How to unpack/uncompress and repack/re-compress an initial ramdisk (initrd/initramfs) boot image file on RHEL 5,6 ?

Solution Verified - Updated -

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5

Note: For RHEL7 and RHEL8, refer to How to extract the contents of initramfs image on RHEL7?

Issue

  • How do I unpack or uncompress, and then repack or re-compress, an initrd or initramfs boot image file?
  • How do I modify the contents of an initrd or initramfs?
  • How do I view an initrd or initramfs?

Resolution

First, create a temporary work directory and switch into it. This will be the location where the initramfs/initrd contents will be viewed, edited, and re-compressed if required:

mkdir /tmp/initrd
cd /tmp/initrd

Identify compression format of the image

Use the file command on the initramfs/initrd to identify the compression format:

file /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r).img

The $(uname -r) will use the file for the current kernel version. You may also specify a specific file, such as:

file /boot/initramfs-2.6.32-754.el6.x86_64.img

The most common is a gzip-format image which displays as:

# file /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r).img
/boot/initramfs-2.6.32-754.el6.x86_64.img: gzip compressed data

However, there may also be an XZ/LZMA-format image which displays as:

# file /boot/initramfs-$(uname -r).img
/boot/initramfs-2.6.32-754.el6.x86_64.img: LZMA compressed data

Select the appropriate instructions below to extract or repack the correct image type for your system.

gzip format - Extract / Uncompress

Uncompress and extract the contents of the image in the /boot/ directory:

zcat /boot/initrd-$(uname -r).img | cpio -idmv

gzip format - Repack / Recompress

Still in the working directory, find all files and add them to a new boot image file:

find . | cpio -o -c -R root:root | gzip -9 > /boot/new.img

xz/LZMA format - Extract / Uncompress

Uncompress and extract the contents of the image in the /boot/ directory:

xz -dc < /boot/initrd-$(uname -r).img | cpio -idmv

xz/LZMA format - Repack / Recompress

Still in the working directory, find all files and add them to a new boot image file:

find . 2>/dev/null | cpio -o -c -R root:root | xz -9 --format=lzma > /boot/new.img

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