Re: entropy-file

On Tue, Jul 28, 2026 at 06:40:25PM +0200, Edgar Fuß wrote:
> The standard boot config contains a command to load entropy-file from /var/db, 
> which of course fails when /var is a seperate file system. The file is then 
> loaded by /etc/rc.d/entropy.
> What are the consequences of that delayed initialization?

Many modern-ish hardware does not need the file to provide entropy
early. This includes probably any x86 CPU manufactured in the last
10 years or so.

Many bootloaders for other architectures (especially those that would
benefit from it) do not even support loading entropy early.

The need for entropy during early kernel startup is rare, it is usually
only required later in userland; see entropy(7).

If you are on x86: check (as root) "rndctl -l" output for rdrand/rdseed,
if available, you will have entropy early anyway.

> Is there a standard place in / to put entropy-file?

I'm not aware of any convention.  I would put it into its own directory,
like /entropy.

Martin