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Documentation: Update kernel-parameters.tx
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1) __setup() is messy, prefer module_param and core_param.
2) Document --
3) Document modprobe scraping /proc/cmdline.
4) Document handing of leftover parameters to init.
5) Document use of quotes to protect whitespace.

Reported-by: Andrew Morton <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Rusty Russell <[email protected]>
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rustyrussell committed May 14, 2014
1 parent 51e158c commit 5888bcc
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40 changes: 25 additions & 15 deletions Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
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Kernel Parameters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following is a consolidated list of the kernel parameters as implemented
(mostly) by the __setup() macro and sorted into English Dictionary order
(defined as ignoring all punctuation and sorting digits before letters in a
case insensitive manner), and with descriptions where known.

Module parameters for loadable modules are specified only as the
parameter name with optional '=' and value as appropriate, such as:

modprobe usbcore blinkenlights=1

Module parameters for modules that are built into the kernel image
are specified on the kernel command line with the module name plus
'.' plus parameter name, with '=' and value if appropriate, such as:

usbcore.blinkenlights=1
The following is a consolidated list of the kernel parameters as
implemented by the __setup(), core_param() and module_param() macros
and sorted into English Dictionary order (defined as ignoring all
punctuation and sorting digits before letters in a case insensitive
manner), and with descriptions where known.

The kernel parses parameters from the kernel command line up to "--";
if it doesn't recognize a parameter and it doesn't contain a '.', the
parameter gets passed to init: parameters with '=' go into init's
environment, others are passed as command line arguments to init.
Everything after "--" is passed as an argument to init.

Module parameters can be specified in two ways: via the kernel command
line with a module name prefix, or via modprobe, e.g.:

(kernel command line) usbcore.blinkenlights=1
(modprobe command line) modprobe usbcore blinkenlights=1

Parameters for modules which are built into the kernel need to be
specified on the kernel command line. modprobe looks through the
kernel command line (/proc/cmdline) and collects module parameters
when it loads a module, so the kernel command line can be used for
loadable modules too.

Hyphens (dashes) and underscores are equivalent in parameter names, so
log_buf_len=1M print-fatal-signals=1
can also be entered as
log-buf-len=1M print_fatal_signals=1

Double-quotes can be used to protect spaces in values, e.g.:
param="spaces in here"

This document may not be entirely up to date and comprehensive. The command
"modinfo -p ${modulename}" shows a current list of all parameters of a loadable
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