rmmod - unload loadable modules


SYNOPSIS

       rmmod [ -aehrsvV ] module ...


DESCRIPTION

       rmmod unloads loadable modules from the running kernel.

       rmmod  tries  to  unload a set of modules from the kernel,
       with the restriction that they are not  in  use  and  that
       they are not referred to by other modules.

       If  more than one module is named on the command line, the
       modules will be removed in the given order. This  supports
       unloading of stacked modules.

       With  the option '-r', a recursive removal of modules will
       be attempted.  This means that if a top module in a  stack
       is named on the command line, all modules that are used by
       this module will be removed as well, if possible.

   OPTIONS
       -a, --all
              Do  autoclean:  tag  unused  modules  as   "to   be
              cleaned",  and  also remove already tagged modules.
              Modules stay  tagged  if  they  stay  unused  since
              previous   autoclean.    These   two  passes  avoid
              removing transiently unused modules.

       -e, --persist
              Save persistent data for the named modules, without
              unloading  any  modules.   If  no  module names are
              specified then data is saved for all  modules  that
              have  persistent  data.  Data is only saved if both
              the kernel and modutils support persistent data and
              /proc/ksyms contains an entry
              __insmod_modulename_Ppersistent_filename

       -h, --help
              Display  a summary of options and immediately exit.

       -r, --stacks
              Remove a module stack.

       -s, --syslog
              Output  everything  to  syslog(3)  instead  of  the
              terminal.

       -v, --verbose
              Be verbose.

              Print the version of modutils.


PERSISTENT DATA

       If  a  module  contains persistent data (see insmod(8) and
       modules.conf(5)) then removing the  module  always  writes
       the  persistent  data  to  the filename in the __insmod _P
       symbol entry.  You can also save the  persistent  data  at
       any time by rmmod -e, this will not unload any modules.

       When  the  persistent  data  is  written  to  file,  it is
       preceded by a generated comment line,
       #% kernel_version timestamp
       Generated comment lines start  with  '#%',  all  generated
       comments  are  stripped  from  the  existing  file,  other
       comments are preserved.  The saved data values are written
       to the file, preserving the existing order of comments and
       assignments.  New values are added at the end of the file.
       If  the  file  contains  values  that  do not exist in the
       module then these values are preserved but are preceded by
       a  generated comment warning that they are not being used.
       The latter operation  allows  a  user  to  switch  between
       kernels without losing persistent data and without getting
       any error messages.

       Note: Comments are only supported when the first non-space
       character  on  a line is '#'.  Any non-blank lines that do
       not start with '#' are module options, one per line.   The
       option lines have leading spaces removed, the remainder of
       the line is passed to insmod as an option,  including  any
       trailing characters.


SEE ALSO

       insmod(8), lsmod(8), ksyms(8), modprobe(8).


BUGS

       rmmod  [-V | --version] should display version information
       and then exit immediately.  Instead, it prints the version
       information and behaves as if no options were given.


HISTORY

       Module support was first conceived by Anonymous
       Initial Linux version by Bas Laarhoven <bas@vimec.nl>
       Version 0.99.14 by Jon Tombs <jon@gtex02.us.es>
       Extended by Bjorn Ekwall <bj0rn@blox.se>
       Updated for 2.1.17 by Richard Henderson <rth@tamu.edu>
       Updated for 2.2.2 by by Bjorn Ekwall <bj0rn@blox.se>
       Updated   for   modutils   2.3.20   by   by   Keith  Owens
       <kaos@ocs.com.au>
       Persistent data for modutils  2.3.22  by  by  Keith  Owens
       <kaos@ocs.com.au>


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