In
computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, e ...
, a loadable kernel module (LKM) is an
object file
An object file is a computer file containing object code, that is, machine code output of an assembler or compiler. The object code is usually relocatable, and not usually directly executable. There are various formats for object files, and the ...
that contains code to
extend the running
kernel
Kernel may refer to:
Computing
* Kernel (operating system), the central component of most operating systems
* Kernel (image processing), a matrix used for image convolution
* Compute kernel, in GPGPU programming
* Kernel method, in machine learn ...
, or so-called ''base kernel'', of an
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
. LKMs are typically used to add support for new
hardware (as
device driver
In computing, a device driver is a computer program that operates or controls a particular type of device that is attached to a computer or automaton. A driver provides a software interface to hardware devices, enabling operating systems and ot ...
s) and/or
filesystem
In computing, file system or filesystem (often abbreviated to fs) is a method and data structure that the operating system uses to control how data is stored and retrieved. Without a file system, data placed in a storage medium would be one larg ...
s, or for adding
system call
In computing, a system call (commonly abbreviated to syscall) is the programmatic way in which a computer program requests a service from the operating system on which it is executed. This may include hardware-related services (for example, acc ...
s. When the functionality provided by an LKM is no longer required, it can be unloaded in order to free
memory
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
and other resources.
Most current
Unix-like
A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X or *nix) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Unix-li ...
systems and
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
support loadable kernel modules under different names, such as kernel loadable module (kld) in
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free and open-source Unix-like operating system descended from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), which was based on Research Unix. The first version of FreeBSD was released in 1993. In 2005, FreeBSD was the most popular ...
, kernel extension (kext) in
macOS
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
(although support for third-party modules is being dropped), kernel extension module in
AIX
Aix or AIX may refer to:
Computing
* AIX, a line of IBM computer operating systems
*An Alternate Index, for a Virtual Storage Access Method Key Sequenced Data Set
* Athens Internet Exchange, a European Internet exchange point
Places Belgi ...
, kernel-mode driver in
Windows NT
Windows NT is a proprietary graphical operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems sc ...
and downloadable kernel module (DKM) in
VxWorks
VxWorks is a real-time operating system (or RTOS) developed as proprietary software by Wind River Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aptiv. First released in 1987, VxWorks is designed for use in embedded systems requiring real-time, determi ...
. They are also known as kernel loadable modules (or KLM), and simply as kernel modules (KMOD).
Advantages
Without loadable kernel modules, an operating system would have to include all possible anticipated functionality compiled directly into the base kernel. Much of that functionality would reside in memory without being used, wasting memory, and would require that users rebuild and reboot the base kernel every time they require new functionality.
Disadvantages
One minor criticism of preferring a modular kernel over a static kernel is the so-called ''
fragmentation penalty''. The base kernel is always unpacked into real contiguous
memory
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
by its setup routines; thus, the base kernel code is never fragmented. Once the system is in a state in which modules may be inserted, for example once the
filesystem
In computing, file system or filesystem (often abbreviated to fs) is a method and data structure that the operating system uses to control how data is stored and retrieved. Without a file system, data placed in a storage medium would be one larg ...
s have been
mounted that contain the modules, it is likely that any new kernel code insertion will cause the kernel to become fragmented, thereby introducing a minor performance penalty by using more
TLB entries, causing more TLB misses.
Implementations in different operating systems
Linux
Loadable kernel modules in Linux are loaded (and unloaded) by the
modprobe
modprobe is a Linux program originally written by Rusty Russell and used to add a loadable kernel module to the Linux kernel or to remove a loadable kernel module from the kernel. It is commonly used indirectly: udev relies upon modprobe to load d ...
command. They are located in
/lib/modules or
/usr/lib/modules and have had the extension
.ko ("kernel object") since version 2.6 (previous versions used the
.o extension). The
lsmod
lsmod is a command on Linux systems. It shows which loadable kernel modules are currently loaded.
An example terminal print after running lsmod command:
Module Size Used by
af_packet 27392 2
8139too ...
command lists the loaded kernel modules. In emergency cases, when the system fails to boot due to e.g. broken modules, specific modules can be enabled or disabled by modifying the kernel boot parameters list (for example, if using
GRUB
Grub can refer to Grub (larva), of the beetle superfamily Scarabaeoidea, or as a slang term for food. It can also refer to:
Places
* Grub, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland
* Grub, St. Gallen, Switzerland
* Grub (Amerang), a hamlet in Bavaria, ...
, by pressing 'e' in the GRUB start menu, then editing the kernel parameter line).
License issues
In the opinion of Linux maintainers, LKM are
derived works of the kernel. The Linux maintainers tolerate the distribution of