cpio notes
From Noah.org
Contents
Create a cpio archive
Note that archive should be outside of the directory tree that is being archived.
find . | cpio -o > ../archive
find . | cpio --create --format='newc' > ../archive
Create a Linux kernel initrd
An initramfs is a root filesystem embedded into the Linux kernel. It is the successor of initrd.
IMPORTANT: Do not use the '-depth' option with `find`!
find . | cpio -o -H newc | gzip > ../initrd.cpio.gz
List the contents of initrd
gunzip --to-stdout /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-22-server | cpio -t
Extract a Linux kernel
gunzip --to-stdout /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-22-server | cpio -i -d -H newc --no-absolute-filenames
Also, often see this; although, this does not have newc or no absolute filename support. Not sure why this is still used.
cpio -id < initrd