lsmod command is used to display the information of loaded modules in the Linux kernel. Linux kernel modules are system-level software that can be used directly by operating system kernel.

Kernel modules#

The Linux kernel is the core component of Linux operating systems. It manages the system’s resources, and communication between your computer’s hardware and software.

lsmod Command#

lsmod is a simple utility and has no options. It formats the contents of the file /proc/modules, which contains information about the status of all currently-loaded LKMs.

Run lsmod at the command line to find out what kernel modules are currently loaded:

lsmod

The command outputs information for each loaded kernel module on a new line:

Module Size Used by
cmac 16384 0
rfcomm 81920 4
...
ahci 40960 1
intel_lpss_pci 20480 0
i2c_i801 32768 0
libahci 32768 1 ahci
intel_lpss 16384 1 intel_lpss_pci
...

There are three columns in each row:

• Module – It displays the name of the module.
• Size – The second column shows the size of the module in bytes.
• Used by – This column shows a number that indicates how many instances of the module are currently used. Zero value means module is not used.

You can filter the output using grep, to find out a specific module is loaded or not. For example to find whether the kvm module is loaded you would run:

lsmod | grep kvm

kvm_intel             217088  0
kvm                   610304  1 kvm_intel
irqbypass              16384  1 kvm

You can get the more information about a module, issue the modinfo command.

Conclusion#

The lsmod command displays a list of the currently loaded kernel modules.

Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions.