The automatic loading of modules is an especially useful feature implemented by a kernel component called kmod . With the help of kmod, the kernel can load needed device drivers and other modules automatically and without manual intervention from the system administrator. If the modules are not needed after 60 seconds, they are automatically unloaded as well.
In order to use kmod, you need to turn on
support for it (Automatic kernel module
loading
) during kernel configuration in the Loadable module support
section.
Modules that need other modules must be correctly listed in
/lib/modules
/kernelversion
/modules.dep, and there must be aliases for
the major and minor number in /etc/modprobe.conf (and often in
subdirectories of /etc/modprobe.d). See the documentation
from the module-init-tools
package for further information.
If a module has not been loaded manually with
insmod or modprobe, but was
loaded automatically by the kernel, the module is listed with the
additional string (autoclean)
in
the lsmod output. This tells you that the kernel
will remove the module if it has not been used for more than one
minute.
We have gone through quite a lot of material now, and you should have all the tools you’ll need to build and maintain your own kernels.