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<refentry id="modprobe">
<refentryinfo>
<title>modprobe</title>
<productname>kmod</productname>
<authorgroup>
<author>
<contrib>Developer</contrib>
<firstname>Jon</firstname>
<surname>Masters</surname>
<email>jcm@jonmasters.org</email>
</author>
<author>
<contrib>Developer</contrib>
<firstname>Robby</firstname>
<surname>Workman</surname>
<email>rworkman@slackware.com</email>
</author>
<author>
<contrib>Developer</contrib>
<firstname>Lucas</firstname>
<surname>De Marchi</surname>
<email>lucas.de.marchi@gmail.com</email>
</author>
</authorgroup>
</refentryinfo>
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>modprobe</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>modprobe</refname>
<refpurpose>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>-b</option></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>-c</arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis>
<command>modprobe</command>
<arg>--dump-modversions</arg> <arg><replaceable>filename</replaceable></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 (automatic
underscore conversion is performed).
<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
configuration files in the
<filename>/etc/modprobe.d</filename> directory
(see <citerefentry>
<refentrytitle>modprobe.d</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
</citerefentry>). <command>modprobe</command> will also use module
options specified on the kernel command line in the form of
<module>.<option> and blacklists in the form of
modprobe.blacklist=<module>.
</para>
<para>
Note that unlike in 2.4 series Linux kernels (which are not supported
by this tool) 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.bin</filename> file as generated
by the corresponding <command>depmod</command> utility shipped
along with <command>modprobe</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.
</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>-a</option>
</term>
<term>
<option>--all</option>
</term>
<listitem>
<para>Insert all module names on the command line.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<option>-b</option>
</term>
<term>
<option>--use-blacklist</option>
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
This option causes <command>modprobe</command> to apply the
<command>blacklist</command> commands in the configuration files
(if any) to module names as well. It is usually used by
<citerefentry>
<refentrytitle>udev</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum>
</citerefentry>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<option>-C</option>
</term>
<term>
<option>--config</option>
</term>
<listitem>
<para>This option overrides the default configuration directory
(<filename>/etc/modprobe.d</filename>).
</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>
</term>
<term>
<option>--showconfig</option>
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Dump out the effective configuration from the config directory and
exit.
</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 Linux kernel module using module versioning deps.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<option>-d</option>
</term>
<term>
<option>--dirname</option>
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Root directory for modules, <filename>/</filename> by default.
</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 to remove a module which isn't present. This is
ideal for simple scripts; however, more complicated scripts often
want to know whether <command>modprobe</command> really
did something: this option makes modprobe fail in the
case that it actually didn't do anything.
</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 using this option is
dangerous unless you know what you're doing.
</para>
<para>
This applies to any modules inserted: both the module (or alias) on
the command line and any modules on which it depends.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<option>--force-modversion</option>
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
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 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 unless you know what
you're doing.
</para>
<para>
This applies any modules inserted: both the module (or alias) on
the command line and any modules on which it depends.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<option>-f</option>
</term>
<term>
<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 unless
you know what you are doing.
</para>
<para>
This applies to any modules inserted: both the module (or alias) on
the command line and any modules it on which it depends.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<option>-i</option>
</term>
<term>
<option>--ignore-install</option>
</term>
<term>
<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 specified on the
command line (any dependent modules are still subject to commands
set for them in the configuration file). Both
<command>install</command> and <command>remove</command> commands
will currently be ignored when this option is used regardless of
whether the request was more specifically made with only one or
other (and not both) of <option>--ignore-install</option> or
<option>--ignore-remove</option>. See <citerefentry>
<refentrytitle>modprobe.d</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
</citerefentry>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<option>-n</option>
</term>
<term>
<option>--dry-run</option>
</term>
<term>
<option>--show</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. For
historical reasons both <option>--dry-run</option> and
<option>--show</option> actually mean the same thing and are
interchangeable.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<option>-q</option>
</term>
<term>
<option>--quiet</option>
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
With this flag, <command>modprobe</command> won't print an error
message 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).
However, it will still return with a non-zero exit status. The
kernel uses this to opportunistically probe for modules which might
exist using request_module.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<option>-R</option>
</term>
<term>
<option>--resolve-alias</option>
</term>
<listitem>
<para>
Print all module names matching an alias. This can be useful for
debugging module alias problems.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<option>-r</option>
</term>
<term>
<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 distribution kernel may not have been
built to support removal of modules at all.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<option>-S</option>
</term>
<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).
</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" and is typically used by
distributions to determine which modules to include when generating
initrd/initramfs images. <command>Install</command> 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>-s</option>
</term>
<term>
<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>-V</option>
</term>
<term>
<option>--version</option>
</term>
<listitem>
<para>Show version of program and exit.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>
<option>-v</option>
</term>
<term>
<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>
</variablelist>
</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 originally Copyright 2002, Rusty Russell, IBM
Corporation. Maintained by Jon Masters and others.
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>SEE ALSO</title>
<para>
<citerefentry>
<refentrytitle>modprobe.d</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
</citerefentry>,
<citerefentry>
<refentrytitle>insmod</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
</citerefentry>,
<citerefentry>
<refentrytitle>rmmod</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
</citerefentry>,
<citerefentry>
<refentrytitle>lsmod</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
</citerefentry>,
<citerefentry>
<refentrytitle>modinfo</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
</citerefentry>
<citerefentry>
<refentrytitle>depmod</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
</citerefentry>
</para>
</refsect1>
</refentry>