launchd on SWiK

Lingon by Peter Borg

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:04:01 -0700

[from bradleyjames] Technical Note TN2083: Daemons and Agents

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:04:35 -0700

"This technote describes the most common problems encountered when developing daemons and agents on Mac OS X, and offers detailed advice on solving those problems."

Running GlassFish on Mac OS X using launchd : Low Bit

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:45:19 -0700

launchd

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:02:02 -0700

Running GlassFish on Mac OS X using launchd - Low Bit

Wed, 28 May 2008 09:09:56 -0700

GlassFishをlaunchdで自動起動する

Lingon by Peter Borg

Mon, 19 May 2008 08:25:07 -0700

Lingon is a graphical user interface for creating launchd configuration files for Mac OS X Leopard

Automating Rick Rolls with launchd

Thu, 01 May 2008 16:07:01 -0700

Lets face it: Your coworkers can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. What better way to remind them of this than automated Rick rolls? They’re likely to never know what hit them.

What is launchd?

According to the launchd guide on Apple’s website:

The launchd daemon takes over many tasks from cron, xinetd, mach_init, and init, which are UNIX programs that traditionally have handled system initialization, called systems scripts, run startup items, and generally prepared the system for the user

launchd stores tasks in plist format. You can find your agents in ~/Library/LaunchAgents. Here is a typical launcd file that will open iTunes every 60 seconds:


  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
  <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
  <plist version="1.0">
  <dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.alternateidea.article.test</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/usr/bin/open</string>
        <string>-b</string>
    <string>com.apple.iTunes</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <false/>
    <key>StartInterval</key>
    <integer>60</integer>
  </dict>
  </plist>

Obviously this would be seriously annoying, but for the purpose of this demonstration, save this file as “com.alternateidea.article.test” in your ~/Library/LaunchAgents folder.

This script won’t run automatically, so we need to load it up first using the launchctl program:

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.alternateidea.article.test.plist

Our agent is loaded up now. After 60 seconds, you should see iTunes.app open. Pretty nice, eh?

Ok, so we don’t want to keep running this agent. Lets unload it:

launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.alternateidea.article.test.plist

Never gonna give you up. Never gonna automate your Mac.

So, here’s the trick: Wait until your coworker goes to lunch or you know they’ll be out of the office for 10 minutes or so. Then, let the mischief begin.

The first thing we need to do is create our agent:


  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
  <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
  <plist version="1.0">
  <dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.youtube.rickroll</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/usr/bin/open</string>
        <string>-b</string>
            <string>com.apple.Safari</string>
            <string>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <false/>
    <key>StartInterval</key>
    <integer>1800</integer>
  </dict>
  </plist>

Everything should be pretty obvious in this plist. The StartInterval is in seconds. I want to be an asshole every 30 minutes (1800) seconds. If you want to be a bigger asshole (or Son of a Bitch) you could set this to run in shorter intervals.

Now, we need to save this and load it up on your coworkers computer. Save this to ~/Library/USERNAME/LaunchAgents/com.youtube.rickroll. And load it up:


  launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.youtube.rickroll.plist

If you want to test and make sure everything is in working order, you can run:

launchctl start com.youtube.rickroll

Question: Did you just Rick Roll yourself?

Now, if your test ran successfully slip back to your desk and wait in anticipation for that awesome intro.

Disclaimer: If you destroy your coworkers computer or end up scrapping in the street, I’m not responsible.

TracOnOsxTracdAsLaunchdService

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:01:44 -0800

Using launchd on Mac OS X at Notes from a messy desk

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 07:59:56 -0800

Lingon by Peter Borg

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 14:46:58 -0800

Running GlassFish on Mac OS X using launchd - Low Bit

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:17:42 -0800

GlassFish on MacOS X - Using Launchd

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 16:52:29 -0800

Was on my TODO list. Yay procrastination

Running GlassFish on Mac OS X using launchd - Low Bit

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 19:51:48 -0800

Launchd

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:12:36 -0700

Lingon by Peter Borg

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:23:33 -0700

Launchd HowTo ... + Fetchmail

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 00:23:46 -0700

404 Blog Not Found:Taming Tiger -- postfix編

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 02:21:49 -0700

[from bradleyjames] Launchd: One Program to Rule them All

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 21:44:46 -0700

Mac OS X Manual Page For launchd.plist(5)

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 18:54:55 -0700

Launchd

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 16:42:56 -0700

TracOnOsxTracdAsLaunchdService

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 00:52:03 -0700

Lingon by Peter Borg

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 06:34:03 -0700

launchd - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 01:30:20 -0800

Hivelogic - The Narrative - LightTPD Launchd Item for Tiger

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 01:30:19 -0800

Using launchd on Mac OS X at Notes from a messy desk

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 01:30:18 -0800

A revised launchd plist for fetchmail | adrinux, philodox.

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 07:16:52 -0800

Mac OS Forge

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 08:44:52 -0800

Mac OS Forge

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 15:31:31 -0800

Apple Opens Up: Kernel, Mac OS Forge, iCal Server, Bonjour, Launchd

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 16:03:46 -0700

launchd under apache licence

Mac OS Forge

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 11:02:47 -0700