Linux "modprobe" Command Line Options and Examples

Add and remove modules from the Linux Kernel

modprobe 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). modprobe looks in the module directory /lib/modules/`uname -r` for all the modules and other files, except for the optional configuration files in the /etc/modprobe.

Usage:

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

Related Commands

Command Line Options:

-a

Insert all module names on the command line.


                            modprobe -a ...

-b

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


                            modprobe -b ...

-C

This option overrides the default configuration directory (/etc/modprobe.d).This option is passed through install or remove commands to other modprobe commands in the MODPROBE_OPTIONS environment variable.


                            modprobe -C ...

-c

Dump out the effective configuration from the config directory and exit.


                            modprobe -c ...

--dump-modversions

Print out a list of module versioning information required by a module. This option is commonly used by distributions in order topackage up a Linux kernel module using module versioning deps.


                            modprobe --dump-modversions ...

-d

Root directory for modules, / by default.


                            modprobe -d ...

--first-time

Normally, modprobe will succeed (and do nothing) if told to insert a module which is already present or to remove a module whichisn't present. This is ideal for simple scripts; however, more complicated scripts often want to know whether modprobe really didsomething: this option makes modprobe fail in the case that it actually didn't do anything.


                            modprobe --first-time ...

--force-vermagic

Every module contains a small string containing important information, such as the kernel and compiler versions. If a modulefails 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 unless you know what you're doing.This applies to any modules inserted: both the module (or alias) on the command line and any modules on which it depends.


                            modprobe --force-vermagic ...

--force-modversion

When modules are compiled with CONFIG_MODVERSIONS set, a section detailing the versions of every interfaced used by (or suppliedby) the module is created. If a module fails to load and the kernel complains that the module disagrees about a version of someinterface, you can use "--force-modversion" to remove the version information altogether. Naturally, this check is there for yourprotection, so using this option is dangerous unless you know what you're doing.This applies any modules inserted: both the module (or alias) on the command line and any modules on which it depends.


                            modprobe --force-modversion ...

-f

Try to strip any versioning information from the module which might otherwise stop it from loading: this is the same as usingboth --force-vermagic and --force-modversion. Naturally, these checks are there for your protection, so using this option isdangerous unless you know what you are doing.This applies to any modules inserted: both the module (or alias) on the command line and any modules it on which it depends.


                            modprobe -f ...

-i

This option causes modprobe to ignore install and remove commands in the configuration file (if any) for the module specified onthe command line (any dependent modules are still subject to commands set for them in the configuration file). Both install andremove commands will currently be ignored when this option is used regardless of whether the request was more specifically madewith only one or other (and not both) of --ignore-install or --ignore-remove. See modprobe.d(5).


                            modprobe -i ...

-n

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. For historical reasons both --dry-run and --show actually mean the same thing and areinterchangeable.


                            modprobe -n ...

-q

With this flag, modprobe won't print an error message if you try to remove or insert a module it can't find (and isn't an aliasor install/remove command). However, it will still return with a non-zero exit status. The kernel uses this to opportunisticallyprobe for modules which might exist using request_module.


                            modprobe -q ...

-R

Print all module names matching an alias. This can be useful for debugging module alias problems.


                            modprobe -R ...

-r

This option causes modprobe to remove rather than insert a module. If the modules it depends on are also unused, modprobe willtry to remove them too. Unlike insertion, more than one module can be specified on the command line (it does not make sense tospecify module parameters when removing modules).There is usually no reason to remove modules, but some buggy modules require it. Your distribution kernel may not have been builtto support removal of modules at all.


                            modprobe -r ...

-S

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


                            modprobe -S ...

--show-depends

List the dependencies of a module (or alias), including the module itself. This produces a (possibly empty) set of modulefilenames, one per line, each starting with "insmod" and is typically used by distributions to determine which modules to includewhen generating initrd/initramfs images. Install commands which apply are shown prefixed by "install". It does not run any ofthe install commands. Note that modinfo(8) can be used to extract dependencies of a module from the module itself, but knowsnothing of aliases or install commands.


                            modprobe --show-depends ...

-s

This option causes any error messages to go through the syslog mechanism (as LOG_DAEMON with level LOG_NOTICE) rather than tostandard 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 environment variable.


                            modprobe -s ...

-V

Show version of program and exit.


                            modprobe -V ...

-v

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 environment variable.ENVIRONMENTThe MODPROBE_OPTIONS environment variable can also be used to pass arguments to modprobe.COPYRIGHTThis manual page originally Copyright 2002, Rusty Russell, IBM Corporation. Maintained by Jon Masters and others.


                            modprobe -v ...