newroot
Newroot is a term used in Unix-like operating systems to describe the transition from an initial temporary root filesystem to the system’s final root filesystem. The new root is the filesystem that will be mounted as the process’s / and will host the normal init sequence, services, and user data. The concept is most visible during boot and recovery, when systems start from a minimal environment such as an initramfs or initrd before the real disk-based root can be mounted.
In Linux, the typical scenario involves booting with a small, in-memory root and an init process that
The transition is accomplished by specialized operations such as pivot_root or switch_root. Pivot_root changes the process’s
Newroot is also relevant in recovery scenarios and certain live-boot or container workflows, where a system
See also: pivot_root, switch_root, initramfs, initrd, chroot.