[CLUE-Tech] module loading question

[Jed S. Baer]

On Mon, 24 Mar 2003 18:10:18 -0700 (MST)
Jim Ockers <ockers at ockers.net> wrote:

> Another question I can't answer is this: How do I get ip_conntrack_ftp
> to load with the iptables subsystem at reboot?  Right now I can get
> iptables and NAT etc. to all start at boot-up on my Red Hat system, but
> I have to put the ip_conntrack_ftp module load in /etc/rc.d/rc.local
> since iptables will never modprobe that on its own, even if FTP data is
> detected.
> 
> Or at least I don't know how to get it to do that.  Any ideas from the
> list? Without the ip_conntrack_ftp module loaded, FTP does not work from
> inside the masquerade, and I think inbound FTP to the server might not
> work properly either sometimes.

Hmmm. That's interesting. I see it isn't loaded on my system either. My
understanding is that the necessary modules will auto-load when called by
your ip_tables rulesets, so that explains my system I guess -- the
ip_tables modules I use get loaded without my having to fiddle anything.

If you want to force it in, you could try the following line in your
/etc/modules.conf

  below ip_conntrack ip_conntrack_ftp

That assumes the ftp module is dependent on the generic conntrack being
loaded. Wish I could remember where the above|below syntax is documented,
maybe 'man modules.conf'. In theory, the module dependency tree should
handle all this stuff, but I found not all modules have things declared
correctly.

In my case, it was an issue with the USB serial setup, and USB scanner as
well, but I used the 'above' directive, so that the dependencies were
loaded when the "end point" (i.e. the thing which I specifically needed)
was loaded.

  above usb-uhci usbcore
  above usbserial usb-uhci
  above belkin_sa usbserial
  above microtek usb-uhci

This way, if I want USB serial, I load only the belkin_sa module, but the
others load ahead of it -- it's dependent on them. Same for the microtek
scanner module. I could also, if I knew the right incantation cause
belkin_sa to auto-load whenever the USB serial psuedo-device got
referenced, using an alias, and I wouldn't have to modprobe or insmod it
manually.

I suppose the cleanest thing would be to figure out why the module isn't
being auto-loaded, and fix that, instead of fudging modules.conf.

jed
-- 
I wouldn't even think about bribing a rottweiler with a steak that
didn't weigh more than I do. -- Jason Earl