Provided by:
module-init-tools_3.16-1ubuntu2_i386 
NAME
modprobe -- program to add and remove modules from the Linux Kernel
SYNOPSIS
modprobe [-v] [-V] [-C config-file] [-n] [-i] [-q] [-b]
[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 (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 /etc/modprobe.conf
configuration file and /etc/modprobe.d directory (see
modprobe.conf(5)). modprobe will also use module options specified on
the kernel command line in the form of <module>.<option>.
Note that unlike in 2.4 series Linux kernels (which are not supported
by this tool) this version of modprobe 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 dmesg(8).
modprobe expects an up-to-date modules.dep.bin file (or fallback human
readable modules.dep file), as generated by the corresponding depmod
utility shipped along with modprobe (see depmod(8)). This file lists
what other modules each module needs (if any), and modprobe uses this
to add or remove these dependencies automatically.
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
-a --all Insert all module names on the command line.
-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).
-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
environment variable.
-c --showconfig
Dump out the effective configuration from the config
directory and exit.
--dump-modversions
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.
-d --dirname
Directory where modules can be found, /lib/modules/RELEASE
by default.
--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 in the case that it actually didn't do
anything.
--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 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.
--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 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.
This applies any modules inserted: both the module (or alias)
on the command line and any modules on which it depends.
-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 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.
-i --ignore-install --ignore-remove
This option causes modprobe to ignore install and remove
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 install and remove 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 --ignore-install or --ignore-remove. See
modprobe.conf(5).
-l --list List all modules matching the given wildcard (or "*" if no
wildcard is given). This option is provided for backwards
compatibility and may go away in future: see find(1) and
basename(1) for a more flexible alternative.
-n --dry-run --show
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 are interchangeable.
-q --quiet
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
alias or install/remove 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.
-R --resolve-alias
Print all module names matching an alias. This can be useful
for debugging module alias problems.
-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 distribution kernel may not have
been built to support removal of modules at all.
-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"
and is typically used by distributions to determine which
modules to include when generating initrd/initramfs images.
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.
-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
environment variable.
-t --type Restrict -l to modules in directories matching the dirname
given. This option is provided for backwards compatibility
and may go away in future: see find(1) and basename(1)
for a more flexible alternative.
-V --version
Show version of program and exit.
-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
environment variable.
ENVIRONMENT
The MODPROBE_OPTIONS environment variable can also be used to pass
arguments to modprobe.
COPYRIGHT
This manual page originally Copyright 2002, Rusty Russell, IBM
Corporation. Maintained by Jon Masters and others.
SEE ALSO
modprobe.conf(5), modprobe.d(5), insmod(8), rmmod(8), lsmod(8),
modinfo(8)
modprobe(8)