This tutorial is going to teach you how to show currently loaded kernel modules in Linux. Kernel modules are pieces of code that can be loaded or unloaded from the kernel on demand. The loaded kernel modules therefore, are the ones that are currently loaded into your system’s memory and that your kernel is either utilizing or about to utilize for accomplishing a specific task.
Show currently loaded kernel modules in Linux
Show loaded modules using lsmod command
lsmod is a command-line utility that displays the presently loaded kernel modules.
Run the following command to see a list of all loaded kernel modules on your Linux system.
lsmodThe command will display a list of currently loaded kernel modules with their sizes as shown below
Module Size Used by btrfs 1327104 0 blake2b_generic 20480 0 xor 24576 1 btrfs raid6_pq 114688 1 btrfs ufs 81920 0 qnx4 16384 0 hfsplus 110592 0 hfs 61440 0 minix 36864 0 ntfs 106496 0 msdos 20480 0 jfs 188416 0 xfs 1499136 0 libcrc32c 16384 2 btrfs,xfs cpuid 16384 0 vsock_loopback 16384 0 vmw_vsock_virtio_transport_common 36864 1 vsock_loopback vmw_vsock_vmci_transport 32768 2 vsock 45056 7 vmw_vsock_virtio_transport_common,vsock_loopback,vmw_vsock_vmci_transport nls_iso8859_1 16384 1 snd_ens1371 32768 4 snd_ac97_codec 139264 1 snd_ens1371 gameport 20480 1 snd_ens1371 ac97_bus 16384 1 snd_ac97_codec snd_pcm 114688 3 snd_ac97_codec,snd_ens1371 crct10dif_pclmul 16384 1 ghash_clmulni_intel 16384 0 snd_seq_midi 20480 0 aesni_intel 372736 0 snd_seq_midi_event 16384 1 snd_seq_midi crypto_simd 16384 1 aesni_intel snd_rawmidi 36864 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_ens1371 cryptd 24576 2 crypto_simd,ghash_clmulni_intel snd_seq 73728 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event glue_helper 16384 1 aesni_intel snd_seq_device 16384 3 snd_seq,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi snd_timer 40960 3 snd_seq,snd_pcm vmw_balloon 24576 0 snd 94208 13 snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_timer,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_ens1371 joydev 24576 0 input_leds 16384 0 serio_raw 20480 0 soundcore 16384 1 snd vmw_vmci 73728 2 vmw_balloon,vmw_vsock_vmci_transport mac_hid 16384 0 sch_fq_codel 20480 2 vmwgfx 311296 7 ttm 73728 1 vmwgfx drm_kms_helper 237568 1 vmwgfx cec 53248 1 drm_kms_helper rc_core 61440 1 cec fb_sys_fops 16384 1 drm_kms_helper syscopyarea 16384 1 drm_kms_helper sysfillrect 16384 1 drm_kms_helper sysimgblt 16384 1 drm_kms_helper parport_pc 45056 0 ppdev 24576 0 lp 20480 0 parport 65536 3 parport_pc,lp,ppdev drm 548864 10 vmwgfx,drm_kms_helper,ttm ip_tables 32768 0 x_tables 49152 1 ip_tables autofs4 45056 2 crc32_pclmul 16384 0 psmouse 155648 0 mptspi 24576 2 mptscsih 45056 1 mptspi mptbase 98304 2 mptspi,mptscsih ahci 40960 0 libahci 36864 1 ahci e1000 143360 0 scsi_transport_spi 32768 1 mptspi pata_acpi 16384 0 i2c_piix4 28672 0 hid_generic 16384 0 usbhid 57344 0 hid 135168 2 usbhid,hid_generic
lsmod command basically reads the contents of the /proc/modules and prints it in a formatted manner.
Thus, you can also check currently loaded modules by just printing the contents of the /proc/modules file.
Check if Specific Kernel Module is Loaded
To list specific module, run the following command
lsmod | grep ModuleNameReplace ModuleName with the name of the module you want to list.
For example, to list KVM related modules, use the command below.
lsmod | grep kvmSample output;
kvm_intel 282624 0
kvm 663552 1 kvm_intelGet Information about Specific Module
To get all the information about specific module, run the following command
sudo modinfo ModuleNameReplace ModuleName with the name of the module you want to list its information.
For example, to check information about the kvm kernel modules above, run the command below.
modinfo kvmfilename: /lib/modules/5.4.0-48-generic/kernel/arch/x86/kvm/kvm.ko license: GPL author: Qumranet srcversion: FB5884BFC5A986FE809B1AC depends: retpoline: Y intree: Y name: kvm vermagic: 5.4.0-48-generic SMP mod_unload sig_id: PKCS#7 signer: Build time autogenerated kernel key sig_key: 69:0F:B2:8C:24:82:6C:28:AB:28:F7:D2:E5:B8:D0:0B:2C:EF:1F:87 sig_hashalgo: sha512 signature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parm: nx_huge_pages:bool parm: nx_huge_pages_recovery_ratio:uint parm: ignore_msrs:bool parm: report_ignored_msrs:bool parm: min_timer_period_us:uint parm: kvmclock_periodic_sync:bool parm: tsc_tolerance_ppm:uint parm: lapic_timer_advance_ns:int parm: vector_hashing:bool parm: enable_vmware_backdoor:bool parm: force_emulation_prefix:bool parm: pi_inject_timer:bint parm: halt_poll_ns:uint parm: halt_poll_ns_grow:uint parm: halt_poll_ns_grow_start:uint parm: halt_poll_ns_shrink:uint
Congratulations, you have reached the end of the article. You have learned how to show currently loaded kernel modules in linux
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