depmod
Linux kernel modules can provide services (called 'symbols') for other modules to use. If a second module uses this symbol, that second module clearly depends on the first module. These dependencies can get quite complex.[1]
depmod creates a list of module dependencies, by reading each module under /lib/modules/VERSION and determining what symbols it exports, and what symbols it needs. By default this list is written to modules.dep in the same directory. If filenames are given on the command line, only those modules are examined (which is rarely useful, unless all modules are listed).[1]
Documentation
- man 8 'depmod' [EN]
- man 5 'depmod.d' [EN]
- man 5 'modules.dep' [EN]
Syntax
depmod [PARAMETER ...] [VERSION] [FILENAME ...]
Parameters
- -a, --all
- Probe all modules. This option is enabled by default if no file names are given in the command-line.
- -A, --quick
- This option scans to see if any modules are newer than the 'modules.dep' file before any work is done: if not, it silently exits rather than regenerating the files.
- -n, --dry-run
- This sends the resulting 'modules.dep' and the various map files to standard output rather than writing them into the module directory.