man/modinfo.xml

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<refentry id="modinfo">
  <refentryinfo>
    <title>modinfo</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>Lucas</firstname>
        <surname>De Marchi</surname>
        <email>lucas.demarchi@profusion.mobi</email>
      </author>
    </authorgroup>
  </refentryinfo>

  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>modinfo</refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
  </refmeta>

  <refnamediv>
    <refname>modinfo</refname>
    <refpurpose>Show information about a Linux Kernel module</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>

  <refsynopsisdiv>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>modinfo</command>
      <arg><option>-0</option></arg>
      <arg><option>-F <replaceable>field</replaceable></option></arg>
      <arg><option>-k <replaceable>kernel</replaceable></option></arg>
      <arg rep='repeat'>modulename|filename</arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>modinfo -V</command>
    </cmdsynopsis>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>modinfo -h</command>
    </cmdsynopsis>
  </refsynopsisdiv>

  <refsect1><title>DESCRIPTION</title>
    <para>
      <command>modinfo</command> extracts information from the Linux Kernel
      modules given on the command line.  If the module name is not a filename,
      then the
      <filename>/lib/modules/</filename><replaceable>version</replaceable>
      directory is searched, as is also done by
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>modprobe</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
      when loading kernel modules.
    </para>
    <para>
      <command>modinfo</command> by default lists each attribute of the module
      in form <replaceable>fieldname</replaceable> :
      <replaceable>value</replaceable>, for easy reading.  The filename is
      listed the same way (although it's not really an attribute).
    </para>
    <para>
      This version of <command>modinfo</command> can understand modules of any
      Linux Kernel architecture.
    </para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1><title>OPTIONS</title>
    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-V</option>
          <option>--version</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Print the modinfo version.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-F</option>
          <option>--field</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Only print this field value, one per line.  This is most useful for
            scripts.  Field names are case-insenitive.  Common fields (which
            may not be in every module) include <literal>author</literal>,
            <literal>description</literal>, <literal>license</literal>,
            <literal>parm</literal>, <literal>depends</literal>, and
            <literal>alias</literal>.  There are often multiple
            <literal>parm</literal>, <literal>alias</literal> and
            <literal>depends</literal> fields.  The special field
            <literal>filename</literal> lists the filename of the module.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-k <replaceable>kernel</replaceable></option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Provide information about a kernel other than the running one. This
            is particularly useful for distributions needing to extract
            information from a newly installed (but not yet running) set of
            kernel modules. For example, you wish to find which firmware files
            are needed by various modules in a new kernel for which you must
            make an initrd/initramfs image prior to booting.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-0</option>
          <option>--null</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            Use the ASCII zero character to separate field values, instead of a
            new line.  This is useful for scripts, since a new line can
            theoretically appear inside a field.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>
          <option>-a</option>
          <option>-d</option>
          <option>-l</option>
          <option>-p</option>
          <option>-n</option>
        </term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
            These are shortcuts for <literal>author</literal>,
            <literal>description</literal>, <literal>license</literal>.
            <literal>parm</literal> and <literal>filename</literal>
            respectively, to ease the transition from the old modutils
            <command>modinfo</command>.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1><title>COPYRIGHT</title>
    <para>
      This manual page originally Copyright 2003, Rusty Russell, IBM
      Corporation. Maintained by Jon Masters and others.
    </para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1><title>SEE ALSO</title>
    <para>
      <citerefentry>
        <refentrytitle>modprobe</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>
    </para>
  </refsect1>
</refentry>