NAME
modprobe.conf, modprobe.d - Configuration file/directory for modprobe   
DESCRIPTION

Because the modprobe command can add or remove extra more than one module, due to module dependencies, we need a method of specifying what options are to be used with those modules. modprobe.d or modprobe.conf specifies those options, as required: modprobe.d is usually a directory containing other directories and files, which are all read together. modprobe.conf is usually a single file, but the syntax is the same. They can also be used to create convenient aliases: alternate names for a module. Finally, they can override the normal modprobe behavior altogether, for those with very special requirements (such as inserting more than one module).

Note that module and alias names (like other module names) can have - or _ in them: both are interchangable throughout all the module commands.

The format of modprobe.conf files is simple: one command per line, with blank lines and lines starting with # ignored (useful for adding comments). A \ at the end of a line causes it to continue on the next line, which makes the file a bit neater.

The syntax is a simplification of modules.conf   
COMMANDS
alias wildcard modulename
This allows you to give alternate names for a module. For example: "alias my-mod really_long_modulename" means you can use "modprobe my-mod" instead of "modprobe really_long_modulename". You can also use shell-style wildcards, so "alias my-mod* really_long_modulename" means that "modprobe my-mod-something" has the same effect. You can't have aliases to other aliases (that way lies madness), but aliases can have options, which will be added to any other options.
options modulename option...
This command allows you to add options to the module modulename (which might be an alias) every time it is inserted into the kernel: whether directly (using modprobe modulename, or because the module being inserted depends on this module.

All options are added together: they can come from an option for the module itself, for an alias, and on the command line.
install modulename command...
This is the most powerful primitive in modprobe.conf: it tells modprobe to run your command instead of inserting the module in the kernel as normal. The command can be any shell command: this allows you to do any kind of complex processing you might wish. For example, if the module "fred" worked better with the module "barney" already installed (but it didn't depend on it, so modprobe won't automatically load it), you could say "install fred /sbin/modprobe barney; /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install fred", which would do what you wanted. Note the --ignore-install, which stops the second modprobe from re-running the same install command. See also remove below.

You can also use install to make up modules which don't otherwise exist. For example: "install probe-ethernet /sbin/modprobe e100 || /sbin/modprobe eepro100", which will try first the e100 driver, then the eepro100 driver, when you do "modprobe probe-ethernet".
remove modulename command...
This is similar to the install command above, except it is invoked when "modprobe -r" is run. The removal counterparts to the two examples above would be: "remove fred /sbin/modprobe -r --ignore-remove fred && /sbin/modprobe -r barney", and "remove probe-ethernet /sbin/modprobe -r eepro100 || /sbin/modprobe -r e100".
include filename
Using this command, you can include other configuration files, which is occasionally useful. If the filename is a directory, then all files under that directory are read. Note that aliases in the included file will override aliases previously declared in the current file.
  
BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY

There is a generate_modprobe.conf program which should do a reasonable job of generating modprobe.conf from your current (2.4 or 2.2) modules setup.

Although the syntax is similar to the older /etc/modules.conf, there are many features missing. There are two reasons for this: firstly, install and remove commands can do just about anything, and secondly, the module-init-tools modprobe is designed to be simple enough that it can be easily replaced.

With the complexity of actual module insertion reduced to three system calls (open, read, init_module), and the modules.dep file being simple and open, producing a more powerful modprobe variant can be done independently if there is a need.   
COPYRIGHT

This manual page Copyright 2004, Rusty Russell, IBM Corporation.   
SEE ALSO

modprobe(8), modules.dep(5)




modprobe.conf 文件的一些说明

与内核模块加载相关的配置文件；

1、模块的配置文件 modules.conf 或 modprobe.conf

内核模块的开机自动挂载模块一般是位于一个配置文件，一般的Linux发行版本都有 /etc/modules.conf 或 /etc/modprobe.conf 。比如Fedora Core 4.0 内核模块开机自动加载文件是 /etc/modprobe.conf ；在这个文件中，一般是写入模块的加载命令或模块的别名的定义等；比如我们在modules.conf 中可能会发行类似的一行 ；

格式： alias 别名 模块名称

代码:

alias eth0 8139too


而8029的网卡应该是

代码:

alias eth0 ne2k-pci


这样系统启动的时候，首先会modprobe 8139too ，然后再为8139too 指定别名为 eth0，然后我们在登录的时候，用 ifconfig 就会查看到网卡的IP 等情况，当然您得为网卡设置IP 才行；

一般的情况下，modproe.conf 或modules.conf的内容 是我们用相应的硬件配置工具而生成的；如果您的硬件驱动是没有被内核支持，您自己到硬件的厂商下载而来的驱动。一般的情况下都有安装和帮助文件。他们的驱动在配置时，他会写入硬件的支持到modules.conf 或modprobe.conf 文件中。

再比如我们的声卡在modules.conf 或modprobe.conf 中也有相应的内容，这是由alsaconf 配置工具生成的，明白了吧；同理网卡在modprobe.conf 或modules.conf中的内容也是由网卡的配置工具而来的。

有些硬件是以内核模块的方式驱动的，模块一旦加载上就能用，也没有什么配置工具，比如vfat 和ntfs 的支持；如果是硬件驱动不以模块的方式支持，而是直接编入内核，也不会用在modprobe.conf 或 modules.conf 中加入什么内容；

如果您有些模块不能开机加载，您想让一些模块加机自动加载，就可以把modprobe 模块 直接写入配置文件；