Making an initrd Image

An initrd image is needed to load a SCSI module at boot time or if you compiled the kernel with ext3 support as a module. To verify that a new initrd file was created, view the contents of the /boot directory. You should see the file initrd-2.4.18-7.95custom.img, where 2.4.18-7.95custom is the name of the kernel you just built.

If it does not exist, use the /sbin/mkinitrd shell script to create it:

/sbin/mkinitrd /boot/initrd-2.4.18-7.95custom.img 2.4.18-7.95custom

In the above example, /boot/initrd-2.4.18-7.95custom.img is the file name of the new initrd image. 2.4.18-7.95custom is the kernel whose modules (from /lib/modules) should be used in the initrd image. This is not necessarily the same as the version number of the currently running kernel.