man mkinitcpio

MKINITCPIO(5)				User Commands						MKINITCPIO(5)

NAME
	mkinitcpio - Create an initial ramdisk environment
	
SYNOPSYS
	mkinitcpio [OPTION]
	
DESCRIPTION
	
	Creates an initial ramdisk environment for booting the linux kernel
	
OPTIONS
	
	-c config
		Use config file to generate the ramdisk. Default: /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
		
	-k kernelversion
		Use kernelversion. Default is the current running kernel.
			
	-s name
		Saves a list of all the files in the initial ramdisk. Default no: this
		means the filelist will not be retained if this option isn't specified.
		Useful for debugging purposes. 
			
	-b basedir
		Use basedir as a starting point for writing the initial ramdisk
		(needs example here how this works and why this is usefull)
			
	-g filename
		Generate a CPIO image as filename. Default: no, this means nothing will
		be written to the filesystem unless this option is specified.
			
	-a name
		Append to an existing filelist. Default: no.
			
	-p preset
		Build initial ramdisk according to specified preset. Presets are 
		found in /etc/mkinitcpio.d
			
	-m message
		Print this message before passing control to kinit.
		
	-v
		Verbose output. Outputs more information about what's happening during
		creation of the ramdisk.
		
	-M
		Display modules found via autodetection. mkinitcpio will automatically
		try to determine which kernel modules are needed to start your computer.
		This option lists which modules were detected.
	
	-L
		List all available hooks.
		
	-H hookname
		Output help for hookname 'hookname'
	
	-h
		Output a short overview of available command-line switches.
		
		
ABOUT HOOKS
	A hook is a script that executes in the initial ramdisk. The order and which
	scripts are executed is found in the HOOKS=() array in the mkinitcpio
	configuration file. A hook will, for example, set up the udev device
	filesystem, load IDE modules, etc...

ABOUT PRESETS
	A preset is a pre-defined definition on how to create an initial ramdisk. 
	Instead of specifying the configuration file and which output file, every
	time you generate a new intial ramdisk, you define a preset and use the
	-p switch to generate an initial ramdisk according to your preset. Presets
	are located in /etc/mkinitcpio.d

FILES
	/etc/mkinitcpio.conf
		Default configuration file for mkinitcpio.
		
	/etc/mkinitcpio.d
		Folder containing mkinitcpio presets.
		
	/lib/initcpio
		Files related to creating an initial ramdisk.
		
EXAMPLES
	List some examples here
	
TIPS
	Don't let the bed bugs bite
	
SEE ALSO
	http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Configuring_mkinitcpio
	
BUGS
	Bugs? This software doesn't contain bugs. Only features.
	
AUTHORS
	mkinitcpio created by the Arch Linux Developer community (is this correct?)
	
	Initial draft manpage by Glenn 'RedShift' Matthys
	Information supplied by Jens 'byte' Adam
	Proof reading by Geir 'gejr' Vaagland
	Proofread by everyone in #archlinux on freenode. It's your fault if this
	document contains a spelling mistake.
	
VERSION INFORMATION
	Manpage written for mkinitcpio 0.5.15
	
COPYRIGHT
	Copyright (c) Arch Linux
	
	...
	
Arch Linux core utilities			September 2007				MKINITCPIO(5)