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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 prop-erty property
     erty 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 reso-lution. resolution.
              lution.  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.  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 system extensions folder (/System/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

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 plug-ins, plugins,
     ins, 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
     kextcache(8), kextd(8), kextstat(8), kextunload(8), kextutil(8), kext_logging(8)

Darwin                                          March 6, 2009                                         Darwin