Bug 139795

Summary:	kernel module chapter needs to cover rc.modules
Product:	Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3	Reporter:	Richard Keech <rkeech>
Component:	rhel-sag	Assignee:	Sandra Moore <smoore>
Status:	CLOSED NEXTRELEASE	QA Contact:
Severity:	medium	Docs Contact:
Priority:	medium
Version:	3.0	CC:	adstrong, andriusb, nobody
Target Milestone:	---	Keywords:	FutureFeature
Target Release:	---
Hardware:	All
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version:		Doc Type:	Enhancement
Doc Text:		Story Points:	---
Clone Of:		Environment:
Last Closed:	2005-02-08 19:44:49 UTC	Type:	---
Regression:	---	Mount Type:	---
Documentation:	---	CRM:
Verified Versions:		Category:	---
oVirt Team:	---	RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team:	---	Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:
Bug Depends On:
Bug Blocks:	123819

Description Richard Keech 2004-11-18 02:00:59 UTC

Module administration is covered in Chapter 40, however
it does not cover how to persistently load a module.

I suggest you add an item to the chapter on kernel modules as follows:

If you need to load a kernel module at boot, and its loading is
not provided through modprobe.conf, then Red Hat Enterprise Linux
provides for module loading commands to exist in a script called
/etc/rc.modules.  Eg, if module foo needs to be loaded at boot,
then the following actions will provide for this (assuming
module foo exists in the usual place):

echo modprobe foo >> /etc/rc.modules
chmod +x /etc/rc.modules

Comment 1 Andrius Benokraitis 2005-02-03 21:33:25 UTC

Arjan, what do you think about this proposed addition?

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL-3-Manual/sysadmin-guide/ch-kernel-modules.html

Comment 2 Arjan van de Ven 2005-02-03 21:37:49 UTC

it is slightly more complex than this; if it's a nic or scsi driver
there are better ways than this...


also the word "loaded" on that url should be replaced with "linked
into"...

Comment 3 Andrius Benokraitis 2005-02-03 21:45:47 UTC

Richard/Arjan,

Based on the increased complexity of this addition, may I suggest that
this become a feature, and be deferred/investigate for RHEL5
documentation? Will RHEL4 documentation be damaging without the
suggestion given by the author?

Thanks! :-)

Comment 4 Richard Keech 2005-02-04 00:16:56 UTC

Andrius,

This is an important feature that is not complicated for the general
case.  This approach is not necessary nor nic and scsi because those
facilities have specific mechanisms.  rc.modules is something admins
need to know about for cases where the system doesn't provide a better
way.

Let me propose a wording of a new subsection:

40.2  Persistant Module Loading

Kernel modules are usually loaded directly by the facility that
requires them, given correct settings in /etc/modprobe.conf.  However
it is sometimes necessary to explicitly force the loading of a module
at boot time.  To do this Enterprise Linux checks for the existance of
/etc/rc.modules at boot time. This file should contain commands to
load modules.  rc.modules should be used, not rc.local because
rc.modules is executed early in the boot process.  A simple example of
loading the foo module at boot would be 

echo modprobe foo >> /etc/rc.modules
chmod +x /etc/rc.modules

Comment 5 Andrius Benokraitis 2005-02-07 17:17:44 UTC

I'm find with adding any content as long as Arjan approves! :-) Arjan,
what do you think of Richard's proposed addition?

Comment 6 Arjan van de Ven 2005-02-08 10:22:44 UTC

it looks fine to me, and indeed can be useful.

Comment 7 Andrius Benokraitis 2005-02-08 19:44:49 UTC

Successfully added to /RHEL4/cgs/kernelmodules.sgml.

Thanks so much for creating the content for addition! :-)

Andrius.