Linuxrc is a program used for setting up the kernel for installation purposes. It allows the user to load modules, start an installed system, a rescue system or an installation via YaST.
Linuxrc is designed to be as small as possible. Therefore, all needed programs are linked directly into one binary. So there is no need for shared libraries in the initdisk.
If you run Linuxrc on an installed system, it will work slightly differently so as not to destroy your installation. As a consequence you cannot test all features this way.
Unless Linuxrc is in manual mode, it will look for an
info
file in these locations: first
/info
on the flash disk and if that does not exist,
for /info
in the initrd. After that it parses the
kernel command line for parameters. You may change the
info
file Linuxrc reads by setting the
info
command line parameter. If you do not want
Linuxrc to read the kernel command line (for example because you need to
specify a kernel parameter that Linuxrc recognizes as well), use
linuxrc=nocmdline
.
Linuxrc will always look for and parse a file
/linuxrc.config
. Use this file to change default
values if you need to. In general, it is better to use the
info
file instead. Note that
/linuxrc.config
is read before any
info
file, even in manual mode.
info
file format #
Lines starting with #
are comments, valid entries are
of the form:
key: value
Note that value
extends to the end of the line and
therefore may contain spaces. key
is matched
case-insensitive.
You can use the same key-value pairs on the kernel command line using
the syntax key=value
. Lines that do not have the form
described above are ignored.
The table below lists Valid keys. The given values are only examples.
Keyword/Value |
Description |
---|---|
AddSwap: 0|3|/dev/sda5 |
If 0, never ask for swap; if the argument is a positive number
|
AutoYaST: ftp://autoyastfile |
Location of the auto installation file; activates auto installation mode |
BOOTPTimeout: 10 |
10 seconds timeout for BOOTP requests |
BOOTPWait: 5 |
Sleep 5 seconds between network activation and starting bootp |
DHCPTimeout: 60 |
60 seconds timeout for DHCP requests |
Display: Color|Mono|Alt |
Set the menu color scheme |
DHCP: 0|1 |
Start the DHCP daemon now>, but see |
Domain: example.com |
Set domain name (used for name server lookups) |
Exec: command |
Run command |
ForceInsmod: 0|1 |
Use |
ForceRootimage: 0|1 |
Load the installation system into RAM disk |
Gateway: 10.10.0.1 |
Gateway |
HostIP: 10.10.0.2 |
The client ip address |
Insmod: module params |
Load this module |
Install: nfs://SERVER/install/8.0-i386 |
Install via NFS from SERVER (note: you can specify user name, password etc. in the URL, too) |
InstallDir: /suse/inst-sys |
Installation system |
InstMode: cd|hd|nfs|smb|ftp|http|tftp |
Set installation mode |
Keytable: de-lat1-nd |
Load this key table |
Language: de_DE |
Set the language |
Loghost: 10.10.0.22 |
Enable remove logging via syslog |
Manual: 0|1 |
Start Linuxrc in manual mode |
MemLoadImage: 50000 |
Load installation system into RAM disk if free memory is above 50000 KB |
MemLimit: 10000 |
Ask for swap if free memory drops below 10000 KB |
MemModules: 20000 |
Delete all modules before starting YaST if free memory is below 20000 KB |
MemYaST: 20000 |
Run YaST in text mode if free memory is below 20000 KB |
MemYaSTText: 10000 |
Ask for swap before starting YaST if free memory is below 10000 KB |
Nameserver: 10.10.0.1 |
Name Server |
Netdevice: eth0 |
Network interface to use |
Netmask: 255.255.0.0 |
Network mask |
NoPCMCIA: 0|1 |
Do not start card manager |
Partition: hda1 |
Partition with install sources for hard disk install |
Password: password |
Set password (for example for an FTP installation) |
Proxy: 10.10.0.1 |
Proxy (either FTP or HTTP) |
ProxyPort: 10.10.0.1 |
Proxy port |
Rescue: 1|nfs://server/dir |
Load rescue system; the URL variant specifies the location of the rescue image explicitly |
RescueImage: /suse/images/rescue |
Rescue system image |
RootImage: /suse/images/root |
Installation system image |
Server: 10.10.0.1 |
Installation server address |
Serverdir: /install/8.0-i386 |
Base directory of the installation sources |
SSHPassword: password |
Sets SSH server password (this will not be the final root password!) |
Textmode: 0|1 |
Start YaST in text mode |
TFTPTimeout: 10 |
10 seconds timeout for TFTP connection |
USBWait: 4 |
Wait 4 seconds after loading USB modules |
UseDHCP: 0|1 |
Use DHCP instead of BOOTP (DHCP is default) |
Username: name |
Set user name (for example for an FTP installation) |
UseSSH: 0|1 |
Setup SSH server |
vlan: VLANID |
Set a VLANID to enable 802.1q tagged VLAN support |
VNC: 0|1 |
Setup VNC server |
VNCPassword: password |
Sets VNC server password |
WorkDomain: domain |
Set work domain for SMB install |
y2confirm |
Overrides the confirm parameter in a control file and requests confirmation of installation proposal |
The netsetup
keyword allows advanced network
configurations and enables dialogs to set up the network where required.
netsetup=1
the normal network setup questions
netsetup=xxx,yyy
only xxx and yyy
netsetup=+xxx,-yyy
default, additionally xxx, but not yyy
netsetup
can have the following values:
dhcp
, hostip
,
gateway
, netmask
, name
server
. nameserverN
asks for N name servers
(max. 4).
For example, the following can be entered on the command line:
netsetup=-dhcp,+nameserver3