STRUCT MODULE_ALIAS(9)

✨ NAME ✨

okay so bestie, gather round — struct module_alias is literally the little struct that holds an auto-generated MODULE_ALIAS() 💅 that's it, that's the whole vibe.

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

here's the shape of it, no cap — every field exactly as it appears, do not come for me:

struct module_alias {
    struct list_head node;
    char *builtin_modname;
    char str[];
};

💅 Members 💅

okay so this struct has three members and we're gonna go through them one by one, main character energy only:

• node — this one gets linked up into module::aliases 🔗 like it's getting added to the group chat, fr fr.
• builtin_modname — a char * that's just sitting there in the struct 🫶 ngl the manpage does not say one single word about what it's for, so I'm not gonna make anything up. It exists. It's iconic. We respect it. ✨
• str[] — a flexible array (yes bestie, char str[], no size, she's flexible 💁‍♀️) holding a string for MODULE_ALIAS. periodt.

lowkey important: str is a flexible array member — it's declared with empty brackets [] and it's the last thing in the struct. keep it exactly the way it's written up there, don't be out here adding numbers to it 🙈

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

go touch some other docs, iykyk:

• Kernel file ./scripts/mod/modpost.h 🎀 like, that's the actual source of truth, go look at it
• struct module(9) — its bestie, the one that owns the aliases list 🌸

and that's the whole page, bestie 🍓 no cap, it's short but she ate. source is ./scripts/mod, dated October 2026, and yes the page footer says struct module_alias(9) again because documentation loves a callback 😭💖 bye ilysm, go read struct module(9) next 🌈⭐