Friday, November 20, 2015

Apple really hates unsigned kernel extensions

Just a quick tech note here. If you use any unsigned kernel extensions (for example tuntaposx for IPsec VPNs), please note that the method used to allow you to load them has changed under 10.11 (El Capitan).

The unsigned kext control in 10.10 (Yosemite) could be disabled by setting the nvram variable boot-args="kext-dev-mode=1". Sadly, this method has been deprecated, and no longer functions.

In 10.11, you'll need to boot the system into recovery mode to disable System Integrity Protection. Boot into recovery mode by holding command-r. Open a terminal under the Utilities menu and disable SIP with 'csrutil disable'. After rebooting, unsigned kexts can be loaded.