insmod
simple program to insert a module into the Linux kernel
TLDR
Insert a kernel module
$ sudo insmod path/to/module.ko
Insert module with parameters$ sudo insmod path/to/module.ko param=value
SYNOPSIS
insmod [filename] [module options...]
DESCRIPTION
insmod is a simple program to insert a module into the Linux kernel. It requires the full path to the module file. Unlike modprobe, insmod does not handle dependencies automatically.
PARAMETERS
filename
Path to the kernel module file (.ko). Use - to read the module from standard input.module options
Key=value parameters passed to the module on load.-f, --force
Disable kernel version and vermagic checks. Dangerous: can cause memory corruption or crashes.--force-modversion
Ignore module version symbol mismatches.--force-vermagic
Ignore vermagic string mismatches.-s, --syslog
Send error messages to syslog instead of stderr.-v, --verbose
Print detailed information about what insmod is doing.-V, --version
Show program version and exit.-h, --help
Show help and exit.
CAVEATS
insmod is a low-level tool that does not resolve dependencies and requires the full path to the .ko file. Use modprobe instead for most cases, as it handles dependencies and uses module names rather than file paths. Detailed error diagnostics typically appear in dmesg rather than on stderr. Loading modules requires root privileges.
HISTORY
insmod is part of kmod. It provides direct module insertion without the intelligence of modprobe, useful for testing or loading modules not in the standard module path.
