OS X and iOS Kernel Programming

Installing and Loading Kernel Extensions

KEXT bundles will normally be installed in the system directory/System/Library/Extensions. You can keep KEXTs outside of this directory; however, you will then need to take care of loading the KEXT yourself by using the method outlined in the next section. The KEXT will still need to have the correct permissions set. A KEXT needs to be owned by the root user, belong to the wheel group, and have the permissions mask 0755 in order to be loadable by the KEXT daemon (kextd).

For I/O Kit-based drivers, the KEXT is usually loaded automatically by the KEXT daemon when its provider is registered in the I/O Registry (assuming the KEXT has a proper personality defined in its Info.plist file). A KEXT not associated ...