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.TH "MODINFO" "8" "13 October 2008" "" ""

.SH NAME
modinfo \- program to show information about a Linux Kernel module
.SH SYNOPSIS

\fBmodinfo\fR [ \fB-0\fR ] [ \fB-F \fIfield\fB\fR ] [ \fB-k \fIkernel\fB\fR ] [ \fBmodulename|filename\fR\fI ...\fR ]


\fBmodinfo -V\fR


\fBmodinfo -h\fR

.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
\fBmodinfo\fR extracts information from the Linux
Kernel modules given on the command line.  If the module name is
not a filename, then the
\fI/lib/modules/\fR\fIversion\fR
directory is searched, as done by
\fBmodprobe\fR(8)\&.
.PP
\fBmodinfo\fR by default lists each attribute
of the module in form \fIfieldname\fR :
\fIvalue\fR, for easy reading.  The
filename is listed the same way (although it's not really an
attribute).
.PP
This version of \fBmodinfo\fR can understand
modules of any Linux Kernel architecture.
.SH "OPTIONS"
.TP
\fB-V --version \fR
Print the modinfo version.  Note BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY
below: you might be printing the version of
\fBmodinfo.old\fR\&.
.TP
\fB-F --field \fR
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
author, description,
license, param,
depends, and alias\&.
There are often multiple param,
alias and depends
fields.  The special field filename
lists the filename of the module.
.TP
\fB-k \fIkernel\fB \fR
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 image prior to booting.
.TP
\fB-0 --null \fR
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.
.TP
\fB-a -d -l -p -n \fR
These are shortcuts for author,
description,
license\&.  param and
filename respectively, to ease the
transition from the old modutils
\fBmodinfo\fR\&.
.SH "BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY"
.PP
This version of \fBmodinfo\fR is for kernel
modules 2.5.48 and above.  If it detects a
kernel with support for old-style modules, it will attempt to
run \fBmodprobe.old\fR in its place, so it is
completely transparent to the user.
.PP
Note that the output of this version of
\fBmodinfo\fR is simpler and more regular than
the older version: scripts attempting to use the default
output may get confused with complex fields.
.PP
You can force the new \fBmodinfo\fR to always
be used, by setting the NEW_MODINFO
environment variable.
.SH "COPYRIGHT"
.PP
This manual page Copyright 2003, Rusty Russell, IBM Corporation.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.PP
\fBmodprobe\fR(8),
\fBmodinfo.old\fR(8)