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mkinitcpio — Generate initial ramdisk environments for booting the Linux kernel based on the specified preset(s).

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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Problem

How to use the mkinitcpio command: Generate initial ramdisk environments for booting the Linux kernel based on the specified preset(s). More information: <https://manned.org/mkinitcpio>.

Solution

mkinitcpio — Generate initial ramdisk environments for booting the Linux kernel based on the specified preset(s). More information: <https://manned.org/mkinitcpio>.

Perform a dry run (print what would be done without actually doing it):

mkinitcpio

Generate ramdisk environments based on all existing presets (used to regenerate all the initramfs images after a change in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf):

sudo mkinitcpio {{[-P|--allpresets]}}

Generate a ramdisk environment based on the linux preset:

sudo mkinitcpio {{[-p|--preset]}} linux

Generate a ramdisk environment based on the linux-lts preset:

sudo mkinitcpio {{[-p|--preset]}} linux-lts

Generate an initramfs image using an alternative configuration file:

sudo mkinitcpio {{[-c|--config]}} {{path/to/mkinitcpio.conf}} {{[-g|--generate]}} {{path/to/initramfs.img}}

Generate an initramfs image for a kernel other than the one currently running (the installed kernel releases can be found in /usr/lib/modules/):

sudo mkinitcpio {{[-k|--kernel]}} {{kernel_version}} {{[-g|--generate]}} {{path/to/initramfs.img}}

List all available hooks:

mkinitcpio {{[-L|--listhooks]}}

Display help for a specific hook:

mkinitcpio {{[-H|--hookhelp]}} {{hook_name}}

Code Snippets

Perform a dry run (print what would be done without actually doing it)

mkinitcpio

Generate ramdisk environments based on all existing presets (used to regenerate all the initramfs images after a change in `/etc/mkinitcpio.conf`)

sudo mkinitcpio {{[-P|--allpresets]}}

Generate a ramdisk environment based on the `linux` preset

sudo mkinitcpio {{[-p|--preset]}} linux

Generate a ramdisk environment based on the `linux-lts` preset

sudo mkinitcpio {{[-p|--preset]}} linux-lts

Generate an initramfs image using an alternative configuration file

sudo mkinitcpio {{[-c|--config]}} {{path/to/mkinitcpio.conf}} {{[-g|--generate]}} {{path/to/initramfs.img}}

Context

tldr-pages: linux/mkinitcpio

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