Bug#594189: initramfs-tools: environment variable to disable run_bootloader
On Tue, Aug 24, 2010 at 02:45:44PM +0100, Ben Hutchings wrote:
> On Tue, 2010-08-24 at 14:25 +0100, Colin Watson wrote:
> > In the case where one is building an image and part of the image build
> > involves running update-initramfs, it would be useful to have a single
> > guaranteed way to disable installing any bootloader. Individual
> > bootloader hooks in /etc/initramfs-tools/post-update.d/ can do this,
>
> Minus the "-tools"; it's supposed to be shared with any other initramfs
> builders.
Oops, yes.
> > but it would be better to have something central. Should this be an
> > environment variable or perhaps a configuration file entry?
>
> So far as I can see, the only reason to override post-update hooks is
> that one is cross-building an initramfs. In that case update-initramfs
> is still used for updating the host's initramfs and should continue to
> invoke the hooks when doing that. So this should be a command-line
> option and not a configuration option.
Consider building a filesystem image inside a chroot which one is about
to build into a live filesystem image with mksquashfs or something. In
the event that it contains flash-kernel, then the flash-kernel hook
(once such a thing exists; in the meantime, the hardcoded flash-kernel
code in run_bootloader) will write to the host system's flash memory.
(Take another similar example if you disagree with the precise details
of this one; LILO may well have similar properties.)
In this case, changing update-initramfs' command line is likely to be
most inconvenient, as it will be called from postinst scripts and the
like.
--
Colin Watson [cjwatson@debian.org]
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