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MODPROBE(8) MODPROBE(8)

NAME
modprobe - program to add and remove modules from the Linux Kernel

SYNOPSIS
modprobe [ -v ] [ -V ] [ -C config-file ] [ -n ] [ -i ] [ -q ] [ -b ] [ -o modulename ] [ modulename ] [ module
parameters... ]

modprobe [ -r ] [ -v ] [ -n ] [ -i ] [ modulename... ]

modprobe [ -l ] [ -t dirname ] [ wildcard ]

modprobe [ -c ]

modprobe [ --dump-modversions ] [ filename... ]

DESCRIPTION
modprobe intelligently adds or removes a module from the Linux kernel: note that for convenience, there is no difference
between _ and - in module names. modprobe looks in the module directory /lib/modules/`uname -r` for all the modules and
other files, except for the optional /etc/modprobe.conf configuration file and /etc/modprobe.d directory (see mod-
probe.conf(5)). modprobe will also use module options specified on the kernel command line in the form of <mod-
ule>.<option>.

Note that this version of modprobe does not do anything to the module itself: the work of resolving symbols and under-
standing parameters is done inside the kernel. So module failure is sometimes accompanied by a kernel message: see
dmesg(8).

modprobe expects an up-to-date modules.dep file, as generated by depmod (see depmod(8)). This file lists what other mod-
ules each module needs (if any), and modprobe uses this to add or remove these dependencies automatically. See mod-
ules.dep(5)).

If any arguments are given after the modulename, they are passed to the kernel (in addition to any options listed in the
configuration file).

OPTIONS
-v --verbose
Print messages about what the program is doing. Usually modprobe only prints messages if something goes wrong.

This option is passed through install or remove commands to other modprobe commands in the MODPROBE_OPTIONS envi-
ronment variable.

-C --config
This option overrides the default configuration directory/file (/etc/modprobe.d or /etc/modprobe.conf).

This option is passed through install or remove commands to other modprobe commands in the MODPROBE_OPTIONS envi-
ronment variable.

-c --showconfig
Dump out the effective configuration from the config directory and exit.

-n --dry-run
This option does everything but actually insert or delete the modules (or run the install or remove commands).
Combined with -v, it is useful for debugging problems.

-i --ignore-install --ignore-remove
This option causes modprobe to ignore install and remove commands in the configuration file (if any) for the mod-
ule specified on the command line (any dependent modules are still subject to commands set for them in the config-
uration file). See modprobe.conf(5).

-q --quiet
Normally modprobe will report an error if you try to remove or insert a module it can't find (and isn't an alias
or install/remove command). With this flag, modprobe will simply ignore any bogus names (the kernel uses this to
opportunistically probe for modules which might exist).

-r --remove
This option causes modprobe to remove rather than insert a module. If the modules it depends on are also unused,
modprobe 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).

There is usually no reason to remove modules, but some buggy modules require it. Your kernel may not support
removal of modules.

-V --version
Show version of program and exit.

-f --force
Try to strip any versioning information from the module which might otherwise stop it from loading: this is the
same as using both --force-vermagic and --force-modversion. Naturally, these checks are there for your protection,
so using this option is dangerous.

This applies to any modules inserted: both the module (or alias) on the command line and any modules it on which
it depends.

--force-vermagic
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.

This applies to any modules inserted: both the module (or alias) on the command line and any modules on which it
depends.

--force-modversion
When modules are compiled with CONFIG_MODVERSIONS set, a section detailing the versions of every interfaced used
by (or supplied by) the module is created. If a module fails to load and the kernel complains that the module dis-
agrees about a version of some interface, you can use "--force-modversion" to remove the version information alto-
gether. Naturally, this check is there for your protection, so using this option is dangerous.

This applies any modules inserted: both the module (or alias) on the command line and any modules on which it
depends.

-l --list
List all modules matching the given wildcard (or "*" if no wildcard is given). This option is provided for back-
wards compatibility: see find(1) and basename(1) for a more flexible alternative.

-a --all
Insert all module names on the command line.

-t --type
Restrict -l to modules in directories matching the dirname given. This option is provided for backwards compati-
bility: see find(1) and basename(1) for a more flexible alternative.

-s --syslog
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.

This option is passed through install or remove commands to other modprobe commands in the MODPROBE_OPTIONS envi-
ronment variable.

-S --set-version
Set the kernel version, rather than using uname(2) to decide on the kernel version (which dictates where to find
the modules).

--show-depends
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 modinfo(8) can be used to extract dependencies
of a module from the module itself, but knows nothing of aliases or install commands.

--resolve-alias
Print all module names matching an alias.

-o --name
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.

--first-time
Normally, modprobe will succeed (and do nothing) if told to insert a module which is already present or to remove
a module which isn't present. This is ideal for simple scripts; however, more complicated scripts often want to
know whether modprobe really did something: this option makes modprobe fail for that case.

--dump-modversions
Print out a list of module versioning information required by a module. This option is commonly used by distribu-
tions in order to package up a Linux kernel module using module versioning deps.

-b --use-blacklist
This option causes modprobe to apply the blacklist commands in the configuration files (if any) to module names as
well. It is usually used by udev(7).

-d --dirname
Directory where modules can be found, /lib/modules/RELEASE by default.

ENVIRONMENT
The MODPROBE_OPTIONS environment variable can also be used to pass arguments to modprobe.

SEE ALSO
modprobe.conf(5), lsmod(8), modinfo(8)

2002-12-27 MODPROBE(8)