kextload(8) BSD System Manager's Manual kextload(8)
NAME
kextload -- load kernel extensions (kexts) into the kernel
SYNOPSIS
kextload [options] [--] [kext ...]
DESCRIPTION
The kextload program is used to explicitly load kernel extensions
(kexts). For most kexts, kextload must run as the superuser (root).
Kexts installed under /System/ with an OSBundleAllowUserLoad property set
to true may be loaded via kextload by non-root users.
Notice: On Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), the developer functionality of
kextload has moved to the new program kextutil(8); all developer-related
options have been removed from kextload and are no longer recognized. On
Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), kextload simply forwards a load request to
kextd(8), which performs all communication with the kernel.
kextload is a formal interface for kext loading in all versions of Darwin
OS and Mac OS X. Software and installers can rely on its presence and
invoke it in order to load kexts. Note that long options are present as
of Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard).
Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) introduces C functions for loading kexts:
KextManagerLoadKextWithIdentifier() and KextManagerLoadKextWithURL(),
which are described in Apple's developer documentation.
ARGUMENTS AND OPTIONS
kext The pathname of a kext bundle to load. The kext's plugins are
available for dependency resolution. Kexts can also be speci-
fied by CFBundleIdentifier with the -bundle-id option.
-b identifier, -bundle-id identifier
Look up the kext whose CFBundleIdentifier is identifier within
the set of known kexts and load it. The kext of the highest
CFBundleVersion with the given identifier is used; in the case
of version ties, the last such kext specified on the command
line is used. See the -dependency and -repository options for
more information.
-d kext, -dependency kext
Add kext and its plugins to the set of known kexts for resolving
dependencies. This is useful for adding a single kext from a
directory while excluding the others. See the -repository
option for more information.
-h, -help
Print a help message describing each option flag and exit with a
success result, regardless of any other options on the command
line.
-q, -quiet
Quiet mode; print no informational or error messages.
-r directory, -repository directory
Use directory as a repository of kexts. This adds to the set of
known kexts for resolving dependencies or looking up by
CFBundleIdentifier when using the -bundle-id option. This is
not recursive; only kexts directly within the directory, and
their plugins, are scanned. See also the -dependency option.
-v [0-6 | 0x####], -verbose [0-6 | 0x####]
Verbose mode; print information about program operation. Higher
levels of verbosity include all lower levels. You can specify a
level from 0-6, or a bitmask of flags as a hexadecimal number
prefixed with 0x (as described in kext_logging(8)). Because
kextload messages kextd(8), to perform the actual work of load-
ing, the decimal levels 1-6 generally have little effect. You
may wish to use kextutil(8) if you want verbose output about the
kext loading operation.
-- End of all options. Only kext names follow.
EXAMPLES
To load a kext, run kextload and supply a kext bundle name; no options
are required:
kextload TabletDriver.kext
Alternatively, you can use the -bundle-id (-b) option to specify a kext
by its CFBundleIdentifier:
kextload -bundle-id com.mycompany.driver.TabletDriver
With no additional options kextload looks in the extensions directories
(/System/Library/Extensions/ and /Library/Extensions/) for a kext with
the given CFBundleIdentifier. Adding repository directories with the
-repository option or individual kexts with the -dependency option
expands the set of kexts that kextload looks among for dependency resolu-
tion and for loading by bundle identifier:
kextload -repository /Applications/MyApp.app/Contents/Resources \
TabletDriver.kext
FILES
/System/Library/Extensions/ The standard system repository of kernel
extensions
/Library/Extensions/ The standard repository of non Apple kernel
extensions
DIAGNOSTICS
kextload exits with a zero status if all kexts specified load success-
fully (or are already loaded). If any kext fails to load, kextload
prints an error message for that kext, continues trying to load any
remaining kexts, then exits with a nonzero status.
For a kext to be loadable, it must be valid, authenticated, and all
dependencies of the kext must be available and loadable. A valid kext
has a well formed bundle, info dictionary, and an executable built for
the running kernel's architecture. An authentic kext's component files,
not including plugins, are owned by root:wheel, with permissions non-
writable by group and other. If your kext fails to load, try using
kextutil(8) to examine the kext for problems.
SEE ALSO
kextcache(8), kextd(8), kextstat(8), kextunload(8), kextutil(8),
kext_logging(8)
Darwin November 14, 2012 Darwin
Mac OS X 10.9 - Generated Fri Oct 18 05:35:56 CDT 2013