KLDLOAD(8)

💖 kldload — load a file into the kernel 💖

okay so this is kldload(8) from the System Manager's Manual, and honestly it's giving "small command, big main character energy" ✨ because it's literally how you shove a .ko file into your running kernel. let's go 🫶

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

kldload [-nqv] file ...

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

bestie. kldload loads file.ko into the kernel using the kernel linker. that's the whole vibe. 💅

lowkey important: if you specify multiple modules, it's gonna attempt to load them all, even if some of them fail. no cap, it doesn't bail on the first failure — it just keeps going. 🔥

also cute: the .ko extension is not mandatory when loading a module with kldload. it doesn't hurt to specify it though — specify it, don't specify it, the kernel does not care. 🎀

here's the part people trip on 🙈 — if you request a bare filename, it will only be loaded if it's found within the module path as defined by the sysctl kern.module_path. so if you're like "kldload foo" and foo is sitting in your current directory, it's not gonna load. to load a module from the current directory you've gotta specify it as a full or relative path. and the utility will warn you if a module is requested as a bare filename and is present in the current directory — it's looking out for you fr fr 🫶

the following options are available:

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

• -n — don't try to load the module if it's already loaded. like, don't even try, it's already slaying 💅
• -v — be more verbose. more talking, more info, we love a chatty icon 💖
• -q — silence any extraneous warnings. quiet queen behavior 🤫

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⭐ NOTES ⭐

the kernel security level settings may prevent a module from being loaded or unloaded, and when that happens it gives you Operation not permitted. not a bug, just the security level doing its thing. 💀

🦋 FILES 🦋

• /boot/kernel — directory containing loadable modules. modules must have an extension of .ko.

🌈 EXIT STATUS 🌈

the kldload utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs. simple. iconic. periodt. 👑

🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

to load by module name:

> kldload foo

to load by file name within the module path:

> kldload foo.ko

to load by relative path:

> kldload ./foo.ko

to load by full path:

> kldload /boot/kernel/foo.ko

🧚 AUTOMATICALLY LOADING MODULES 🧚

some modules (pf, ipfw, ipf, etc.) may be automatically loaded at boot time when the corresponding rc.conf(5) statement is used. modules may also be auto-loaded through their addition to loader.conf(5) or kld_list in rc.conf(5). so you don't even have to type anything — it just happens ✨

but listen 👀 only those modules necessary for booting the system, including those required for mounting the root filesystem, should be handled by loader.conf(5).

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

kenv(1), kldload(2), loader.conf(5), rc.conf(5), security(7), kldconfig(8), kldstat(8), kldunload(8), kldxref(8)

🎀 HISTORY 🎀

the kldload utility first appeared in FreeBSD 3.0, replacing the lkm interface. glow-up of the century honestly 💅✨

👑 AUTHORS 👑

Doug Rabson <dfr@FreeBSD.org>

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okay that's the whole page, you're officially a kernel module loading girlie now 🌸🦋💖

mwah 💋 — this Debian build is dated December 20, 2023, and it's sourced from the System Manager's Manual, KLDLOAD(8). go load something iconic 🎀