macOS – How to Modify Info.plist in El Capitan 10.11.4 or Later

hardwaremacospermission

This problem bothers me since I tried to add a hardware(smartcard device) information to the support list, so that I can use this smartcard device under my macintosh. But I don't have permission to modify this list file(Info.plist) on EI Capitan 10.11.4 or 10.11.5. Before 10.11.4, there is no this permission thing, I can't see why apple doing this.

Anyone knows how to modify the Info.plist(directory: "/usr/libexec/SmartCardServices/drivers/ifd-ccid.bundle/Contents/")?

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Best Answer

The culprit (as suggested by klanomath) is likely System Integrity Protection, that protects (except others) also the /usr directory. To switch it off

  1. Switch off your Mac
  2. Boot into recovery (when you press power button, you should be already holding cmdR keys, hold them as long as the display is clear white)
  3. In the recovery system, go in the menubar to Utilities > Terminal

  4. Terminal window will pop-up. Enter:

    csrutil disable

  5. Confirm with enter

  6. Close Terminal, restart the computer through Apple logo in top left corner

From here on, the SIP is disabled and you can edit your file. It should be noted, that after you are done with your modifications, you should definitely re-enable the SIP. The method is same as above, the only difference is that you will type into Terminal:

csrutil enable
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