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12 <refentry>
13 <refentryinfo>
14 <address>
15 <email>jcm@jonmasters.org</email>
16 </address>
17 <author>
18 <firstname>Jon</firstname>
19 <surname>Masters</surname>
20 </author>
21 <date>2010-03-01</date>
22 </refentryinfo>
23 <refmeta>
24 <refentrytitle>modinfo</refentrytitle>
25 <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
26 </refmeta>
27 <refnamediv>
28 <refname>modinfo</refname> <refpurpose>program to show information about a Linux Kernel module</refpurpose>
29 </refnamediv>
30 <refsynopsisdiv>
31 <cmdsynopsis>
32 <command>modinfo</command>
33 <arg><option>-0</option></arg>
34 <arg><option>-F <replaceable>field</replaceable></option></arg>
35 <arg><option>-k <replaceable>kernel</replaceable></option></arg>
36 <arg rep='repeat'>modulename|filename</arg>
37 </cmdsynopsis>
38 <cmdsynopsis>
39 <command>modinfo -V</command>
40 </cmdsynopsis>
41 <cmdsynopsis>
42 <command>modinfo -h</command>
43 </cmdsynopsis>
44 </refsynopsisdiv>
45 <refsect1>
46 <title>DESCRIPTION</title>
48 <para><command>modinfo</command> extracts information from the Linux
49 Kernel modules given on the command line. If the module name is
50 not a filename, then the
51 <filename>/lib/modules/</filename><replaceable>version</replaceable>
52 directory is searched, as is also done by
53 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>modprobe</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry> when loading kernel modules.
54 </para>
56 <para><command>modinfo</command> by default lists each attribute
57 of the module in form <replaceable>fieldname</replaceable> :
58 <replaceable>value</replaceable>, for easy reading. The
59 filename is listed the same way (although it's not really an
60 attribute).
61 </para>
63 <para>This version of <command>modinfo</command> can understand
64 modules of any Linux Kernel architecture.</para>
65 </refsect1>
66 <refsect1>
67 <title>OPTIONS</title>
68 <variablelist>
69 <varlistentry>
70 <term><option>-V</option> <option>--version</option>
71 </term>
72 <listitem>
73 <para>
74 Print the modinfo version.
75 </para>
76 </listitem>
77 </varlistentry>
78 <varlistentry>
79 <term><option>-F</option> <option>--field</option>
80 </term>
81 <listitem>
82 <para>
83 Only print this field value, one per line. This is most
84 useful for scripts. Field names are case-insenitive.
85 Common fields (which may not be in every module) include
86 <literal>author</literal>, <literal>description</literal>,
87 <literal>license</literal>, <literal>parm</literal>,
88 <literal>depends</literal>, and <literal>alias</literal>.
89 There are often multiple <literal>parm</literal>,
90 <literal>alias</literal> and <literal>depends</literal>
91 fields. The special field <literal>filename</literal>
92 lists the filename of the module.
93 </para>
94 </listitem>
95 </varlistentry>
96 <varlistentry>
97 <term><option>-k <replaceable>kernel</replaceable></option>
98 </term>
99 <listitem>
100 <para>
101 Provide information about a kernel other than the running one. This
102 is particularly useful for distributions needing to extract
103 information from a newly installed (but not yet running) set of
104 kernel modules. For example, you wish to find which firmware files
105 are needed by various modules in a new kernel for which you must
106 make an initrd/initramfs image prior to booting.
107 </para>
108 </listitem>
109 </varlistentry>
110 <varlistentry>
111 <term><option>-0</option> <option>--null</option>
112 </term>
113 <listitem>
114 <para>
115 Use the ASCII zero character to separate field values,
116 instead of a new line. This is useful for scripts, since
117 a new line can theoretically appear inside a field.
118 </para>
119 </listitem>
120 </varlistentry>
121 <varlistentry>
122 <term><option>-a</option> <option>-d</option> <option>-l</option> <option>-p</option> <option>-n</option>
123 </term>
124 <listitem>
125 <para>
126 These are shortcuts for <literal>author</literal>,
127 <literal>description</literal>,
128 <literal>license</literal>. <literal>parm</literal> and
129 <literal>filename</literal> respectively, to ease the
130 transition from the old modutils
131 <command>modinfo</command>.
132 </para>
133 </listitem>
134 </varlistentry>
135 </variablelist>
136 </refsect1>
137 <refsect1>
138 <title>COPYRIGHT</title>
139 <para>
140 This manual page originally Copyright 2003, Rusty Russell, IBM
141 Corporation. Maintained by Jon Masters and others.
142 </para>
143 </refsect1>
144 <refsect1>
145 <title>SEE ALSO</title>
147 <para><citerefentry>
148 <refentrytitle>modprobe</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
149 </citerefentry>
150 </para>
151 </refsect1>
152 </refentry>
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