snapcraft kernel plugin includes always the uc16 initramfs
Metadata
Current evaluation
Closed as stale after no progress since 2019. Later, snapcraft#5814 (8f56d299d) added replacement post-core18 kernel and initrd plugins.
Resolution: closed stale
Reason: Maintainer ~mr-cal closed the report as stale on 2026-08-14 without linking a resolving change. snapcraft#5814 later added replacement plugins, but was not cited as the issue's formal resolution.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
No scores available.
Issue body
snapcraft's kernel plugin downloads the core snap (UC16) to pull the initramfs and include it in the kernel snap, even if the kernel is being built for a UC18 image. At the same time, core18 does not include an initramfs as core16 did, so it is not possible to get the initramfs from it anymore.
A solution needs to be agreed between snapd, snapcraft for this.
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed stale | Closed as stale after no progress since 2019. Later, snapcraft#5814 (8f56d299d) added replacement post-core18 kernel and initrd plugins. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed stale | Closed as stale after no progress since 2019; Snapcraft PR #5814 later added replacement post-core18 kernel and initrd plugins in commit 8f56d299d. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed stale | LP #1816379 was abandoned and closed without a direct fix; a later UC20+ kernel/initrd redesign merged in canonical/snapcraft#5814 (8f56d299d). | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed stale | Abandoned without a direct fix. Later separate kernel/initrd plugins landed in #5814 (8f56d299d), replacing the legacy UC16-based workflow. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b | — | — | Abandoned without resolution. The kernel plugin hardcoding UC16 initramfs for UC18/UC20 builds remains unfixed due to inactivity and evolving core20 workflows. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
99
Complexity:
80
Confidence:
90
Support Request:
15
|
close stale | snapcraft kernel plugin hardcodes UC16 initramfs download for UC18+ targets. Unaddressed for over 7 years. UC16/UC18 are deprecated and project architecture has shifted to UC20+. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
65
Confidence:
95
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Kernel plugin hardcodes UC16 initramfs for UC18 builds; no activity in over 7 years; likely obsolete given current UC20+ standards. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 |
Staleness:
98
Complexity:
65
Confidence:
92
Support Request:
10
|
close stale | Kernel plugin hardcodes UC16 initramfs download for UC18 builds, causing missing initramfs since core18 dropped it. Issue is over 7 years old with no maintainer response. |
Update history
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| created |
Related work
-
Superseded By:
snapcraft#5814
(confidence 95%)
Commit 8f56d299d introduced post-core18 kernel and initrd plugins that replace the legacy initramfs path.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1676806 Make snapcraft smarter wrt .config and initrd modules | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Closed as stale after major kernel-plugin changes; the requested config/initrd checks had already merged in canonical/snapcraft#1223 via commit fda091f50. | |
| #1674965 Don't duplicate initrd and kernel files | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Closed as stale after snapcore/snapcraft#1207 was abandoned unmerged because symlinks broke the Snapdragon snap; the kernel plugin has since changed substantially. | |
| #5437 Adding initrd plugin supporting UC20+ | snapcraft | closed | kubiko's initrd plugin PR (kernel .ko staging, firmware, EFI kernel images) sat unreviewed for ~1yr with failing tests/lint and was closed unmerged as superseded by canonical/snapcraft#5814, merged as 8f56d299d. | |
| #3980 plugins: Increase kernel plugin build environments compatibility | snapcraft | closed | Closed unmerged because snapcraft#3922 was already on main and conflicted; maintainers deferred key-fetch and network-policy discussion to craft-archives. | |
| #1569337 snapcraft kernel plugin needs to check compression method of the initrd before trying to unpack it | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Kernel plugin gained initrd compression detection and LZMA/XZ support instead of assuming gzip; fixed by merged PR canonical/snapcraft#463 (commit ac25418f5). | |
| #287 plugins: add kernel plugin implementation | craft-parts | closed | Kernel plugin PR to craft-parts closed unmerged; maintainers said it is too snap-specific. Author moved it to Snapcraft as snapcraft#3922, merged and landed on main via snapcraft#4111. | |
| #1655008 Kernel plugin: Avoid redownloading os.snap on a local Git repo | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Closed as won't fix: the legacy core16/core18 kernel plugin behavior only affects Snapcraft 4.x, which receives fixes only for critical bugs. | |
| #4302 plugins: kernel: split kernel plugin into kernel and initrd plugins | snapcraft | closed | PR #4302 (split kernel plugin into kernel + initrd plugins) was closed unmerged on 2025-10-14 by author kubiko as superseded by canonical/snapcraft#5814, merged in commit 8f56d299d. | |
| #5814 feat(plugins): add kernel and initrd plugins | snapcraft | merged | Merged #5814 in 8f56d299d, adding a reworked post-core18 kernel plugin and a new initrd/UKI plugin; it supersedes #4302. | |
| #1567564 kernel plugin should use initrd from /boot in the os snap, not from /usr/lib | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Kernel plugin initrd lookup was fixed by switching to /boot/initrd.img-core in snapcraft PR #1839, merged as commit aaf5e68b1. |