For the past number of months there has been talk in the Ubuntu developer space around replacing initramfs-tools with Dracut for handling initrd generation. While there has been progress in switching to Dracut, they aren’t over the finish line yet and not until Ubuntu 25.10 are they planning to use Dracut by default.
Canonical engineers have been working to transition from initramfs-tools to Dracut. But with work not being completed yet and avoiding a late fundamental change to Ubuntu 25.04, they announced today their plan is to change to Dracut by default for Ubuntu 25.10 in October.
While Dracut won’t be used by default until Ubuntu 25.10, they intend to support Dracut as an initramfs-tools alternative with next month’s Ubuntu 25.04 release.
Ubuntu developer Benjamin Drung confirmed the support in Ubuntu 25.04 and default in Ubuntu 25.10 today via the Ubuntu Discourse. He also outlined how those running the upcoming Ubuntu 25.04 will be able to switch to Dracut if desired.
Those interested in trying out Dracut atop Ubuntu 25.04 can learn more via this Ubuntu Discourse post.
