For nearly two decades, initramfs-tools has been quietly doing its job every time you power on Ubuntu.
It loads the drivers, mounts the root filesystem, and gets your system ready to run.
But in Ubuntu 25.10 “Questing Quokka,” that long-time companion is finally being retired.
Canonical just confirmed that Dracut will take over as the default initramfs generator — a major change that brings Ubuntu in line with other modern Linux distributions.
Table of Contents
What’s Actually Changing?
Let’s back up for a second.
The initramfs (short for initial RAM filesystem) is a temporary, minimal Linux system that runs just long enough to get your actual OS booted.
For almost 20 years, Ubuntu has relied on initramfs-tools to create this tiny filesystem.
With Ubuntu 25.10, it’s being replaced with Dracut, a tool originally developed by the Fedora/Red Hat community.
So, why bother switching something that most users never even see?
Why Dracut?
Unlike initramfs-tools, which depends on big collections of shell scripts, Dracut is modular.
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It builds the initramfs using small, reusable building blocks — called modules — rather than one giant script.
That means:
- Easier maintenance for developers
- More consistent behavior across distros
- Faster updates when only one component changes
Think of it like LEGO blocks instead of a glued-together toy: you can swap out just one piece instead of rebuilding the whole thing.
The Timeline: A Slow but Steady Switch
This wasn’t a sudden decision. Canonical has been laying the groundwork for a while:
- Ubuntu 24.10 – Dracut was available for manual testing, but not the default.
- Ubuntu 25.04 – Dracut became an official alternative. You could opt in, but initramfs-tools still shipped by default.
- Ubuntu 25.10 – Dracut becomes the default initramfs generator.
- Ubuntu 26.04 LTS – initramfs-tools may be completely removed from the main repositories.
So if you’re running Ubuntu 25.10 or later, you’re already using Dracut — no manual steps required.
Will Users Notice Anything?
Probably not.
Your system will still boot the same way. Updates will still work. You won’t have to run any new commands.
The real benefit is behind the scenes:
- Developers get a cleaner, more maintainable system.
- Ubuntu aligns with Fedora, openSUSE, and other major distros.
- Future fixes and features can roll out faster.
This is one of those changes you don’t notice when it works — but you’ll be glad it’s there when something breaks.
Want to Try It Early?
Ubuntu 25.10 daily builds (powered by Linux Kernel 6.17) are already available.
You can spin up a VM, test the new boot process, and see Dracut in action before the final release on October 9, 2025.
If you’re a developer or sysadmin, this is a great time to test your initramfs-dependent workflows and make sure nothing breaks before the LTS release next year.
Great write-up! Thanks for explaining the change so clearly.
I especially liked how you broke down why Dracut is becoming default — the modular design, more maintainable system, and faster updates all make a lot of sense.
One thing I’m curious about: for folks with custom initramfs scripts or hardware drivers, do you know if there are any gotchas with Dracut? Will those customizations still be supported easily, or will users need to do manual tweaks?