modprobe
MODPROBE(8) Linux Module Support MODPROBE(8)
NAME
modprobe - high level handling of loadable modules
SYNOPSIS
modprobe [-adnqv] [-C config] module [symbol=value ...]
modprobe [-adnqv] [-C config] [-t type] pattern
modprobe -l [-C config] [-t type] pattern
modprobe -c [-C config]
modprobe -r [-dnv] [-C config] [module ...]
modprobe -Vh
OPTIONS
-a, --all
Load all matching modules instead of stopping after the first
successful loading.
-c, --showconfig
Show the currently used configuration.
-C, --config config
Use the file config instead of (the optional) /etc/modules.conf
to specify the configuration. The environment variable
MODULECONF can also be used to select (and override) a different
configuration file from the default /etc/modules.conf (or
/etc/conf.modules (deprecated)).
When environment variable UNAME_MACHINE is set, modutils will use its
value instead of the machine field from the uname() syscall. This is
mainly of use when you are compiling 64 bit modules in 32 bit user
space or vice versa, set UNAME_MACHINE to the type of the modules.
Current modutils does not support full cross build mode for modules, it
is limited to choosing between 32 and 64 bit versions of the host
architecture.
-d, --debug
Show information about the internal representation of the stack
of modules.
-h, --help
Display a summary of options and immediately exit.
-k, --autoclean
Set 'autoclean' on loaded modules. Used by the kernel when it
calls on modprobe to satisfy a missing feature (supplied as a
module). The -q option is implied by -k. These options will
automatically be sent to insmod.
-l, --list
List matching modules.
-n, --show
Don't actually perform the action, just show what would be done.
-q, --quiet
Do not complain about insmod failing to install a module.
Continue as normal, but silently, with other possibilities for
modprobe to test. This option will automatically be sent to
insmod.
-r, --remove
Remove module (stacks) or do autoclean, depending on whether
there are any modules mentioned on the command line.
-s, --syslog
Report via syslog instead of stderr. This options will
automatically be sent to insmod.
-t moduletype; --type moduletype
Only consider modules of this type. modprobe will only look at
modules whose directory path includes exactly "/moduletype/".
moduletype can include more than one directory name, e.g.
"-t drivers/net" would list modules in xxx/drivers/net/ and its
subdirectories.
-v, --verbose
Print all commands as they are executed.
-V, --version
Display the version of modprobe.
Note: Module names must not contain paths (no '/'), nor may they
contain the trailing '.o'. For example, slip is a valid module
name for modprobe, /lib/modules/2.2.19/net/slip and slip.o are
invalid. This applies to the command line and to entries in the
config.
DESCRIPTION
The modprobe and depmod utilities are intended to make a Linux modular
kernel more manageable for all users, administrators and distribution
maintainers.
Modprobe uses a "Makefile"-like dependency file, created by depmod, to
automatically load the relevant module(s) from the set of modules
available in predefined directory trees.
Modprobe is used to load a single module, a stack of dependent modules,
or all modules that are marked with a specified tag.
Modprobe will automatically load all base modules needed in a module
stack, as described by the dependency file modules.dep. If the loading
of one of these modules fails, the whole current stack of modules
loaded in the current session will be unloaded automatically.
Modprobe has two ways of loading modules. One way (the probe mode) will
try to load a module out of a list (defined by pattern). Modprobe
stops loading as soon as one module loads successfully. This could be
used to autoload one Ethernet driver out of a list.
The other way modprobe can be used is to load all modules from a list.
See EXAMPLES, below.
With the option -r, modprobe will automatically unload a stack of
modules, similar to the way "rmmod -r" does. Note that using just
"modprobe -r" will clean up unused autoloaded modules and also perform
the pre- and post-remove commands in the configuration file
/etc/modules.conf.
The combining the options -l and -t lists all available modules of a
certain type.
Option -c will print the currently used configuration (default +
configuration file).
CONFIGURATION
The behavior of modprobe (and depmod) can be modified by the (optional)
configuration file /etc/modules.conf.
For a more detailed description of what this file can contain, as well
as the default configuration used by depmod and modprobe, see
modules.conf(5).
Note that the pre- and post-remove commands will not be executed if a
module is "autocleaned" by kerneld! Look for the up-coming support for
persistent module storage instead.
If you want to use the pre- and post-install features, you will have to
turn off autoclean for kerneld and instead put something like the
following line in your crontab (this is used for kmod systems as well)
to do autoclean every 2 minutes:
*/2 * * * * test -f /proc/modules && /sbin/modprobe -r
STRATEGY
The idea is that modprobe will look first in the directory containing
modules compiled for the current release of the kernel. If the module
is not found there, modprobe will look in the directory common to the
kernel version (e.g. 2.0, 2.2). If the module is still found, modprobe
will look in the directory containing modules for a default release,
and so on.
When you install a new linux, the modules should be moved to a
directory related to the release (and version) of the kernel you are
installing. Then you should do a symlink from this directory to the
"default" directory.
Each time you compile a new kernel, the command "make modules_install"
will create a new directory, but won't change the "default" link.
When you get a module unrelated to the kernel distribution you should
place it in one of the version-independent directories under
/lib/modules.
This is the default strategy, which can be overridden in
/etc/modules.conf.
EXAMPLES
modprobe -t net
Load one of the modules that are stored in the directory tagged
"net". Each module are tried until one succeeds.
modprobe -a -t boot
All modules that are stored in directories tagged "boot" will be
loaded.
modprobe slip
This will attempt to load the module slhc.o if it was not
previously loaded, since the slip module needs the functionality
in the slhc module. This dependency will be described in the
file modules.dep that was created automatically by depmod.
modprobe -r slip
This will unload the slip module. It will also unload the slhc
module automatically, unless it is used by some other module as
well (e.g. ppp).
FILES
/etc/modules.conf (alternatively but deprecated /etc/conf.modules)
/lib/modules/*/modules.dep,
/lib/modules/*
SEE ALSO
depmod(8), lsmod(8), kerneld(8), ksyms(8), rmmod(8).
SAFE MODE
If the effective uid is not equal to the real uid then modprobe treats
its input with extreme suspicion. The last parameter is always treated
as a module name, even if it starts with '-'. There can only be one
module name and options of the form "variable=value" are forbidden.
The module name is always treated as a string, no meta expansion is
performed in safe mode. However meta expansion is still applied to
data read from the config file.
euid may not be equal to uid when modprobe is invoked from the kernel,
this is true for kernels >= 2.4.0-test11. In an ideal world, modprobe
could trust the kernel to only pass valid parameters to modprobe.
However at least one local root exploit has occurred because high level
kernel code passed unverified parameters direct from the user to
modprobe. So modprobe no longer trusts kernel input.
modprobe automatically sets safe mode when the environment consists
only of these strings
HOME=/
TERM=linux
PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin
This detects modprobe execution from the kernel on kernels 2.2 though
2.4.0-test11, even if uid == euid, which it does on the earlier
kernels.
LOGGING COMMANDS
If directory /var/log/ksymoops exists and modprobe is run with an
option that could load or a delete a module then modprobe will log its
command and return status in /var/log/ksymoops/`date +%Y%m%d.log`.
There is no switch to disable this automatic logging, if you do not
want it to occur, do not create /var/log/ksymoops. If that directory
exists, it should be owned by root and be mode 644 or 600 and you
should run script insmod_ksymoops_clean every day or so.
REQUIRED UTILITIES
depmod(8), insmod(8).
NOTES
Patterns supplied to modprobe will often need to be escaped to ensure
that it is evaluated in the proper context.
BUGS
modprobe [ -V | --version ] should exit immediately. Instead, it
prints the version information and behaves as if no options were given.
AUTHOR
Jacques Gelinas (jack@solucorp.qc.ca)
Bjorn Ekwall (bj0rn@blox.se)
Linux February 4, 2002 MODPROBE(8)
