Skip to content
Snippets Groups Projects
kernel-parameters.txt 93.1 KiB
Newer Older
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed

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

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


This document may not be entirely up to date and comprehensive. The command
"modinfo -p ${modulename}" shows a current list of all parameters of a loadable
module. Loadable modules, after being loaded into the running kernel, also
reveal their parameters in /sys/module/${modulename}/parameters/. Some of these
parameters may be changed at runtime by the command
"echo -n ${value} > /sys/module/${modulename}/parameters/${parm}".

The parameters listed below are only valid if certain kernel build options were
enabled and if respective hardware is present. The text in square brackets at
the beginning of each description states the restrictions within which a
parameter is applicable:
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed

	ACPI	ACPI support is enabled.
Chuck Ebbert's avatar
Chuck Ebbert committed
	AGP	AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) is enabled.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
	ALSA	ALSA sound support is enabled.
	APIC	APIC support is enabled.
	APM	Advanced Power Management support is enabled.
	AVR32	AVR32 architecture is enabled.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
	AX25	Appropriate AX.25 support is enabled.
	BLACKFIN Blackfin architecture is enabled.
	DRM	Direct Rendering Management support is enabled.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
	EDD	BIOS Enhanced Disk Drive Services (EDD) is enabled
	EFI	EFI Partitioning (GPT) is enabled
	EIDE	EIDE/ATAPI support is enabled.
	FB	The frame buffer device is enabled.
	GCOV	GCOV profiling is enabled.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
	HW	Appropriate hardware is enabled.
	IA-64	IA-64 architecture is enabled.
Mimi Zohar's avatar
Mimi Zohar committed
	IMA     Integrity measurement architecture is enabled.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
	IOSCHED	More than one I/O scheduler is enabled.
	IP_PNP	IP DHCP, BOOTP, or RARP is enabled.
	IPV6	IPv6 support is enabled.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
	ISAPNP	ISA PnP code is enabled.
	ISDN	Appropriate ISDN support is enabled.
	JOY	Appropriate joystick support is enabled.
	KGDB	Kernel debugger support is enabled.
	KVM	Kernel Virtual Machine support is enabled.
	LIBATA  Libata driver is enabled
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
	LP	Printer support is enabled.
	LOOP	Loopback device support is enabled.
	M68k	M68k architecture is enabled.
			These options have more detailed description inside of
			Documentation/m68k/kernel-options.txt.
	MCA	MCA bus support is enabled.
	MDA	MDA console support is enabled.
	MOUSE	Appropriate mouse support is enabled.
	MSI	Message Signaled Interrupts (PCI).
	MTD	MTD (Memory Technology Device) support is enabled.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
	NET	Appropriate network support is enabled.
	NUMA	NUMA support is enabled.
	GENERIC_TIME The generic timeofday code is enabled.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
	NFS	Appropriate NFS support is enabled.
	OSS	OSS sound support is enabled.
	PV_OPS	A paravirtualized kernel is enabled.
	PARIDE	The ParIDE (parallel port IDE) subsystem is enabled.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
	PARISC	The PA-RISC architecture is enabled.
	PCI	PCI bus support is enabled.
Randy Dunlap's avatar
Randy Dunlap committed
	PCIE	PCI Express support is enabled.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
	PCMCIA	The PCMCIA subsystem is enabled.
	PNP	Plug & Play support is enabled.
	PPC	PowerPC architecture is enabled.
	PPT	Parallel port support is enabled.
	PS2	Appropriate PS/2 support is enabled.
	RAM	RAM disk support is enabled.
	S390	S390 architecture is enabled.
	SCSI	Appropriate SCSI support is enabled.
			A lot of drivers has their options described inside of
			Documentation/scsi/.
	SECURITY Different security models are enabled.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
	SELINUX SELinux support is enabled.
	SERIAL	Serial support is enabled.
	SH	SuperH architecture is enabled.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
	SMP	The kernel is an SMP kernel.
	SPARC	Sparc architecture is enabled.
	SWSUSP	Software suspend (hibernation) is enabled.
	SUSPEND	System suspend states are enabled.
	FTRACE	Function tracing enabled.
	TPM	TPM drivers are enabled.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
	TS	Appropriate touchscreen support is enabled.
	UMS	USB Mass Storage support is enabled.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
	USB	USB support is enabled.
	USBHID	USB Human Interface Device support is enabled.
	V4L	Video For Linux support is enabled.
	VGA	The VGA console has been enabled.
	VT	Virtual terminal support is enabled.
	WDT	Watchdog support is enabled.
	XT	IBM PC/XT MFM hard disk support is enabled.
	X86-32	X86-32, aka i386 architecture is enabled.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
	X86-64	X86-64 architecture is enabled.
			More X86-64 boot options can be found in
Uwe Hermann's avatar
Uwe Hermann committed
			Documentation/x86/x86_64/boot-options.txt .
	X86	Either 32bit or 64bit x86 (same as X86-32+X86-64)
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed

In addition, the following text indicates that the option:

	BUGS=	Relates to possible processor bugs on the said processor.
	KNL	Is a kernel start-up parameter.
	BOOT	Is a boot loader parameter.

Parameters denoted with BOOT are actually interpreted by the boot
loader, and have no meaning to the kernel directly.
Do not modify the syntax of boot loader parameters without extreme
need or coordination with <Documentation/x86/boot.txt>.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed

There are also arch-specific kernel-parameters not documented here.
Uwe Hermann's avatar
Uwe Hermann committed
See for example <Documentation/x86/x86_64/boot-options.txt>.
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
Note that ALL kernel parameters listed below are CASE SENSITIVE, and that
a trailing = on the name of any parameter states that that parameter will
be entered as an environment variable, whereas its absence indicates that
it will appear as a kernel argument readable via /proc/cmdline by programs
running once the system is up.

The number of kernel parameters is not limited, but the length of the
complete command line (parameters including spaces etc.) is limited to
a fixed number of characters. This limit depends on the architecture
and is between 256 and 4096 characters. It is defined in the file
./include/asm/setup.h as COMMAND_LINE_SIZE.


			Advanced Configuration and Power Interface
			Format: { force | off | strict | noirq | rsdt }
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
			force -- enable ACPI if default was off
			off -- disable ACPI if default was on
			noirq -- do not use ACPI for IRQ routing
			strict -- Be less tolerant of platforms that are not
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
				strictly ACPI specification compliant.
			rsdt -- prefer RSDT over (default) XSDT
			copy_dsdt -- copy DSDT to memory
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed

			See also Documentation/power/pm.txt, pci=noacpi
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed

	acpi_apic_instance=	[ACPI, IOAPIC]
			Format: <int>
			2: use 2nd APIC table, if available
			1,0: use 1st APIC table
	acpi_backlight=	[HW,ACPI]
			acpi_backlight=vendor
			acpi_backlight=video
			If set to vendor, prefer vendor specific driver
			(e.g. thinkpad_acpi, sony_acpi, etc.) instead
			of the ACPI video.ko driver.

	acpi.debug_layer=	[HW,ACPI,ACPI_DEBUG]
	acpi.debug_level=	[HW,ACPI,ACPI_DEBUG]
Linus Torvalds's avatar
Linus Torvalds committed
			Format: <int>
			CONFIG_ACPI_DEBUG must be enabled to produce any ACPI
			debug output.  Bits in debug_layer correspond to a
			_COMPONENT in an ACPI source file, e.g.,
			    #define _COMPONENT ACPI_PCI_COMPONENT
			Bits in debug_level correspond to a level in
			ACPI_DEBUG_PRINT statements, e.g.,
			    ACPI_DEBUG_PRINT((ACPI_DB_INFO, ...
			The debug_level mask defaults to "info".  See
			Documentation/acpi/debug.txt for more information about
			debug layers and levels.
			Enable processor driver info messages:
			    acpi.debug_layer=0x20000000
			Enable PCI/PCI interrupt routing info messages:
			    acpi.debug_layer=0x400000
			Enable AML "Debug" output, i.e., stores to the Debug
			object while interpreting AML:
			    acpi.debug_layer=0xffffffff acpi.debug_level=0x2
			Enable all messages related to ACPI hardware:
			    acpi.debug_layer=0x2 acpi.debug_level=0xffffffff

			Some values produce so much output that the system is
			unusable.  The "log_buf_len" parameter may be useful
			if you need to capture more output.
	acpi_display_output=	[HW,ACPI]
Loading
Loading full blame...