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 compo-
     nent 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 CFBundleExecutable 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 CFBundleI-
     dentifier property are named ``NameUnknown-n.kext'', where n is a number.

Darwin								   March 6, 2009							    Darwin