Disable Kernel Module

Table of Contents

Links

🌙 Lab

Details

As a Linux administrator, there will come a time when you want to disable kernel modules for hardware that might be causing a problem on a system, or it gets flagged for a vulnerability.

Objectives

In this tutorial, you will learn how to:

Disable a module using modprobe
Add the module to the kernel module deny list
Create a backup of the existing initramfs
Rebuild the initramfs by using dracut to exclude the module

Note: Disabling modules can have unintended consequences and prevent a system from booting properly or being fully functional after boot. Therefore, we’ll demonstrate creating a backup ramdisk image as best practice to ensure you can recover if a change prevents booting the operating system.

Prerequisites

Minimum of a single Oracle Linux system
Each system should have Oracle Linux installed and configured with:
- A non-root user account with sudo access
- Access to the Internet