.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 1997 Doug Rabson
.\" All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
.\" are met:
.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
.\"
.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
.\" $FreeBSD: src/sbin/kldload/kldload.8,v 1.7.2.10 2002/12/07 08:44:02 jmallett Exp $
.\"
.Dd October 27, 2017
.Dt KLDLOAD 8
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm kldload
.Nd load a file into the kernel
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm
.Op Fl nv
.Ar
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
utility loads
.Ar file Ns Pa .ko
into the kernel using the kernel linker.
Note that if multiple modules are specified then an attempt will
be made to load them all, even if some fail.
List of search directories is provided by
.Va kern.module_path
variable.
.Pp
The following options are available:
.Bl -tag -width indent
.It Fl n
Do not try to load module if already loaded.
.It Fl v
Be more verbose.
.El
.Sh FILES
.Bl -tag -width /boot/modules.local -compact
.It Pa /boot/kernel
directory containing loadable modules.
Modules must have an extension of
.Pa .ko .
.It Pa /boot/modules.local
directory for local loadable kernel modules
and wrapped external firmware images; see
.Xr firmware 9
.El
.Sh EXIT STATUS
.Ex -std
.Sh AUTOMATICALLY LOADING MODULES
Some modules (ipfw, etc.) may be automatically loaded at boot
time by having their operation enabled in
.Xr rc.conf 5 .
Modules may also be auto-loaded through their addition to
.Xr loader.conf 5 .
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr kldload 2 ,
.Xr loader.conf 5 ,
.Xr rc.conf 5 ,
.Xr kldstat 8 ,
.Xr kldunload 8
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Nm
utility first appeared in
.Fx 3.0 ,
replacing the
.Xr lkm 4
interface.
.Sh AUTHORS
.An Doug Rabson Aq Mt dfr@FreeBSD.org