[PATCH 2/2] kbuild: Move gen_init_cpio and gen_initramfs.sh to scripts/
From: Nicolas Schier
Date: Mon Mar 09 2026 - 03:58:15 EST
get_init_cpio and gen_initramfs.sh are part of kbuild and required for
all kernel builds. Move it to scripts/ to be more clear about their
importance.
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/aSdrCFkUQup3qb-q@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/
Signed-off-by: Nicolas Schier <nsc@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
Nathan, could this go through kbuild-fixes even though it is not really
a fix? Introducing a top-level Makefile target 'usr_gen_init_cpio'
in v7.0 and renaming it to 'scripts/gen_init_cpio` in v7.1 doesn't sound
good to me.
---
MAINTAINERS | 1 +
Makefile | 10 +++++-----
scripts/.gitignore | 1 +
scripts/Makefile | 2 ++
{usr => scripts}/gen_init_cpio.c | 0
{usr => scripts}/gen_initramfs.sh | 2 +-
scripts/remove-stale-files | 2 ++
usr/.gitignore | 4 +++-
usr/Makefile | 4 +---
9 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)
diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index 55af015174a5..0e374c92941f 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -13833,6 +13833,7 @@ F: scripts/basic/
F: scripts/clang-tools/
F: scripts/container
F: scripts/dummy-tools/
+F: scripts/gen_init*
F: scripts/include/
F: scripts/install.sh
F: scripts/mk*
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0e788ce45457..7798863002ac 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ no-dot-config-targets := $(clean-targets) \
$(version_h) headers headers_% archheaders archscripts \
%asm-generic kernelversion %src-pkg dt_binding_check \
outputmakefile rustavailable rustfmt rustfmtcheck \
- usr_gen_init_cpio \
+ scripts/gen_init_cpio \
run-command
no-sync-config-targets := $(no-dot-config-targets) %install modules_sign kernelrelease \
image_name
@@ -1437,9 +1437,9 @@ ifdef CONFIG_HEADERS_INSTALL
prepare: headers
endif
-PHONY += usr_gen_init_cpio
-usr_gen_init_cpio: scripts_basic
- $(Q)$(MAKE) $(build)=usr usr/gen_init_cpio
+PHONY += scripts/gen_init_cpio
+scripts/gen_init_cpio: scripts_basic
+ $(Q)$(MAKE) $(build)=scripts scripts/gen_init_cpio
PHONY += scripts_unifdef
scripts_unifdef: scripts_basic
@@ -1709,7 +1709,7 @@ distclean: mrproper
# Packaging of the kernel to various formats
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-modules-cpio-pkg: usr_gen_init_cpio
+modules-cpio-pkg: scripts/gen_init_cpio
%src-pkg: FORCE
$(Q)$(MAKE) -f $(srctree)/scripts/Makefile.package $@
diff --git a/scripts/.gitignore b/scripts/.gitignore
index 4215c2208f7e..700456543910 100644
--- a/scripts/.gitignore
+++ b/scripts/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
/asn1_compiler
+/gen_init_cpio
/gen_packed_field_checks
/generate_rust_target
/insert-sys-cert
diff --git a/scripts/Makefile b/scripts/Makefile
index 0941e5ce7b57..039863cd064e 100644
--- a/scripts/Makefile
+++ b/scripts/Makefile
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ ifdef CONFIG_BUILDTIME_MCOUNT_SORT
HOSTCFLAGS_sorttable.o += -DMCOUNT_SORT_ENABLED
endif
+hostprogs-always-y += gen_init_cpio
+
# The following programs are only built on demand
hostprogs += unifdef gen_packed_field_checks
diff --git a/usr/gen_init_cpio.c b/scripts/gen_init_cpio.c
similarity index 100%
rename from usr/gen_init_cpio.c
rename to scripts/gen_init_cpio.c
diff --git a/usr/gen_initramfs.sh b/scripts/gen_initramfs.sh
similarity index 99%
rename from usr/gen_initramfs.sh
rename to scripts/gen_initramfs.sh
index 7eba2fddf0ef..27ac1fd48001 100755
--- a/usr/gen_initramfs.sh
+++ b/scripts/gen_initramfs.sh
@@ -247,4 +247,4 @@ done
# If output_file is set we will generate cpio archive
# we are careful to delete tmp files
-usr/gen_init_cpio $output $timestamp $cpio_list
+scripts/gen_init_cpio $output $timestamp $cpio_list
diff --git a/scripts/remove-stale-files b/scripts/remove-stale-files
index 6e39fa8540df..e46337e4bfb8 100755
--- a/scripts/remove-stale-files
+++ b/scripts/remove-stale-files
@@ -26,3 +26,5 @@ rm -f scripts/selinux/genheaders/genheaders
rm -f *.spec
rm -f lib/test_fortify.log
+
+rm -f usr/gen_init_cpio
diff --git a/usr/.gitignore b/usr/.gitignore
index 8996e7a88902..13bf7a38355c 100644
--- a/usr/.gitignore
+++ b/usr/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
-/gen_init_cpio
/initramfs_data.cpio
/initramfs_inc_data
+
+# Keep around until cleanup in scripts/remove-stale-files
+/gen_init_cpio
diff --git a/usr/Makefile b/usr/Makefile
index e8f42478a0b7..5b97ee66c00a 100644
--- a/usr/Makefile
+++ b/usr/Makefile
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@ obj-$(CONFIG_BLK_DEV_INITRD) := initramfs_data.o
$(obj)/initramfs_data.o: $(obj)/initramfs_inc_data
-hostprogs := gen_init_cpio
-
ramfs-input := $(CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE)
cpio-data :=
@@ -72,7 +70,7 @@ quiet_cmd_initfs = GEN $@
# 2) There are changes in which files are included (added or deleted)
# 3) If gen_init_cpio are newer than initramfs_data.cpio
# 4) Arguments to gen_initramfs.sh changes
-$(obj)/initramfs_data.cpio: $(src)/gen_initramfs.sh $(obj)/gen_init_cpio $(deps_initramfs) FORCE
+$(obj)/initramfs_data.cpio: $(srctree)/scripts/gen_initramfs.sh scripts/gen_init_cpio $(deps_initramfs) FORCE
$(call if_changed,initfs)
endif
--
2.51.0