<s>
modprobe	B-Application
is	O
a	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
program	O
originally	O
written	O
by	O
Rusty	O
Russell	O
and	O
used	O
to	O
add	O
a	O
loadable	B-Application
kernel	I-Application
module	I-Application
to	O
the	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
kernel	I-Operating_System
or	O
to	O
remove	O
a	O
loadable	B-Application
kernel	I-Application
module	I-Application
from	O
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
commonly	O
used	O
indirectly	O
:	O
udev	B-Application
relies	O
upon	O
modprobe	B-Application
to	O
load	O
drivers	O
for	O
automatically	O
detected	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Modprobe	B-Application
is	O
distributed	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
package	O
"	O
kmod	O
"	O
(	O
maintained	O
by	O
Lucas	O
De	O
Marchi	O
and	O
others	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
modutils	B-Application
"	O
for	O
use	O
with	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
versions	O
2.2.x	O
and	O
2.4.x	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
invoked	O
with	O
no	O
switches	O
,	O
the	O
program	O
by	O
default	O
adds/inserts/installs	O
the	O
named	O
module	B-Application
into	O
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Root	B-Application
privileges	I-Application
are	O
typically	O
required	O
for	O
these	O
changes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
arguments	O
appearing	O
after	O
the	O
module	B-Application
name	O
are	O
passed	O
to	O
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
(	O
in	O
addition	O
to	O
any	O
options	O
listed	O
in	O
the	O
configuration	O
file	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
some	O
versions	O
of	O
modprobe	B-Application
,	O
the	O
configuration	O
file	O
is	O
called	O
modprobe.conf	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
others	O
,	O
the	O
equivalent	O
is	O
the	O
collection	O
of	O
files	O
called	O
<modulename>	O
in	O
the	O
/etc/modprobe.d	O
directory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
modprobe	B-Application
looks	O
only	O
in	O
the	O
standard	O
module	B-Application
directories	O
,	O
to	O
install	O
modules	B-Application
from	O
the	O
working	O
directory	O
insmod	B-Application
is	O
still	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
user	O
can	O
also	O
make	O
a	O
symbolic	O
link	O
of	O
the	O
module	B-Application
to	O
the	O
standard	O
path	O
,	O
so	O
depmod	B-Application
will	O
find	O
and	O
load	O
it	O
like	O
any	O
other	O
installed	O
module	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
possible	O
to	O
define	O
module	B-Application
aliases	O
allowing	O
for	O
some	O
automatic	O
loading	O
of	O
modules	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
requires	O
a	O
module	B-Application
,	O
it	O
actually	O
runs	O
modprobe	B-Application
to	O
request	O
it	O
;	O
however	O
,	O
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
has	O
a	O
description	O
of	O
only	O
some	O
module	B-Application
properties	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
a	O
device	O
major	O
number	O
,	O
or	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
a	O
network	O
protocol	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
modprobe	B-Application
does	O
the	O
job	O
of	O
translating	O
that	O
to	O
an	O
actual	O
module	B-Application
name	O
via	O
aliases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
program	O
also	O
has	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
run	O
programs	O
before	O
or	O
after	O
loading	O
or	O
unloading	O
a	O
given	O
module	B-Application
;	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
setting	O
the	O
mixer	O
right	O
after	O
loading	O
a	O
sound	B-Device
card	I-Device
module	B-Application
,	O
or	O
uploading	O
the	O
firmware	B-Application
to	O
a	O
device	O
immediately	O
prior	O
to	O
enabling	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
these	O
actions	O
must	O
be	O
implemented	O
by	O
external	O
programs	O
,	O
modprobe	B-Application
takes	O
care	O
of	O
synchronizing	O
their	O
execution	O
with	O
module	B-Application
loading/unloading	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
cases	O
where	O
two	O
or	O
more	O
modules	B-Application
both	O
support	O
the	O
same	O
devices	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
module	B-Application
invalidly	O
claims	O
to	O
support	O
a	O
device	O
:	O
the	O
blacklist	O
keyword	O
indicates	O
that	O
all	O
of	O
a	O
particular	O
module	B-Application
's	O
internal	O
aliases	O
are	O
to	O
be	O
ignored	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
a	O
couple	O
of	O
ways	O
to	O
blacklist	O
a	O
module	B-Application
,	O
and	O
depending	O
on	O
the	O
method	O
used	O
to	O
load	O
it	O
depends	O
on	O
where	O
this	O
is	O
configured	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
two	O
ways	O
to	O
blacklist	O
a	O
module	B-Application
using	O
modprobe	B-Application
,	O
employing	O
the	O
modprobe.conf	O
system	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
is	O
to	O
use	O
its	O
blacklisting	O
system	O
in	O
/etc/modprobe.d/	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Alternately	O
,	O
you	O
can	O
modify	O
/etc/modprobe.conf	O
:	O
</s>
