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MKEXTUNPACK(8)                           BSD System Manager's Manual                          MKEXTUNPACK(8)

NAME
     mkextunpack -- extract or list the contents of a multikext (mkext) archive

SYNOPSIS
     mkextunpack [-v] [-a arch] [-d output_directory] mkext_file

DESCRIPTION
     The mkextunpack program lists the contents of a multikext file, mkext_file, or unarchives the contents
     into output_directory (which must exist).  The -v option causes mkextunpack to print the name if each
     kext as it finds them.

DIAGNOSTICS
     mkextunpack exits with a zero status upon success.  Upon failure, it prints an error message and exits
     with a nonzero status.

     With a nonsegreated format 1 mkext file, wherein each kext may contain a universal binary, mkextunpack
     simply unpacks the contents.  With an mkext file segregated by architecture (that is, with distinct
     internal archives of architecture-specific kexts), mkextunpack attempts by default to unpack or list
     kexts for the current machine's architecture.  To choose a particular architecture to extract or list,
     use the -a option.

     There is no simple way to unpack a segregated mkext file into a set of kexts with universal binaries,
     but you can unpack each of its component architectures to separate directories for examination.

SEE ALSO
     kextcache(8)

BUGS
     Many single-letter options are inconsistent in meaning with (or directly contradictory to) the same
     letter options in other kext tools.

     For version 1 mkext files, note that the file format doesn't record the original filenames of the
     kexts, so mkextunpack has to guess at what they are.  It does this by using the value of the CFBundle-Executable CFBundleExecutable
     Executable property of the kext's info dictionary (Project Builder sets this to the base name of the
     kext bundle by default, but the developer can change it).  If that property doesn't exist, the last
     component of the CFBundleIdentifier is used.  Duplicates have an incrementing index appended to the
     name.  Kexts that have no CFBundleExecutable or CFBundleIdentifier property are named
     ``NameUnknown-n.kext'', where n is a number.

Darwin                                          March 6, 2009                                         Darwin