One potential issue when upgrading the Arch Linux kernel is that the modules of the currently running kernel may be deleted. This can lead to a number of problems, including unexpected behavior, system crashes, or the inability to mount certain file systems (e.g., the kernel fails to mount a vfat file system due to the unavailability of the vfat kernel module).
The pacman package linux-keep-modules, written by James Cherti, provides a solution to ensure that the modules of the currently running Linux kernel remain available until the operating system is restarted. Additionally, after a system restart, the script automatically removes any unnecessary kernel modules that might have been left behind by previous upgrades (e.g., the kernel modules that are not owned by any Arch Linux package and are not required by the currently running kernel).
The linux-keep-modules package keeps your system running smoothly and maintains stability even during major Linux kernel upgrades.
Clone the repository and change the current directory to 'archlinux-linux-keep-modules/':
$ git clone https://github.com/jamescherti/archlinux-linux-keep-modules.git
$ cd archlinux-linux-keep-modules/
Make the linux-keep-modules package:
$ makepkg -f
==> Making package: linux-keep-modules
==> Checking runtime dependencies...
==> Checking buildtime dependencies...
...
==> Finished making: linux-keep-modules
Install the linux-keep-modules package:
$ sudo pacman -U linux-keep-modules-*-any.pkg.tar.*
Finally, enable the cleanup-linux-modules service:
$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
$ sudo systemctl enable cleanup-linux-modules
(The cleanup-linux-modules service deletes at boot time the Linux kernel modules that are not owned by any a package at boot time)