsible for creating the initramfs /emergency/ directory. When the module was omitted during the installation, /emergency/ was not created. This behavior caused errors to be returned because other modules required /emergency/ too. With this update, /emergency/ is created regardless of loaded modules.

BZ#1070676

The /dev/btrfs-control device node is only created, after the btrfs kernel module is loaded. Previously, utilities that attempted to access the node prior to the module was loaded terminated unexpectedly. Now, the dracut initramfs environment statically creates the device node. As a result, when a utility tries to access the node, the kernel loads btrfs automatically so that the utility no longer fails in the described scenario.

BZ#1099603

The iscsistart utility, which is used for adding iSCSI disks, could be executed only when network interfaces had been brought up successfully. When the interfaces had not been correctly specified on the kernel command line, it was not possible to run the utility and boot the system from iSCSI disks. Now, when iSCSI disks are requested on the kernel command line, the dracut initramfs environment runs iscsistart even if no network interface is properly specified, thus allowing the system to boot from iSCSI disks.

BZ#1126346

With the iSCSI server not being available, the iscsistart utility took a very long time to connect to it, which slowed the boot process. With this update, iscsistart is now launched in the background, thus connecting to the iSCSI server as soon as it is available. As a result, booting no longer takes enormous amount of time.

Enhancement

BZ#737687

This update enables the server to boot from a secondary device in case the primary device fails. The new "rootfallback=<secondary_device>" parameter has been added to the dracut parameters. This parameter is used when the primary device specified with the "root=<primary_device>" parameter cannot be found.