Minimal Install - Problem with encrypted root fs

[Ben.Hahlen]

All,

I like to do a minimal install, and then run some of my own scripts to install the rest of the packages I need, so to keep a lean system.
When installing F14 with a partitioning scheme as follows:

/boot - 500MB
LVM
 - swap - 2048 MB
 - / - 15GB
 - /home - Rest of file system - Encrypted

Everything works fine and the encryption works with no problem.
However, as a friend pointed out to me, if you partition as follows:

/boot - 100MB
/ - Rest of filesystem - Encrypted

You are not able to boot the system when doing a minimal install. Meaning: you get up to the point to where you need to enter your password to decrypt the filesystem, and then nothing but..., well, nothing.
However, and here it gets interesting, if you use the same partition layout, and you install the "Graphical Desktop", everything works fine.

As I can not understand why this happens, I am currently testing a partition setup like so:

/boot - 100MB
LVM - Encrypted
 - / - Rest of filesystem

Just to see if that works.

Anyhow: to make a long story short: It seems that the minimal install "forgets" to add some packages which are needed to decrypt the filesystem. Does anyone know which package this could be or why this occurs, so it can be added as part of the minimal install?

Thanks in advance

[jpollard]

Minor point

/boot is too small - the recommended minimum is 400MB, and I
personally prefer 1GB to stay ahead of the growing need (well... it also
lets me keep more experimental kernels..).

[Ben.Hahlen]

Actually, the recommended minimum is 250MB, however, as it says, it is only a recommendation.
As also stated in the docs, you should count for about 10MB per installed kernel, and you usually (by default) keep a maximum of 3 or 4. So I don't think that that will be a problem. Especially not since he has been using this set-up for years, and has worked every time.

Anyhow: back to the issue at hand:

/boot - 100MB
LVM - Encrypted
 - / - Rest of filesystem

works without a problem, which makes it even more interesting...

[jpollard]

A 250MB /boot has been reported to fail during some preupgrades, and
I think it also depends on how many patches/updates are applied to the
system and grub.

I do know I keep more than 3 kernels around - I have four now, and
before I upgrade to 14, I will have 6, and an alternate root.

[Ben.Hahlen]

Apart from that being that totally off-topic, he doesn't keep more than 3. Also, he doesn't do pre-upgrade. In fact, I think he even deleted the pre-upgrade package.
Can we get back to the topic now please?