KEXTD(8)

NAME
kextd - loads kexts on demand from kernel or client processes

SYNOPSIS
kextd [-c] [-d] [-f] [-h] [-j] [-r directory] ... [-v [1-6]] [-x]

DESCRIPTION
kextd runs as a daemon process to handle requests from the kernel to load kernel extensions (kexts). For proper operation kextd must be invoked as the superuser.

kextd should not be considered a formal interface in the Darwin OS or in Mac OS X. Neither its usage nor its presence should be relied on by any software or software installer.

The options available are these:

-c  Ignore any repository cache files and scan all kext bundles to gather information. If this option is not given, kextd will attempt to use cache files and to create them if they are out of date or don't exist.

-d  Debug mode; run in the foreground without forking as a daemon process.

-f  Don't fork a child task when loading kexts. This option is present for debugging kextd and should never be used otherwise.

-h  Print a help message describing each option flag.

-j  Don't jettison kernel linker; load NDRVs in the kernel and exit, allowing the kernel to continue handling all load requests. This option is used in startup scripts for install CDs, along with a properly built mkext cache, in order to speed startup from the CD.

-r directory
    Use directory as a repository of known kexts for handling load requests. This is not recursive; only the directory's immediate contents are scanned. By default kextd uses only the kexts in /System/Library/Extensions.

-v [1-6]
    Verbose mode; print information about the kext scanning and loading process (note that this is generally not useful when unloading). See the man page for kextload(8) to see what each verbose level prints.

-x  Run kextd in safe boot mode (indicating startup with the Shift key held down). Kexts that don't specify a proper value for the OSBundleRequired info dictionary property will not be loaded. This option implies the use of the -c option.

DIAGNOSTICS
kextd normally never exits. If an error occurs it exits with a nonzero status. If invoked with the -j option it exits with a zero status when no error occurs, or a nonzero status if an error does occur.

kextd logs all error and verbose messages to the system log, or to the console if the system log facility isn't available. When running in debug mode all output is printed to the standard output and error streams.

SEE ALSO
kextcache(8), kextload(8), kextstat(8), kextunload(8), syslogd(8)