* Updated documentation in README.initramfs-transition to include

  information related to #380089.

1 files changed, 52 insertions, 0 deletions

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+mdadm for Debian - initramfs transition
+---------------------------------------
+
+None of the following needs to concern you if you are using monolithic kernels
+(no modules), yaird, or initrd-tools/mkinitrd.
+
+This information is about #367567. The gist is that the hooks and scripts to
+take care of RAID during boot with an initramfs have been improved and moved
+into the mdadm package. mdrun has been deprecated on the way.
+
+As long as the version of initramfs-tools you have installed still provides
+the old hooks and scripts (which use mdrun), the new ones will simply not do
+anything (which allows me to get rid of the conflict I needed previously).
+Version 0.70 and later does not provide these hooks anymore, so the new mdadm
+hooks will be used, which use mdadm instead of mdrun.
+
+initramfs-tools does *not* conflict with older mdadm but instead provides
+fallback code in case mdadm << 2.5-1 is installed (which does not provide the
+hooks yet). This decision was made in order to prevent the slight chance that
+mdadm would be removed due to the conflict. See #380089.
+
+Unless I've overlooked a detail, no interaction is required from the side of
+the user (apart from the new debconf question) to install and get mdadm
+running and integrated with initramfs-tools. It helps to ensure that
+update-initramfs produces output that squares with your own perception of what
+is needed to boot, and that the output of the script /usr/share/mdadm/mkconf
+is sane after installation and before you reboot.
+
+Also, you may want to provide yourself a safety net by making a copy of the
+initrd:
+
+  cp /boot/initrd.img-$(uname -r) /boot/initrd.img-$(uname -r).before-mdadm25
+
+and then to duplicate your main grub or lilo stanzas (rerun lilo!) and point
+them to the saved initrd. If things go haywire, you should be able to restore
+a working condition with the saved initrd.
+
+If you want to move to the new hooks and scripts without installing
+initramfs-tools 0.70, do this:
+
+  rm /usr/share/initramfs-tools/hooks/md
+  sed -i -e 's,^PREREQ=\"md\"$,PREREQ=\"mdadm\",' \
+    /usr/share/initramfs-tools/scripts/local-top/lvm
+  update-initramfs -u -k$(uname -r)
+
+(that -k is due to #375671. If update-initramfs says something about
+initrd having been altered and refuses to do something, use -t unless you
+modified the initrd on purpose and don't want it overwritten.)
+
+Again, please report success or failure to me.
+
+ -- martin f. krafft <madduck@debian.org>  Mon, 31 Jul 2006 14:32:21 +0100