Listing Information About Loaded Modules

Use the lsmod command to list modules that are loaded into the kernel and use the modinfo command to find out more information about each module. For more information, see the lsmod(5) and modinfo(8) manual pages.
  • Run the lsmod command to list the modules that are loaded into the kernel.
    lsmod
    Module                  Size  Used by
    udp_diag               16384  0
    ib_core               311296  0
    tcp_diag               16384  0
    inet_diag              24576  2 tcp_diag,udp_diag
    nfsv3                  49152  0
    nfs_acl                16384  1 nfsv3
    ...
    dm_mirror              24576  0
    dm_region_hash         20480  1 dm_mirror
    dm_log                 20480  2 dm_region_hash,dm_mirror
    ...

    The output shows the module name, the amount of memory it uses, the number of processes using the module and the names of other modules on which it depends. The module dm_log, for example, depends on the dm_region_hash and dm_mirror modules. The example also shows that two processes are using all three modules.

  • Use the modinfo command to show detailed information about a module.
    modinfo ahci
    filename:       /lib/modules/5.4.17-2136.306.1.3.el8uek.x86_64/kernel/drivers/ata/ahci.ko.xz
    version:        3.0
    license:        GPL
    description:    AHCI SATA low-level driver
    author:         Jeff Garzik
    srcversion:     3F4E4F52FD2D5F8BBD5F972
    alias:          pci:v*d*sv*sd*bc01sc06i01*
    alias:          pci:v00001C44d00008000sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    ...
    depends:        libahci,libata
    retpoline:      Y
    intree:         Y
    name:           ahci
    vermagic:       5.4.17-2136.306.1.3.el8uek.x86_64 SMP mod_unload modversions 
    sig_id:         PKCS#7
    signer:         Oracle CA Server
    sig_key:        22:07:CB:47:59:F3:50:A0:A2:FA:24:CE:B4:00:53:4E:C5:1D:C6:2A
    sig_hashalgo:   sha512
    signature:      2F:AE:AF:6D:56:92:69:C4:77:AB:E1:3D:41:09:AF:A6:FC:1D:3B:A2:
                    9C:23:79:6F:17:82:D5:A3:9B:61:64:32:72:9B:98:C9:8C:89:73:FB:
                    A4:86:4F:B5:7D:DF:84:8E:05:26:4F:22:CB:02:41:38:7B:7C:CB:C2:
                    ...
                    9F:FD:94:8F:35:9B:2A:89:3E:E1:17:40:49:79:30:8B:92:4D:3A:9A:
                    F4:C7:82:8D:26:BE:6D:FB:71:C6:E5:FD
    parm:           marvell_enable:Marvell SATA via AHCI (1 = enabled) (int)
    parm:           mobile_lpm_policy:Default LPM policy for mobile chipsets (int)
    
    ...

    The output includes the following information:

    filename

    Absolute path of the kernel object file.

    version

    Version number of the module. Note that the version number might not be updated for patched modules and might be missing or removed in newer kernels.

    license

    License information for the module.

    description

    Short description of the module.

    author

    Author credit for the module.

    srcversion

    Hash of the source code used to create the module.

    alias

    Internal alias names for the module.

    depends

    Comma-separated list of any modules on which this module depends.

    retpoline

    A flag indicating that the module is built that includes a mitigation against the Spectre security vulnerability.

    name
    The name of the module.
    intree

    A flag indicating that the module is built from the kernel in-tree source and isn't tainted.

    vermagic

    Kernel version that was used to compile the module, which is checked against the current kernel when the module is loaded.

    sig_id

    The method used to store signing keys that might have been used to sign a module for Secure Boot, typically PKCS#7

    signer

    The name of the signing key used to sign a module for Secure Boot.

    sig_key

    The signature key identifier for the key used to sign the module.

    sig_hashalgo

    The algorithm used to generate the signature hash for a signed module.

    signature

    The signature data for a signed module.

    parm

    Module parameters and descriptions.

  • Use the modinfo -n command to find the file path to the module on the file system.

    Modules are loaded into the kernel from kernel object files (/lib/modules/kernel_version/kernel/*ko*). To display the absolute path of a kernel object file, specify the -n option, for example:

    modinfo -n parport
    /lib/modules/5.4.17-2136.306.1.3.el8uek.x86_64/kernel/drivers/parport/parport.ko.xz