How to add kernel modules to the initrd to be loaded on boot

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Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12

Situation

A kernel module needs to be loaded by the kernel image.

Resolution

Following command will create a new configuration file for dracut, adding module qla2xxx to the initrd:

cat << EOF > /etc/dracut.conf.d/00-custom.conf
add_drivers+=" qla2xxx "
EOF

Note: please add space before and after the kernel module. And also, kernel module should be written without .ko extension.

Running following command will regenerate the initrd:

mkinitrd

To verify the module was added:

lsinitrd |grep ko|grep qla2xxx
... lib/modules/<version>/kernel/drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla2xxx.ko

Additional Information

For more information please check the dracut.conf man pages.

add_drivers+=" <kernel modules> "
           Specify a space-separated list of kernel modules to add to the initramfs. The kernel modules have to be specified without the ".ko" suffix.

Disclaimer

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