Bug#387736: harden-doc: add section howto disable initramfs boot prompt
Package: harden-doc
Version: 3.8
Severity: wishlist
Tags: patch
--- harden-doc-3.8/howto-source/en/after-install.sgml 2006-08-18 18:07:34.000000000 +0200
+++ harden-doc-3.8/howto-source/en/after-install.sgml.new 2006-09-16 15:05:12.000000000 +0200
@@ -302,6 +302,25 @@ hackme. Using the MD5 password method is
counterpart. More information about <prgn>grub</prgn> passwords may be found
in the <package>grub-doc</package> package.
+<sect id="kernel-initramfs-prompt">Disable root prompt on the initramfs
+
+<p>Note: This applies to the default kernels provided for Debian 4.0.
+
+<p>Debian Linux 2.6 kernels provide a way to access a root shell while booting
+which will be presented during loading the initramfs on error. This is helpful
+to permit the administrator to enter an rescue shell with root permissions.
+This shell can be used to manually load modules when autodetection fails.
+This behavior is the default for <prgn>initramfs-tools</prgn> generated
+initramfs. The following message will appear:
+<example>
+ "ALERT! /dev/sda1 does not exist. Dropping to a shell!
+</example>
+
+<p>In order to remove this behavior you need to set the following bootarg:
+panic=0. Either add it to the kopt section of <file>/boot/grub/menu.lst</file>
+and issue <prgn>update-grub</prgn> or to the append section of
+<file>/etc/lilo.conf</file>.
+
<sect id="kernel-root-prompt">Remove root prompt on the kernel
<p>Note: This does not apply to the kernels provided for Debian 3.1.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: testing/unstable
APT prefers testing
APT policy: (500, 'testing')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash
Kernel: Linux 2.6.16-2-686
Locale: LANG=C, LC_CTYPE=C (charmap=ANSI_X3.4-1968)
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