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.TH "MODPROBE.CONF" "5" "22 December 2003" "" ""

.SH NAME
modprobe.conf \- Configuration file for modprobe
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
Because the \fBmodprobe\fR command can add or
remove extra more than one module, due to module dependencies,
we need a method of specifying what options are to be used with
those modules.  \fImodprobe.conf\fR specifies
those options, as required.  It can also be used to create
convenient aliases: alternate names for a module.  Finally, it
can override the normal \fBmodprobe\fR behavior
altogether, for those with very special requirements (such as
inserting more than one module).
.PP
Note that module and alias names (like other module names) can
have - or _ in them: both are interchangable throughout all the
module commands.
.PP
The format of \fImodprobe.conf\fR is simple: one
command per line, with blank lines and lines starting with #
ignored (useful for adding comments).  A \\ at the end of a line
causes it to continue on the next line, which makes the file a
bit neater.
.PP
The syntax is a simplification of \fImodules.conf\fR
.SH "COMMANDS"
.TP
\fBalias \fIwildcard\fB \fImodulename\fB \fR
This allows you to give alternate names for a module.  For
example: "alias my-mod really_long_modulename"
means you can use "modprobe my-mod" instead of "modprobe
really_long_modulename".  You can also use shell-style
wildcards, so "alias my-mod* really_long_modulename"
means that "modprobe my-mod-something" has the same
effect.  You can't have aliases to other aliases (that
way lies madness), but aliases can have options, which
will be added to any other options.
.TP
\fBoptions \fImodulename\fB \fIoption...\fB \fR
This command allows you to add options to the module
\fImodulename\fR (which might be an
alias) every time it is inserted into the kernel: whether
directly (using \fBmodprobe\fR 
\fImodulename\fR, or because the
module being inserted depends on this module.

All options are added together: they can come from an
\fBoption\fR for the module itself, for an
alias, and on the command line.
.TP
\fBinstall \fImodulename\fB \fIcommand...\fB \fR
This is the most powerful primitive in
\fImodprobe.conf\fR: it tells
\fBmodprobe\fR to run your command instead of
inserting the module in the kernel as normal.  The command
can be any shell command: this allows you to do any kind
of complex processing you might wish.  For example, if the
module "fred" worked better with the module "barney"
already installed (but it didn't depend on it, so
\fBmodprobe\fR won't automatically load it),
you could say "install fred /sbin/modprobe barney;
/sbin/modprobe --ignore-install fred", which would do what
you wanted.  Note the \fB--ignore-install\fR,
which stops the second \fBmodprobe\fR from
re-running the same \fBinstall\fR command.
See also \fBremove\fR below.

You can also use \fBinstall\fR to make up
modules which don't otherwise exist.  For example:
"install probe-ethernet /sbin/modprobe e100 ||
/sbin/modprobe eepro100", which will try first the e100
driver, then the eepro100 driver, when you do "modprobe
probe-ethernet".
.TP
\fBremove \fImodulename\fB \fIcommand...\fB \fR
This is similar to the \fBinstall\fR command
above, except it is invoked when "modprobe -r" is run.
The removal counterparts to the two examples above would
be: "remove fred /sbin/modprobe -r --ignore-remove fred &&
/sbin/modprobe -r barney", and "remove probe-ethernet
/sbin/modprobe -r eepro100 || /sbin/modprobe -r e100".
.TP
\fBinclude \fIfilename\fB \fR
Using this command, you can include other configuration
files, which is occasionally useful.  Note that aliases in
the included file will override aliases previously
declared in the current file.
.SH "BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY"
.PP
There is a \fBgenerate_modprobe.conf\fR program
which should do a reasonable job of generating
\fImodprobe.conf\fR from your current (2.4 or
2.2) modules setup.
.PP
Although the syntax is similar to the older
\fI/etc/modules.conf\fR, there are many features
missing.  There are two reasons for this: firstly, install and
remove commands can do just about anything, and secondly, the
module-init-tools modprobe is designed to be simple enough that
it can be easily replaced.
.PP
With the complexity of actual module insertion reduced to three
system calls (open, read, init_module), and the
\fImodules.dep\fR file being simple and open,
producing a more powerful modprobe variant can be done
independently if there is a need.
.SH "COPYRIGHT"
.PP
This manual page Copyright 2002, Rusty Russell, IBM Corporation.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.PP
\fBmodprobe\fR(8),
\fBmodules.dep\fR(5)