doc/modprobe.sgml

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<refentry>
  <refentryinfo>
    <address>
      <email>rusty@rustcorp.com.au</email>
    </address>
    <author>
      <firstname>Rusty</firstname>
      <surname>Russell</surname>
    </author>
    <date>2002-12-27</date>
  </refentryinfo>
  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>modprobe</refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
  </refmeta>
  <refnamediv>
    <refname>modprobe</refname> <refpurpose>program to add and remove modules from the Linux Kernel</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>
  <refsynopsisdiv>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>modprobe</command>
      <arg><option>-v</option></arg>
      <arg><option>-V</option></arg>
      <arg><option>-C <replaceable>config-file</replaceable></option></arg>
      <arg><option>-n</option></arg>
      <arg><option>-i</option></arg>
      <arg><option>-q</option></arg>
      <arg><option>-o</option> <replaceable>modulename</replaceable></arg>
      <arg><replaceable>modulename</replaceable></arg>
      <arg rep='repeat'><option><replaceable>module parameters</replaceable></option></arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>modprobe</command>
      <arg>-r</arg>
      <arg><option>-v</option></arg>
      <arg><option>-n</option></arg>
      <arg><option>-i</option></arg>
      <arg rep='repeat'><option><replaceable>modulename</replaceable></option></arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>modprobe</command>
      <arg>-l</arg>
      <arg>-t <replaceable>dirname</replaceable></arg>
      <arg><option><replaceable>wildcard</replaceable></option></arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>modprobe</command>
      <arg>-c</arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>modprobe</command>
      <arg>--dump-modversions</arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>
  </refsynopsisdiv>
  <refsect1>
    <title>Description</title>

    <para>
      <command>modprobe</command> intelligently adds or removes a
      module from the Linux kernel: note that for convenience, there
      is no difference between _ and - in module names.
      <command>modprobe</command> looks in the module directory
      <filename>/lib/modules/`uname -r`</filename> for all
      the modules and other files, except for the optional
      <filename>/etc/modprobe.conf</filename> configuration file and
      <filename>/etc/modprobe.d</filename> directory
      (see <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>modprobe.conf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>). <command>modprobe</command> will also use module
      options specified on the kernel command line in the form of
      &lt;module&gt;.option&gt;.
    </para>
    <para>
      Note that this version of <command>modprobe</command> does not
      do anything to the module itself: the work of resolving symbols
      and understanding parameters is done inside the kernel.  So
      module failure is sometimes accompanied by a kernel message: see
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>dmesg</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>.
    </para>
    <para>
      <command>modprobe</command> expects an up-to-date
      <filename>modules.dep</filename> file, as generated by
      <command>depmod</command> (see <citerefentry>
      <refentrytitle>depmod</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>).  This file lists what other modules each
      module needs (if any), and <command>modprobe</command> uses this
      to add or remove these dependencies automatically.  See
      <citerefentry>
      <refentrytitle>modules.dep</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>).
    </para>
    <para>
      If any arguments are given after the
      <replaceable>modulename</replaceable>, they are passed to the
      kernel (in addition to any options listed in the configuration
      file).
    </para>
  </refsect1>
  <refsect1>
    <title>OPTIONS</title>
    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-v</option> <option>--verbose</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
	    Print messages about what the program is doing.  Usually
	    <command>modprobe</command> only prints messages if
	    something goes wrong.
	  </para>
          <para>
	    This option is passed through <command>install</command>
	    or <command>remove</command> commands to other
	    <command>modprobe</command> commands in the
	    MODPROBE_OPTIONS environment variable.
	  </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-C</option> <option>--config</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>This option overrides the default configuration file
		(<filename>/etc/modprobe.conf</filename> or 
		<filename>/etc/modprobe.d/</filename> if that isn't found).
	  </para>
          <para>
	    This option is passed through <command>install</command>
	    or <command>remove</command> commands to other
	    <command>modprobe</command> commands in the
	    MODPROBE_OPTIONS environment variable.
	  </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-c</option> <option>--showconfig</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Dump out the configuration file and exit.
	  </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-n</option> <option>--dry-run</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>This option does everything but actually insert or
		delete the modules (or run the install or remove
		commands).  Combined with <option>-v</option>, it is
		useful for debugging problems.
	  </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-i</option> <option>--ignore-install</option> <option>--ignore-remove</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>This option causes <command>modprobe</command> to
		ignore <command>install</command> and
		<command>remove</command> commands in the
		configuration file (if any), for the module on the
		command line (any dependent modules are still subject
		to commands set for them in the configuration file).
		See <citerefentry>
<refentrytitle>modprobe.conf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
</citerefentry>.
	  </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-q</option> <option>--quiet</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
	    Normally <command>modprobe</command> will report an error
	    if you try to remove or insert a module it can't find (and
	    isn't an alias or
	    <command>install</command>/<command>remove</command>
	    command).  With this flag, <command>modprobe</command>
	    will simply ignore any bogus names (the kernel uses this
	    to opportunistically probe for modules which might exist).
	  </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-r</option> <option>--remove</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
	    This option causes <command>modprobe</command> to remove,
	    rather than insert a module.  If the modules it depends on
	    are also unused, <command>modprobe</command> will try to
	    remove them, too.  Unlike insertion, more than one module
	    can be specified on the command line (it does not make
	    sense to specify module parameters when removing modules).
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    There is usually no reason to remove modules, but some
	    buggy modules require it.  Your kernel may not support
	    removal of modules.
	  </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-w</option> <option>--wait</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            This option is applicable only with the -r or --remove option.
            It causes modprobe to block in the kernel (within the kernel
            module handling code itself) waiting for the specified modules'
            reference count to reach zero. Default operation is for modprobe
            to operate like rmmod, which exits with EWOULDBLOCK if the
            modules reference count is non-zero.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-V</option> <option>--version</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Show version of program, and exit.  See below for caveats when run on older kernels.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-f</option> <option>--force</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
	    Try to strip any versioning information from the module,
	    which might otherwise stop it from loading: this is the
	    same as using both <option>--force-vermagic</option> and
	    <option>--force-modversion</option>.  Naturally, these
	    checks are there for your protection, so using this option
	    is dangerous.
	 </para>
	 <para>
	    This applies to any modules inserted: both the module (or
	    alias) on the command line, and any modules it depends on.
	 </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--force-vermagic</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
	    Every module contains a small string containing important
	    information, such as the kernel and compiler versions.  If
	    a module fails to load and the kernel complains that the
	    "version magic" doesn't match, you can use this option to
	    remove it.  Naturally, this check is there for your
	    protection, so this using option is dangerous.
	 </para>
	 <para>
	    This applies to any modules inserted: both the module (or
	    alias) on the command line, and any modules it depends on.
	 </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--force-modversion</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
	    When modules are compiled with CONFIG_MODVERSIONS set, a
	    section is created detailing the versions of every
	    interface used by (or supplied by) the module.  If a
	    module fails to load and the kernel complains that the
	    module disagrees about a version of some interface, you
	    can use "--force-modversion" to remove the version
	    information altogether.  Naturally, this check is there
	    for your protection, so using this option is dangerous.
	 </para>
	 <para>
	    This applies any modules inserted: both the module (or
	    alias) on the command line, and any modules it depends on.
	 </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-l</option> <option>--list</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>List all modules matching the given wildcard (or "*"
		if no wildcard is given).  This option is provided for
		backwards compatibility: see
	    <citerefentry>
	      <refentrytitle>find</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
	    </citerefentry> and
	    <citerefentry>
	      <refentrytitle>basename</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
	    </citerefentry> for a more flexible alternative.
	 </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-a</option> <option>--all</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Insert all module names on the command line.
	 </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-t</option> <option>--type</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Restrict <option>-l</option> to modules
		in directories matching the
		<replaceable>dirname</replaceable> given.  This option
		is provided for backwards compatibility: see
	    <citerefentry>
	      <refentrytitle>find</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
	    </citerefentry>
	    and
	    <citerefentry>
	      <refentrytitle>basename</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
	    </citerefentry> or a more flexible alternative.
	 </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-s</option> <option>--syslog</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
	    This option causes any error messages to go through the
	    syslog mechanism (as LOG_DAEMON with level LOG_NOTICE)
	    rather than to standard error.  This is also automatically
	    enabled when stderr is unavailable.
	  </para>
          <para>
	    This option is passed through <command>install</command>
	    or <command>remove</command> commands to other
	    <command>modprobe</command> commands in the
	    MODPROBE_OPTIONS environment variable.
	  </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--set-version</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
	    Set the kernel version, rather than using
	    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>uname</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry> to decide on the kernel version (which dictates where to
	    find the modules).  This also disables backwards
	    compatibility checks (so 
	    <citerefentry>
	      <refentrytitle>modprobe.old</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry> will never be run).
	  </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--show-depends</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
	    List the dependencies of a module (or alias), including
	    the module itself.  This produces a (possibly empty) set
	    of module filenames, one per line, each starting with
	    "insmod".  Install commands which apply are shown prefixed by
	    "install".  It does not run any of the install commands.  Note that
	    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>modinfo</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
	    can be used to extract dependencies of a module from the
	    module itself, but knows nothing of aliases or install commands.
	  </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-o</option> <option>--name</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
	    This option tries to rename the module which is being
	    inserted into the kernel.  Some testing modules can
	    usefully be inserted multiple times, but the kernel
	    refuses to have two modules of the same name.  Normally,
	    modules should not require multiple insertions, as that
	    would make them useless if there were no module support.
	  </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--first-time</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
	    Normally, <command>modprobe</command> will succeed (and do
	    nothing) if told to insert a module which is already
	    present, or remove a module which isn't present.  This is
	    backwards compatible with the modutils, and ideal for
	    simple scripts.  However, more complicated scripts often
	    want to know whether <command>modprobe</command> really
	    did something: this option makes modprobe fail for that
	    case.
	  </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--dump-modversions</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Print out a list of module versioning information required by a
            module. This option is commonly used by distributions in order to
            package up a Linuxx kernel module using module versioning deps.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--use-blacklist</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
	  <para>
	    This option causes <command>modprobe</command> to apply the
	    <command>blacklist</command> commands in the configuration file (if
	    any) to module names as well.  It is usually used by <citerefentry>
	    <refentrytitle>udev</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum>
	    </citerefentry>.
	  </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>
  <refsect1>
    <title>BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY</title>

    <para>
      This version of <command>modprobe</command> is for kernels
      <literal>2.5.48</literal> and above.  If it detects a kernel
      with support for old-style modules (for which much of the work
      was done in userspace), it will attempt to run
      <command>modprobe.old</command> in its place, so it is
      completely transparent to the user.
    </para>
  </refsect1>
  <refsect1>
    <title>ENVIRONMENT</title>
    <para>
      The MODPROBE_OPTIONS environment variable can also be used to
      pass arguments to <command>modprobe</command>.
    </para>
  </refsect1>
  <refsect1>
    <title>COPYRIGHT</title>
    <para>
      This manual page Copyright 2002, Rusty Russell, IBM Corporation.
    </para>
  </refsect1>
  <refsect1>
    <title>SEE ALSO</title>
    <para>
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>modprobe.conf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>lsmod</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>modprobe.old</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>
    </para>
  </refsect1>
</refentry>

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