Live init

live/init is the init for the Keru live ISO. Its entire job is to get you into the installer as fast as possible — no shell prompt, no manual steps between boot and "craft your system."

What it does, in order

1. Sets up the console. Redirects to $CONSOLE (/dev/tty1 by default) so installer messages land where you can see them.
2. Mounts virtual filesystems. /proc, /sys, /dev (devtmpfs, with tmpfs fallback), /dev/pts, /dev/shm — the essentials the installer needs.
3. Locates the installer root. Uses the kernel's root= if given, or looks for a KERU*-labeled device to find the read-only squashfs payload; otherwise assumes the installer is on the current root.
4. Execs the installer. exec sh installer/install.sh — the TUI starts immediately.
5. Emergency shell fallback. If the installer exited or isn't found, you get an interactive rescue shell instead of a hang.

[ keru ] booting installer...
[ keru ] Keru OS — craft your system
== Init system ==       [runit]
== C library ==         [glibc]
== Filesystem ==        [ext4]
# and you're choosing — the installer opened itself.

Design notes

• Ultra-minimal. The live env is busybox + the installer. No init system in the live env — this script is the init.
• Never strand you. The emergency shell is deliberate: "installer not found or exited" should never be a dead end.
• Console-aware. It listens to the console= kernel param so serial consoles work too.

What happens after it starts · ← Docs