Run script as root at startup – macOS 10.12 Sierra

bashlaunchdstartupterminal

I've tried everything and can't seem to get my script to run at startup. Modifying the .bashrc, .bash_profile, etc that route got me no where. Then I tried cron jobs, no luck. Then I've been pulling my hair trying to use the launchd function. I've made a launch daemon, which is allegedly the root functions, but that's no luck either. As a last try, I even tried Automator with no luck.

The file I want to run as root is: "/Users/CURRENT_USER/Dev/my_script.sh"

Here is what I have in my LaunchDaemons folder:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.startup.script</string>
    <key>LaunchOnlyOnce</key>
    <true/>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>sh</string>
        <string>-c</string>
        <string>/Users/CURRENT_USER/Dev/my_script.sh</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>UserName</key>
    <string>root</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Best Answer

A ~/Library/LaunchDaemons doesn't exist. A launch daemon in /Library/LaunchDaemons is already executed with root privileges so you may omit the UserName part.

So put your shell script my_script.sh in /usr/local/bin/ or in /usr/bin/ (adjust the path in the ProgramArguments array if you use the latter), make it executable with sudo chmod +x ... and owned by root:wheel with sudo chown root:wheel .... /usr/bin is recommended if brew is installed.

Modify your current plist to:

<?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.startup.script</string>
    <key>LaunchOnlyOnce</key>
    <true/>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>sh</string>
        <string>-c</string>
        <string>/usr/local/bin/my_script.sh</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

Save the launch daemon as com.startup.script.plist in /Library/LaunchDaemons/ and owned by root:wheel.

Launch it with:

sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.startup.script.plist

Related Solutions

MacOS – Run script as root whenever any user logs in

Use a LoginHook.

sudo defaults write com.apple.loginwindow LoginHook /path/to/script

See here for more detail.

Not able to run the startup script upon login

You made some mistakes in your plist:

/Applications/eXist-db/bin/startup.sh probably doesn't exist if you have installed eXist-db 2.2

A valid path is /Applications/eXist-db.app/Contents/Resources/eXist-db/bin/startup.sh
StandardErorPath and StandardOutputPath are no valid keys

Valid keys are StandardErrorPath and StandardOutPath
probably the root <-> launchd problem already addressed by patrix
the plist doesn't have to be executable

To start the app after logging in with your user simply add it to System Preferences -> Users & Groups -> Your user -> Login Items

To start eXist-db 2.0 at boot time and jetty after logging in your user you have to do the following:

If you haven't done this already, first enter:

sudo /Applications/eXist-db/tools/wrapper/bin/exist.sh install

to install a LaunchDaemon org.tanukisoftware.wrapper.eXist-db.plist in /Library/LaunchDaemons/. If you want to add a StandardErrorPath and StandardOutPath modify the file with sudo nano /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.tanukisoftware.wrapper.eXist-db.plist.

It should look like this finally:

<?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>Disabled</key>
    <true/>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>org.tanukisoftware.wrapper.eXist-db</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/Applications/eXist-db/tools/wrapper/bin/exist.sh</string>
        <string>launchdinternal</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
    <string>/tmp/org.tanukisoftware.wrapper.eXist-db.stderr</string>
    <key>StandardOutPath</key>
    <string>/tmp/org.tanukisoftware.wrapper.eXist-db.stdout</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Load the daemon permanently with:

sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.tanukisoftware.wrapper.eXist-db.plist

Now create a second file in ~/Library/LaunchDaemons/ named com.eXist.plist with nano. It should look like this finally:

<?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.eXist</string>
    <key>Program</key>
    <string>/Applications/eXist-db/bin/startup.sh</string>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
    <string>/tmp/com.eXist.stderr</string>
    <key>StandardOutPath</key>
    <string>/tmp/com.eXist.stdout</string>
</dict>
</plist>

A StandardErrorPath and StandardOutPath was added.

Load the agent permanently with:

launchctl load -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.eXist.plist

Done.

Don't forget to set your (or the) JAVA_HOME variable properly. If you use a newer eXist-db release (e.g. 2.2) you have to add at least /Contents/Resources/ to the paths of exist.sh and startup.sh in the plist (please check the proper paths by opening the app bundle.

Hint: Don't use TextEdit to modify the plists: otherwise the plist files might be malformed.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

MacOS – Run script as root whenever any user logs in

Not able to run the startup script upon login

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