Bump version to 1.0.30

Use XZ compression for integrated initramfs by default now; some
systems will not boot if a large, uncompressed initramfs is used
(even though the enclosing kernel is compressed).

buildkernel

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 # Build kernel, modules and initial ramdisk in correct sequence, ensuring kernel
 # config is conformed, then sign if possible and copy to EFI boot partition.
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2014-2017 sakaki <[email protected]>
+# Copyright (c) 2014-2018 sakaki <[email protected]>
 #
 # License (GPL v3.0)
 # ------------------
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ shopt -s nullglob
 # ********************** variables ********************* 
 PROGNAME="$(basename "${0}")"
 CONFFILE="/etc/${PROGNAME}.conf"
-VERSION="1.0.29"
+VERSION="1.0.30"
 ETCPROFILE="/etc/profile"
 DEFAULTEFIBOOTFILE="bootx64.efi"
 EFIBOOTFILE="${DEFAULTEFIBOOTFILE}"
@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@ CMDLINE_REAL_ROOT="/dev/mapper/vg1-root"
 CMDLINE_REAL_RESUME="/dev/mapper/vg1-swap"
 declare -i DEFAULTCREATEEFIBOOT=1
 declare -i CREATEEFIBOOT="${DEFAULTCREATEEFIBOOT}"
+declare -i DEFAULTCOMPRESSINITRAMFS=1
+declare -i COMPRESSINITRAMFS="${DEFAULTCOMPRESSINITRAMFS}"
 # you can use xconfig etc if you like - override in /etc/buildkernel.conf
 CONFIGTYPE="menuconfig"
 # following should already be in the environment; but to be safe...
@@ -1633,12 +1635,28 @@ conform_config_file() {
     set_kernel_config "CMDLINE" "\"${KERNEL_CMD_LINE}\""
     show "Setting up initramfs location and type..."
     set_kernel_config "INITRAMFS_SOURCE" "\"${UNCOMPRESSEDINITRAMFS}\""
-    # initramfs compression must be 'none' - not as big a deal as it sounds,
-    # since the encapsulating kernel image will itself be compressed...
-    for COMP_TYPE in "GZIP" "BZIP2" "LZMA" "XZ" "LZO"; do
-        unset_kernel_config "INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION_${COMP_TYPE}"
-    done
-    set_kernel_config "INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION_NONE" "y"
+    # unless the user specifically directs, we will compress the initramfs with
+    # XZ - although the enclosing kernel will be compressed anyway, this can
+    # help on low-memory systems; also the need to leave compression off seems
+    # to no longer apply with modern kernels
+    if ((COMPRESSINITRAMFS==1)); then
+        show "Using XZ compression for built-in initramfs"
+        unset_kernel_config "INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION_NONE"
+        for COMP_TYPE in "GZIP" "BZIP2" "LZMA" "LZO" "LZ4"; do
+            unset_kernel_config "INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION_${COMP_TYPE}"
+        done
+        set_kernel_config "INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION_XZ" "y"
+        set_kernel_config "INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION" ".xz"
+    else
+        warning "As requested, not compressing the built-in initramfs"
+        warning "This can lead to boot failure on memory-constrained systems"
+        for COMP_TYPE in "GZIP" "BZIP2" "LZMA" "XZ" "LZO" "LZ4"; do
+            unset_kernel_config "INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION_${COMP_TYPE}"
+        done
+        set_kernel_config "INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION_NONE" "y"
+        set_kernel_config "INITRAMFS_COMPRESSION" ""
+    fi
+
     # ensure we can get at the LUKS volume! note that these could also be
     # modules really, since we copy all modules into the initramfs
     show "Ensuring Serpent, Whirlpool and SHA-512 are included..."
@@ -1767,7 +1785,9 @@ rebuild_external_modules_if_necessary() {
 create_initramfs_using_genkernel() {
     show "Creating initramfs (uncompressed)..."
     # this is a partial use of genkernel, we don't use it to build the kernel
-    # itself; also note, EFI kernels *require* an uncompressed ramdisk
+    # itself; also note, we build an uncompressed ramdisk, as the kernel
+    # build process will compress it on integration into the
+    # unified kernel image
     # we suppress gpg here as we don't want to add gpg v2 which is installed,
     # but rather our static gpg v1, which will be inserted into the initramfs
     local PLYMOUTH_OPTS=""

buildkernel.8

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.TH BUILDKERNEL 8 "Version 1.0.29: January 2018"
+.TH BUILDKERNEL 8 "Version 1.0.30: May 2018"
 .SH NAME
 buildkernel \- build secure boot kernel, save to EFI system partition
 .SH SYNOPSIS
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ A post-reboot run of \fBgenup\fR(8) will achieve this.
 
 .SH COPYRIGHT
 .nf
-Copyright \(co 2014-2017 sakaki
+Copyright \(co 2014-2018 sakaki
 License GPLv3+ (GNU GPL version 3 or later)
 <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
 

buildkernel.conf

@@ -73,6 +73,12 @@
 # the below (capitalization is unimportant)
 #INITSYSTEM="openrc"
 
+# if you want to revert to the old (<=1.0.29) behaviour of _not_ compressing
+# the built-in initramfs, uncomment the line below; XZ compression is now
+# used by default; some systems will not boot large kernels that contain an
+# uncompressed ramfs, even though the enclosing kernel is itself compressed
+#COMPRESSINITRAMFS=0
+
 # if you need to conform the config file for some reason, uncomment this
 # hook function and fill it out to suit your requirements
 # NB you should only really need to do this to override a setting forced

buildkernel.conf.5

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.TH BUILDKERNEL 5 "Version 1.0.29: January 2018"
+.TH BUILDKERNEL 5 "Version 1.0.30: May 2018"
 .SH NAME
 buildkernel.conf \- a configuration file for \fBbuildkernel\fR(8)
 .SH SYNOPSIS
@@ -176,6 +176,16 @@ Set to \fB0\fR only if you have your own EFI bootloader,
 or want to insert appropriate EFI boot settings manually.
 
 Most users will not need to override the default.
+.br
+.TP
+.BR COMPRESSINITRAMFS
+When set to \fB0\fR the \fBbuildkernel\fR script will \fInot\fR
+intruct the kernel to XZ compress its integral initrams (the default
+behaviour prior to version 1.0.30); doing so may cause boot
+issues on certain systems with modest RAM.
+
+Most users will not need to override the default.
+
 .RE
 .SH FUNCTIONS
 The following hook functions \fImay\fR be specified in \fB/etc/buildkernel.conf\fR if
@@ -201,7 +211,7 @@ function exit.
 .RE
 .SH COPYRIGHT
 .nf
-Copyright \(co 2014-2017 sakaki
+Copyright \(co 2014-2018 sakaki
 License GPLv3+ (GNU GPL version 3 or later)
 <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>