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authorEric Biggers <ebiggers@google.com>2020-04-14 10:24:30 -0700
committerJonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>2020-04-15 14:50:09 -0600
commit52338dfb3ca11e6a99288e9e9e4019f279822ddd (patch)
treeae6b769c27399a985f2f209971fd0469947eeacc /Documentation
parent404e603f1ec8520ca09b606496a55cfdcead4e15 (diff)
docs: admin-guide: merge sections for the kernel.modprobe sysctl
Documentation for the kernel.modprobe sysctl was added both by commit 0317c5371e6a ("docs: merge debugging-modules.txt into sysctl/kernel.rst") and by commit 6e7158250625 ("docs: admin-guide: document the kernel.modprobe sysctl"), resulting in the same sysctl being documented in two places. Merge these into one place. Signed-off-by: Eric Biggers <ebiggers@google.com> Reviewed-by: Stephen Kitt <steve@sk2.org> Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20200414172430.230293-1-ebiggers@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst47
1 files changed, 19 insertions, 28 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst
index 39c95c0e13d3..0d427fd10941 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/kernel.rst
@@ -390,9 +390,17 @@ When ``kptr_restrict`` is set to 2, kernel pointers printed using
modprobe
========
-This gives the full path of the modprobe command which the kernel will
-use to load modules. This can be used to debug module loading
-requests::
+The full path to the usermode helper for autoloading kernel modules,
+by default "/sbin/modprobe". This binary is executed when the kernel
+requests a module. For example, if userspace passes an unknown
+filesystem type to mount(), then the kernel will automatically request
+the corresponding filesystem module by executing this usermode helper.
+This usermode helper should insert the needed module into the kernel.
+
+This sysctl only affects module autoloading. It has no effect on the
+ability to explicitly insert modules.
+
+This sysctl can be used to debug module loading requests::
echo '#! /bin/sh' > /tmp/modprobe
echo 'echo "$@" >> /tmp/modprobe.log' >> /tmp/modprobe
@@ -400,10 +408,15 @@ requests::
chmod a+x /tmp/modprobe
echo /tmp/modprobe > /proc/sys/kernel/modprobe
-This only applies when the *kernel* is requesting that the module be
-loaded; it won't have any effect if the module is being loaded
-explicitly using ``modprobe`` from userspace.
+Alternatively, if this sysctl is set to the empty string, then module
+autoloading is completely disabled. The kernel will not try to
+execute a usermode helper at all, nor will it call the
+kernel_module_request LSM hook.
+If CONFIG_STATIC_USERMODEHELPER=y is set in the kernel configuration,
+then the configured static usermode helper overrides this sysctl,
+except that the empty string is still accepted to completely disable
+module autoloading as described above.
modules_disabled
================
@@ -446,28 +459,6 @@ Notes:
successful IPC object allocation. If an IPC object allocation syscall
fails, it is undefined if the value remains unmodified or is reset to -1.
-modprobe:
-=========
-
-The path to the usermode helper for autoloading kernel modules, by
-default "/sbin/modprobe". This binary is executed when the kernel
-requests a module. For example, if userspace passes an unknown
-filesystem type to mount(), then the kernel will automatically request
-the corresponding filesystem module by executing this usermode helper.
-This usermode helper should insert the needed module into the kernel.
-
-This sysctl only affects module autoloading. It has no effect on the
-ability to explicitly insert modules.
-
-If this sysctl is set to the empty string, then module autoloading is
-completely disabled. The kernel will not try to execute a usermode
-helper at all, nor will it call the kernel_module_request LSM hook.
-
-If CONFIG_STATIC_USERMODEHELPER=y is set in the kernel configuration,
-then the configured static usermode helper overrides this sysctl,
-except that the empty string is still accepted to completely disable
-module autoloading as described above.
-
nmi_watchdog
============