kextload
KEXTLOAD(8) System Manager's Manual KEXTLOAD(8)
NAME
kextload – load kernel extensions (kexts) into the kernel
SYNOPSIS
kextload [options] [--] [kext ...]
DEPRECATED
The kextload utility has been deprecated. Please use the kmutil(8)
equivalent: kmutil load.
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 macOS. 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 specified
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 loading,
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 resolution 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 successfully
(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 nonwritable by
group and other. If your kext fails to load, try using kextutil(8) to
examine the kext for problems.
SEE ALSO
kmutil(8), kernelmanagerd(8), kextcache(8), kextd(8), kextstat(8),
kextunload(8), kextutil(8), kext_logging(8)
Darwin November 14, 2012 Darwin