Which utility is used to update the modules.dep file?

The utility that is used to update the modules.dep file is depmod. This file is crucial in the Linux kernel module management system, as it contains a dependency list of all loaded modules, which helps the kernel resolve module dependencies during the loading process.

When the depmod command is executed, it scans the currently installed kernel modules and generates or updates the modules.dep file accordingly. This ensures that when you load a module, the system is aware of its dependencies, allowing it to load any required modules automatically.

Other options, while related to kernel modules, serve different purposes. Update-modules is an older command that manages module updates in certain distributions but doesn't specifically generate the modules.dep file in the same manner as depmod. Modprobe is a more advanced utility that loads modules and resolves dependencies as specified in modules.dep, but it does not update this file itself. Insmod is another command used to insert individual modules into the Linux kernel but also doesn't handle the dependency file updates. Therefore, depmod is the essential utility for updating the modules.dep file.