I've been having a few discussions with colleagues as we get to grips with the new macOS 11 Big Sur release, especially with regard to the slow evolution away from Kernel Extensions ( aka KExts ).
One particular thread led me here: -
How to configure Kernel Extension settings for Mac
and, specifically this: -
sudo sqlite3 /var/db/SystemPolicyConfiguration/KextPolicy
Password:
]SQLite version 3.32.3 2020-06-18 14:16:19
Enter ".help" for usage hints.
sqlite> SELECT * FROM kext_policy;
QED4VVPZWA|com.logitech.manager.kernel.driver|1|Logitech Inc.|5
6HB5Y2QTA3|com.hp.kext.io.enabler.compound|1|HP Inc.|0
Z2SG5H3HC8|net.tunnelblick.tun|1|Jonathan Bullard|5
Z2SG5H3HC8|net.tunnelblick.tap|1|Jonathan Bullard|5
sqlite>^D
Why did I not know this before ?
There's a whole SQLite database infrastructure inside my Mac ? Wow, who knew ?
A colleague then pointed out that macOS also has kextstat which allows me to show which kernel extensions are loaded and, via this: -
kextstat | grep -v com.apple
Executing: /usr/bin/kmutil showloaded
No variant specified, falling back to release
Index Refs Address Size Wired Name (Version) UUID <Linked Against>
the non-Apple extensions that are loaded or, in my case, NOT !
So, whilst the SQLite database has kexts from Logitech, HP and Tunnelblick listed, none appear to be loaded ...
Which is nice!