Bug#866127: initramfs-tools: Please allow fully disabling initramfs generation

[Balint Reczey <balint.reczey@canonical.com>]

Hi Ben,

On Tue, Jun 27, 2017 at 7:30 PM, Ben Hutchings <ben@decadent.org.uk> wrote:
> Control: tag -1 wontfix
>
> This is already allowed, and I don't think any new setting is needed.
>
> On Tue, 2017-06-27 at 17:56 +0200, Balint Reczey wrote:
>> Package: initramfs-tools
>> Version: 0.130
>> Severity: wishlist
>> Tags: patch
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Setting update_initramfs=no in update-initramfs.conf still triggers
>> initramfs creation on kernel updates.
>> While this generally makes sense some systems don't need initramfs to
>> boot and currently there is
>> no nice way of fully disabling initramfs generation.
>
> Debian's official kernel packages won't boot on any system without an
> initramfs.  That's why they depend on an initramfs generator.
>
>> The attached patch introduces update_initramfs=never which skips
>> initramfs generation even when the kernel is upgraded. Please consider
>> accepting it in a future upload.
>
> I already split initramfs-tools into two binary packages precisely so
> that you can have the tools installed without automatically building an
> initramfs for every installed kernel.  (Although that was actually done
> to allow coexistence with dracut.)
>
> Custom kernels that are meant to work without an initramfs should have
> CONFIG_BLK_DEV_INITRD disabled; then the postinst script generated by
> 'make deb-pkg' will set INITRD=No which effectively disables the
> initramfs-tools (and dracut) postinst hook.
>
> If Ubuntu's official kernel packages can boot without an initramfs on
> some systems, then the package relations should be changed so that they
> Recommend, rather than Depend-ing on, an initramfs generator.

Thanks, this is indeed the clean solution.

Cheers,
Balint

-- 
Balint Reczey
Debian & Ubuntu Developer