modules

The organization and categories of dracut modules below are only meant for gaining better understanding of what each module does. In the dracut source code, there are no specific types or categories for dracut modules.

Dracut module types (categories)

• shell
• library (usually included by other dracut modules as a dependency and not directly by user)
• filesystems (kernel module and corresponding user space utilities for a filesystem)
• device (kernel module and corresponding user space utilities for a device).
• kernel (only kernel modules, no user space utilities)
• utils (no kernel module, just some user space utilities)
• meta (only for making decision which other modules to include)

local

Module	Description	Type
base	Base module with required utilities	library
bash	bash (bash is preferred interpreter if there more of them available)	shell
biosdevname	BIOS network device renaming	utils
btrfs	btrfs	filesystem
busybox	busybox	shell
caps	drop capabilities before init
convertfs	Merges / into /usr on next boot
crypt	encrypted LUKS filesystems and cryptsetup	filesystem
crypt-gpg	GPG for crypto operations and SmartCards (may requires GPG keys)
crypt-loop	encrypted loopback devices (symmetric key)
dash	dash	shell
debug	debug features
dm	device-mapper	library
dmraid	DMRAID arrays
dmsquash-live	SquashFS images
dmsquash-live-autooverlay	creates a partition for overlayfs usage in the free space on the root filesystem's parent block device
dmsquash-live-ntfs	SquashFS images located in NTFS filesystems
drm	kernel modules for DRM (complex graphics devices)	kernel
ecryptfs	kernel module for ecryptfs (stacked cryptographic filesystem)	filesystem
fips	Enforces FIPS security standard regulations
fs-lib	filesystem tools (including fsck.* and mount)	library
fstab-sys	Arranges for arbitrary partitions to be mounted before rootfs
i18n	Includes keymaps, console fonts, etc.
img-lib	Includes various tools for decompressing images	library
integrity	Extended Verification Module and ima-evm-utils
kernel-modules	kernel modules for root filesystems and other boot-time devices	kernel
kernel-modules-extra	extra out-of-tree kernel modules	kernel
lvm	LVM devices
lvmthinpool-monitor	Monitor LVM thinpool service
masterkey	masterkey that can be used to decrypt other keys and keyutils
mdraid	kernel module for md raid cluster, mdadm	device
mksh	mksh	shell
modsign	kernel module signing, keyutils
multipath	multipath devices	device
nvdimm	non-volatile DIMM devices	device
overlayfs	kernel module for overlayfs	filesystem
ppcmac	thermal for PowerPC	device
qemu	kernel modules to boot inside qemu	kernel
lunmask	Masks LUN devices to select only ones which required to boot
plymouth	show splash via plymouth	utils
pollcdrom	polls CD-ROM
rescue	utilities for rescue mode (such as ping, ssh, vi, fsck.*)	utils
resume	resume from low-power state
rootfs-block	mount block device as rootfs	device
securityfs	mount securityfs early	filesystem
selinux	selinux policy
shutdown	Sets up hooks to run on shutdown
syslog	Includes syslog capabilites	utils
terminfo	Includes a terminfo file	utils
udev-rules	Includes udev and some basic rules	library
uefi-lib	Includes UEFI tools	library
usrmount	mounts /usr
virtfs	virtual filesystems (9p)	filesystem
virtiofs	virtiofs	filesystem
warpclock	Sets kernel's timezone and reset the system time if adjtime is set to LOCAL
watchdog	Includes watchdog devices management; works only if systemd not in use
watchdog-modules	kernel modules for watchdog loaded early in booting	kernel

network

• requires IP connectivity
• works with and without systemd

Module	Description
cifs	CIFS, cifs-utils
fcoe	Adds support for Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
fcoe-uefi	Adds support for Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) in EFI mode
ifcfg	Includes /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/* network scripts for network autogeneration
iscsi	Adds support for iSCSI devices
kernel-network-modules	Includes and loads kernel modules for network devices
livenet	Fetch live updates for SquashFS images
nbd	kernel module for Network Block Device, nbd
network	Virtual module for network service providers
network-legacy	Includes legacy networking tools support
nfs	kernel module for NFS, nfs-utils
nvmf	Adds support for NVMe over Fabrics devices
qemu-net	Includes network kernel modules for QEMU environment
ssh-client	Includes ssh and scp clients
url-lib	Includes curl and SSL certs

systemd

These modules would require including a version of systemd into initramfs.

Module	Description
bluetooth	Includes bluetooth devices support
dbus	Virtual module for dbus-broker or dbus-daemon
dbus-broker
dbus-daemon
dracut-systemd	Base systemd dracut module
fido2
lvmmerge	Merges lvm snapshots
memstrack	Includes memstrack for memory usage monitoring
pcsc	Adds support for PCSC Smart cards
pkcs11	Includes PKCS#11 libraries
rngd	Starts random generator serive on early boot
squash	Builds SquashFS initramfs
systemd	Adds systemd as early init initialization system
systemd-ac-power	systemd-ac-power
systemd-ask-password	systemd-ask-password
systemd-coredump	systemd-coredump
systemd-creds	systemd-creds
systemd-hostnamed	systemd-hostnamed
systemd-initrd	INITRD_INTERFACE
systemd-integritysetup	systemd-integritysetup
systemd-journald	systemd-journald
systemd-ldconfig
systemd-modules-load	systemd-modules-load
systemd-pcrphase	systemd-pcrphase
systemd-portabled	systemd-portabled
systemd-pstore	systemd-pstore
systemd-repart	systemd-repart
systemd-resolved	systemd-resolved
systemd-sysctl	systemd-sysctl
systemd-sysext	systemd-sysext
systemd-sysusers	systemd-sysusers
systemd-timedated	systemd-timedated
systemd-timesyncd	systemd-timesyncd
systemd-tmpfiles	systemd-tmpfiles
systemd-udevd	systemd-udevd
systemd-veritysetup	systemd-veritysetup
tpm2-tss	Adds support for TPM2 devices

systemd network

Module	Description
systemd-network-management	Adds network management for systemd
systemd-networkd
connman	connman
network-manager	NetworkManager

s390(x)

Module	Description
cio_ignore
cms	mount z/VM CMS disks on s390
dasd
dasd_mod
dasd_rules
dcssblk
qeth_rules
zfcp	networking
zfcp_rules
zipl
znet	networking

test

Module	Description
test
test-makeroot
test-root