kextunload(8) BSD System Manager's Manual kextunload(8)
NAME
kextunload -- terminates and unloads kernel extensions
SYNOPSIS
kextunload [-b bundle_id] ... [-c class_name] ... [-h] [-p] [ -v [0-6]
| -q ] [ extension ] ...
DESCRIPTION
The kextunload program is used to terminate and unregister I/O Kit
objects associated with a kernel extension (kext) and to unload the code
and personalities for that kext. In order to unload a kext, kextunload
must be invoked with superuser privileges.
If another loaded kext has a dependency on a kext being unloaded, the
unload will fail. You can determine whether a kext has dependents using
the kextstat(8) tool.
kextunload is a formal interface for unloading kexts in the Darwin OS and
in Mac OS X. Software and installers can rely on its presence and invoke
it in order to unload kexts.
The arguments and options are:
extension
The pathname of a kext to unload. All instances of classes
associated with the kext are terminated, and personalities and
code are unloaded from the kernel.
-b bundle_id
Unload code and personalities for the kext whose CFBundleIdenti-
fier is bundle_id.
-c class_name
Terminate all instances of class class_name if possible but do
not unload code or personalities. New load requests for devices
driven by these instances may result in the same class being
instantiated at any time.
-h Print a help message describing each option flag.
-m bundle_id
Same as -b (remains for backward compatibility).
-p Don't remove personalities when unloading (unnecessary when
using the -c option). New load requests for devices driven by
the kext may result in the same kext being loaded at any time.
-q Quiet mode; print no informational or error messages. This
option excludes -v.
-v [0-6]
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. This option excludes -q.
DIAGNOSTICS
kextunload exits with a zero status upon success, or prints an error mes-
sage and exits with a nonzero status upon failure. An error when multi-
ple kexts are being unloaded causes kextunload to exit immediately, so
that some kexts may remain loaded even if they could have been unloaded
without error.
BUGS
The kernel's kext unloading facility does not provide detailed failure
information. Thus it is impossebl to tell whether the problem was that
the kext wasn't loaded or that another kext has a dependency on it, etc.
These conditions can be checked using kextstat(8).
SEE ALSO
kextcache(8), kextd(8), kextload(8), kextstat(8)
Darwin April 17, 2002 Darwin
Mac OS X 10.4 - Generated Fri Apr 29 08:12:11 CDT 2005