Dynamically Loaded Kernel

Unlike previous SunOS releases, the kernel is now dynamically configured. The kernel now consists of a small static core and many dynamically loadable kernel modules. Drivers, file systems, STREAMS modules, and other modules are loaded automatically as needed, either at boot time or at runtime. When these modules are no longer in use, they may be unloaded. Modules are kept in memory until that memory is needed. modinfo(1M) provides information about the modules currently loaded on a system.

The modload(1M) and modunload(1M) commands are still available in this release but they perform differently. They have more limited usage and are no longer sufficient to correctly install a loadable driver onto the system. modunload now includes the capability to unload all unloadable (and not busy) modules. Use modunload as follows.

# modunload -i 0