lsmod

Linux · System · reference only

What it does

Shows the kernel modules that are loaded, with their size and which other modules use them.

Syntax

lsmod

Options and parameters

• Module

  First column: name of the loaded module.

• Size

  Second column: memory the module takes, in bytes.

• Used by

  Third column: usage count and the modules that depend on it.

• -h

  Shows help and exits.

• -V

  Shows the version and exits.

Usage examples

• lsmod

  Lists all loaded modules.

• lsmod | grep -i usb

  Looks for USB-related modules.

• lsmod | head -5

  Shows only the first lines of the table.

• lsmod | wc -l

  Counts the lines of the table, one per module plus the header.

Notes and common mistakes

• It reads its information from /proc/modules.
• To load or remove modules you use modprobe and modprobe -r.

Related commands

• apt-cache
• cal
• date
• df
• dpkg-deb
• dpkg-query