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

NAME

     kextd -- kernel extension server

SYNOPSIS

     kextd [options]

DESCRIPTION

     kextd is the kernel extension server.  It runs as a standalone launchd(8) daemon to handle requests from the kernel and from other user-space
     processes to load kernel extensions (kexts) or provide information about them.

OPTIONS

     These options are available:

     -c, -no-caches
	      Ignore any repository cache files and scan all kext bundles to gather information.  If this option is not given, kextd attempts to
	      use cache files and to create them if they are out of date or don't exist.

     -d, -debug
	      Debug mode; print messages to stdout/stderr rather than the sysem log.

     -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; log no informational or error messages.

     -v [0-6 | 0x####], -verbose [0-6 | 0x####]
	      Verbose mode; print information about program operation.	Higher levels of verbosity include all lower levels.  By default kextd
	      logs at verbose level 1.	You can specify a level from 0-6, or a hexadecimal log specification (as described in kext_logging(8)).
	      The levels of verbose output are:

	      0 	   Print only errors (that is, suppress warnings); see also -quiet.

	      1 (or none)  Print basic information about program operation.

	      2 	   Print information about program operation progress, client requests, and files created.

	      3 	   Print information about individual kexts with an OSBundleEnableKextLogging property set to true.

	      4 	   Print information about spawned child processes.

	      5 	   Print debug-level information.

	      6 	   Identical to level 5 but for all kexts read by the program.

	      See kext_logging(8) for more information on verbose logging.

     -x, -safe-boot
	      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.  As of Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), kextd determines from the kernel
	      whether the system has started in safe boot mode, so this flag is no longer necessary (but may be used for testing).  In safe boot
	      mode, kextd does not use caches (that is, this option implies the use of the -no-caches option).

RESETTING KEXTD

     On Mac OS X 10.3 and later, it is possible to reset kextd without terminating and restarting it, by sending it a HUP signal.  This causes
     kextd to rescan the Extensions folder, rebuild all its caches, and send all I/O Kit drivers' personalities to the kernel for a new round of
     driver matching.  As of Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), kextd watches /System/Library/Extensions/ and automatically invokes kextcache(8) to rebuild
     kext caches when its modification time changes.  It also sends new drivers' personalities to the kernel at this time.

     Installers that add new drivers can signal kextd in these ways instead of requiring the computer to be restarted.	Note that if a hardware
     device has a driver attached when this is done, a newly-installed driver will not match on it.  For more information, see ``Apple Developer
     Technical Q&A QA1319: Installing an I/O Kit Kext Without Rebooting''.

FILES

     /System/Library/Extensions/  The standard system repository of kernel extensions.

     /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/
				  Contains all kext caches for a Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) system: prelinked kernel, mkext, and system kext
				  info caches.

     /usr/standalone/bootcaches.plist
				  Describes specific kext cache files for a Mac OS X volume.

     /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.kextd.plist
				  The launchd.plist(5) controlling the kextd job.

DIAGNOSTICS

     kextd normally never exits.  If an error occurs it exits with a nonzero status.

     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), kextutil(8), kextstat(8), kextunload(8), kextfind(8), syslogd(8), launchd.plist(5)

Darwin								   March 6, 2009							    Darwin