launchd

Adding jobs

1. Create appropriate plist file.
2. Put it in:
   • /Library/LaunchAgents for user-specific jobs
   • /Library/LaunchDaemons for system-wide jobs
3. Load the job:
   • launchctl load /Library/LaunchAgents/job.plist for user-specific jobs
   • sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/job.plist for system-wide jobs

Setting environment variables

/bin/launchctl setenv VARIABLE "value"

Job not loading

For example, error 78 “Function not implemented”. This generally implies a configuration error in the script being run. Check:

• script permissions (must be executable)
• shebang line
• com.apple.quarantine attribute randomly applied (use xattr -d com.apple.quarantine file to remove)