KEXTCACHE(8)

NAME
kextcache - creates or updates kext repository caches and mkext caches

SYNOPSIS
kextcache [-a arch] [-e] [-F] [-k] [-l | -L] [-m mkext_filename] [-n | -N] [-t] [-v [1-6]] [-z] [kext_or_directory] ...

DESCRIPTION
The kextcache program creates or updates kext caches, which are used to speed up kext loading operations and to prepare kexts for inclusion in such media as device ROM.

There are two kinds of kext cache. The first is the mkext cache, which contains the info dictionaries and binary files for an arbitrary set of kexts. Mkext caches are used during early system startup to load drivers essential to mounting the root filesystem and providing basic hardware services. They're also used to package drivers in device ROM. To create an mkext cache use the -m option.

The second type of cache is the kext repository cache, which contains the info dictionaries for all the kexts in a single repository directory, including their plugins, in a file with a .kextcache extension. A repository cache speeds the startup of tools such as kextload(8) and kextd(8). A repository cache must exist alongside its repository directory for the kext tools to find and use it. The kext tools normally build or update repository caches as needed. To create or update a kext cache use the -k option.

kextcache accepts these arguments and options:

kext_or_directory
    A kext bundle or a repository directory containing kexts to add to the cache. When using the -m option only, any number may be specified. When using the -k option, only a single directory may be named.

-a arch
    Include in an mkext archive only kexts whose executable files contain code for the given arch, stripping the binaries before inclusion.

-e  This option is a convenience to update the mkext cache for the /System/Library/Extensions folder.

-F  Fork a child process and exit immediately. This allows a cache update during system startup to continue without delaying startup.

-k  Create or update the kext cache for any repository directories specified.

-l  Specifies that for directory arguments, only extensions required for local disk boot be included in an mkext cache. Kexts explicitly named on the command line are included unconditionally; to apply this restriction to all kexts, use the -L option. May be combined with the -n or -N option to archive both local- and network-root extensions.

-L  Specifies that only extensions required for local disk boot be included in an mkext cache. To apply this restriction only to repository directories, use the -l option. May be combined with the -n or -N option to archive both local- and network-root extensions.

-m mkext_filename
    The name of the mkext cache file to create.

-n  Specifies that for directory arguments, only extensions required for network boot be included in an mkext cache. Kexts explicitly named on the command line are included unconditionally; to apply this restriction to all kexts, use the -N option. May be combined with the -l or -L option to archive both local- and network-root extensions.

-N  Specifies that only extensions required for network boot be included in an mkext cache. To apply this restriction only to repository directories, use the -n option. May be combined with the -l or -L option to archive both local- and network-root extensions.

-t  Perform all possible tests on the named kext(s) and indicate whether the kext is loadable (and therefore eligible for inclusion in the cache), or if not, what problems it has. Note that tests are performed in three stages, validation, authentication, and dependency resolution; a failure at any stage can make tests in further stages impossible. Thus, a kext with validation failures may have unreported authentication problems or missing dependencies.

-v [1-6]
    Verbose mode; print information about the kext scanning and loading process. Higher levels of verbosity include all lower levels. With this program only verbose levels 1-3 are useful. The levels of verbose output are these:

    1   prints basic kext scanning and archiving information

    2   prints basic compression information

    3   prints detailed kext scanning information; also uncompresses mkext cache entries to make sure they do so without error

    4   prints basic information on every kext encountered

    5   prints detailed information on every kext encountered

    6   prints detailed load information (not applicable)

    A kext can also specify verbose printing for just itself using the OSBundleDebugLevel top-level info dictionary property. Its values are 1 and 2, for basic and detailed information, respectively.

-z  Don't authenticate kexts before loading. This option is for convenience during development.

--  End of all options. Only kext or directory names follow.

DIAGNOSTICS
kextcache exits with a zero status upon success. Upon failure, it prints an error message and exits with a nonzero status. When the -F option is used, however, kextcache exits with a nonzero status only if the fork(2) operation fails.

SEE ALSO
kextd(8), kextload(8), kextunload(8)

BUGS
Upon encountering a kext with validation errors, kextcache typically prints an error message about that kext, even if it isn't involved in the cacheing request.