Re: rmmod -a does not unload unused modules in 2.2.x

Keith Owens (kaos@ocs.com.au)
Tue, 23 Nov 1999 00:00:11 +1100


On Sun, 21 Nov 1999 21:08:44 +0200,
"Andrew V. Samoilov" <sav@bcs.zp.ua> wrote:
>Some time ago here was a discussion about kerneld and Linux 2.2.x kernels.
>I remember it was proposed to use a 'rmmod -a' from cron to unload unused
>modules. But it doesn't work at least for 2.2.10 and 2.2.13 kernels.

It works for me on kernel 2.2.12 with modutils 2.1.121. Since kernel
2.1.91, rmmod just issues syscall delete_module(NULL) and the kernel
does all the work. There are a couple of things to watch out for, both
from the kernel code.

It will not automatically delete an autoclean module unless the module
has been used at least once. So the sequence insmod -k, rmmod -a
without using the module will not delete it.

Even after using a module, the first rmmod -a does nothing. The second
one gets rid of the autoclean modules that have been used.

-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/