2. What is kerneld?

The kerneld feature was introduced during the 1.3 development kernels by Bjorn Ekwall. It allows kernel modules such as device drivers, network drivers and filesystems to be loaded automatically when they are needed, rather than having to do it manually with modprobe or insmod.

And for the more amusing aspects, although these are not (yet ?) integrated with the standard kernel:

kerneld consists of two components:

Both components must be working for the kerneld support to function; it is not enough that only one or the other has been setup.

2.1. Why do I want to use it ?

There are some good reasons for using kerneld. The ones I will mention are mine, others have other reasons.

Of course, there are also reasons why you may not want to use it. If you prefer to have just one kernel image file with all of your drivers built in, you are reading the wrong document.

2.2. Where can I pick up the necessary pieces ?

The support in the Linux kernel was introduced with Linux 1.3.57. If you have an earlier kernel version, you will need to upgrade if you want the kerneld support. The current Linux kernel sources can be found at most Linux FTP archive sites including:

The user-space daemon is included with the modules package. These are normally available from the same place as the kernel sources

Note

If you want to try module-loading with the latest development kernels, you should use the newer modutils package and not the modules. Always check the Documentation/Changes file in the kernel sources for the minimum required version number for your kernel image. Also see about the problems with modules and 2.1 kernels.