<s>
Dracut	B-Application
is	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
tools	O
that	O
provide	O
enhanced	O
functionality	O
for	O
automating	O
the	O
Linux	B-Application
boot	B-Operating_System
process	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
tool	O
named	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
boot	I-Operating_System
image	I-Operating_System
(	O
initramfs	B-Application
)	O
by	O
copying	O
tools	O
and	O
files	O
from	O
an	O
installed	O
system	O
and	O
combining	O
it	O
with	O
the	O
Dracut	B-Application
framework	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
usually	O
found	O
in	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
existing	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
boot	I-Operating_System
images	I-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
Dracut	B-Application
framework	O
attempts	O
to	O
introduce	O
as	O
little	O
hard-coded	O
logic	O
into	O
the	O
initramfs	B-Application
as	O
possible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
initramfs	B-Application
has	O
essentially	O
one	O
purpose	O
:	O
locating	O
and	O
mounting	B-Application
the	O
real	O
root	B-Application
file	I-Application
system	I-Application
so	O
that	O
the	O
boot	B-Operating_System
process	I-Operating_System
can	O
transition	O
to	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Therefore	O
,	O
instead	O
of	O
having	O
hard-coded	O
scripts	B-Language
to	O
determine	O
device	O
availability	O
and	O
suitability	O
,	O
Dracut	B-Application
's	O
initramfs	B-Application
depends	O
on	O
the	O
Linux	B-Application
device	O
manager	O
(	O
udev	B-Application
)	O
to	O
create	O
symbolic	B-Application
links	I-Application
to	O
device	B-Application
nodes	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
the	O
root	B-Application
file	I-Application
system	I-Application
's	O
device	B-Application
node	I-Application
appears	O
,	O
Dracut	B-Application
mounts	O
it	O
as	O
the	O
new	O
root	B-Application
file	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
helps	O
to	O
minimize	O
the	O
time	O
required	O
in	O
initramfs	B-Application
so	O
that	O
things	O
like	O
a	O
5-second	O
boot	B-Operating_System
are	O
now	O
made	O
possible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
of	O
the	O
initramfs	B-Application
generation	O
functionality	O
in	O
Dracut	B-Application
is	O
provided	O
by	O
generator	O
modules	O
that	O
are	O
sourced	O
by	O
the	O
main	O
tool	O
to	O
install	O
specific	O
functionality	O
into	O
the	O
initramfs	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
live	O
in	O
the	O
modules	O
subdirectory	B-Application
,	O
and	O
use	O
functionality	O
provided	O
by	O
dracut-functions	O
to	O
do	O
their	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Currently	O
,	O
dracut	B-Application
supports	O
booting	B-Operating_System
from	O
ext2	B-Application
,	O
ext3	B-Application
,	O
ext4	B-Application
,	O
btrfs	B-Operating_System
,	O
ISO_9660	O
,	O
DM	B-Application
RAID	I-Application
,	O
MD	B-Application
RAID	I-Application
,	O
LVM2	B-Application
,	O
device	B-Application
mapper	I-Application
multipath	O
I/O	O
,	O
dm-crypt	O
,	O
cifs	B-Operating_System
,	O
FCoE	B-Protocol
,	O
iSCSI	B-Protocol
,	O
NBD	B-Application
and	O
NFS	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Red	O
Hat	O
is	O
the	O
original	O
author	O
of	O
dracut	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Red	O
Hat-derived	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
use	O
dracut	B-Application
for	O
initramfs	B-Application
creation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Distributions	O
which	O
include	O
dracut	B-Application
,	O
but	O
do	O
not	O
use	O
it	O
by	O
default	O
for	O
initramfs	B-Application
creation	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
other	O
distributions	O
have	O
made	O
dracut	B-Application
available	O
as	O
an	O
optional	O
to	O
replace	O
the	O
distributions	O
default	O
initramfs	B-Application
generator	O
.	O
</s>
