MacOS – How to disable System Integrity Protection (SIP) AKA “rootless” on macOs [OS X]

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Apple has introduced System Integrity Protection, also known as "rootless", with OS X 10.11, El Capitan. I understand this is a step for general protection against malware but as a developer I need write access to some of the files it locks away.

How do I disable this protection?

Best Answer

Apple's documentation covers disabling SIP, About System Integrity Protection on your Mac and Configuring System Integrity Protection.

An article on lifehacker.com lists these steps:

  1. Reboot your Mac into Recovery Mode by restarting your computer and holding down Command+R until the Apple logo appears on your screen.
  2. Click Utilities > Terminal.
  3. In the Terminal window, type in csrutil disable and press Enter.
  4. Restart your Mac.

You can verify whether a file or folder is restricted by issuing this ls command using the capital O (and not zero 0) to modify the long listing flag:

ls -lO /System /usr

Look for the restricted text to indicate where SIP is enforced.

By default (=SIP enabled), the following folders are restricted (see Apple Support page):

/System
/usr
/bin
/sbin
Apps that are pre-installed with OS X

... and the following folders are free:

/Applications
/Library
/usr/local
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