#3657 PR `merged`: arm64: bring initramfs rebuilding on Debian and SUSE¶

Labels: enhancement, fixed / solved / done

svlv opened issue at 2026-10-20 12:06:¶

Pull Request Details:¶

Type: Enhancement
Impact: Normal
Reference to related issue (URL):
How was this pull request tested?
ARM64 VMs running Debian 13 and openSUSE Leap 16 were successfully backed up and recovered.
Description of the changes in this pull request:
Achieve AMD64 parity in initramfs rebuilding on Debian and SUSE.

codacy-production commented at 2026-10-20 12:07:¶

Up to standards ✅¶

🟢 Issues 0 issues

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jsmeix commented at 2026-10-20 12:41:¶

@rear/contributors
please have a look here (as time permits).
Perhaps you spot issues that I overlooked?

lzaoral commented at 2026-10-20 12:43:¶

Actually, wouldn't it be simpler to execute the initrd regeneration regardless of the architecture, i.e. move the script to the default directory?

svlv commented at 2026-10-20 13:09:¶

Actually, wouldn't it be simpler to execute the initrd regeneration regardless of the architecture, i.e. move the script to the default directory?

I think, it's a good point. Also, it would allow us to remove some arch-specific dirs that contain only a link to 550_rebuild_initramfs.sh

$ tree usr/share/rear/finalize/SUSE_LINUX/
usr/share/rear/finalize/SUSE_LINUX/
├── arm
│   └── 550_rebuild_initramfs.sh -> ../i386/550_rebuild_initramfs.sh
├── i386
│   ├── 550_rebuild_initramfs.sh
│   └── 675_install_shim.sh
├── ppc64
│   └── 550_rebuild_initramfs.sh -> ../i386/550_rebuild_initramfs.sh
├── ppc64le
│   └── 550_rebuild_initramfs.sh -> ../i386/550_rebuild_initramfs.sh
└── s390
    └── 660_install_grub2_and_zipl.sh

$ tree usr/share/rear/finalize/Debian/
usr/share/rear/finalize/Debian/
├── arm
│   └── 550_rebuild_initramfs.sh -> ../i386/550_rebuild_initramfs.sh
├── i386
│   └── 550_rebuild_initramfs.sh
└── ppc64le
    └── 550_rebuild_initramfs.sh -> ../i386/550_rebuild_initramfs.sh

I can do it if there are no objections. Please let me know whether you agree or not.

jsmeix commented at 2026-10-20 13:15:¶

I don't have time for analysis but
all actual script files differ

# find usr/share/rear/finalize -type f -ls | grep 'rebuild_initramfs'

... 5397 ... usr/share/rear/finalize/Fedora/550_rebuild_initramfs.sh
... 5939 ... usr/share/rear/finalize/SUSE_LINUX/i386/550_rebuild_initramfs.sh
... 4454 ... usr/share/rear/finalize/Debian/i386/550_rebuild_initramfs.sh

svlv commented at 2026-10-20 13:19:¶

I don't have time for analysis but
all actual script files differ

I think that @lzaoral's idea was to move usr/share/rear/finalize/Debian/i386/550_rebuild_initramfs.sh to
usr/share/rear/finalize/Debian/550_rebuild_initramfs.sh and doing the same for SUSE.

jsmeix commented at 2026-10-20 13:20:¶

Ah - sorry - I didn't look carefully.

jsmeix commented at 2026-10-20 13:29:¶

I think the function SourceStage() in
lib/_framework-setup-and-functions.sh
may not source from

usr/share/rear/finalize/Fedora/default
usr/share/rear/finalize/Debian/default
usr/share/rear/finalize/SUSE_LINUX/default

if I understand this code piece correctly
from plain looking at the SourceStage() code

    local scripts=( $( cd $SHARE_DIR/$stage
                 ls -d  {default,"$ARCH","$OS",..."}/*.sh \
              "$BACKUP"/{default,"$ARCH","$OS",..."}/*.sh \
              "$OUTPUT"/{default,"$ARCH","$OS",..."}/*.sh \
    "$OUTPUT"/"$BACKUP"/{default,"$ARCH","$OS",..."}/*.sh \

Proof (in a git clone)

# mkdir usr/share/rear/finalize/SUSE_LINUX/default

# echo 'Error "test"' >usr/share/rear/finalize/SUSE_LINUX/default/999_test.sh

# usr/sbin/rear -s recover | grep test
[no output]

jsmeix commented at 2026-10-20 13:41:¶

I.e. what confused me was
"move the script to the default directory"

jsmeix commented at 2026-10-20 14:01:¶

So the actual proposal is for SUSE_LINUX and Debian
to move their actual script to their parent directories
and remove the symlinks.

So we would get the actual scripts

usr/share/rear/finalize/Fedora/550_rebuild_initramfs.sh
usr/share/rear/finalize/SUSE_LINUX/550_rebuild_initramfs.sh
usr/share/rear/finalize/Debian/550_rebuild_initramfs.sh

which means those scripts get executed on all architectures
so those scripts must work on all architectures.

Because this already works for Fedora
I guess it will also work for SUSE_LINUX and Debian
but I did not check if the scripts for SUSE_LINUX and Debian
will actually work on all architectures.

svlv commented at 2026-10-20 14:12:¶

So the actual proposal is for SUSE_LINUX and Debian
to move their actual script to their parent directories
and remove the symlinks.

Yes, exactly.

but I did not check if the scripts for SUSE_LINUX and Debian
will actually work on all architectures.

Me neither. I can check only amd64 and arm64. Basically, that's why I am asking whether you agree or not.
I don't possess experience with other platforms (I'm familiar with 32-bit ARM, but that's unrelated).

jsmeix commented at 2026-10-20 15:51:¶

I have personal experience only with x86_64.
I have only x86_64 systems (I am in homeoffice).

svlv commented at 2026-10-20 16:03:¶