notes

launchd on macOS

1 min read

launchd is a process on macOS used to manage agents and Daemons. It can be used to run shell scripts in a cron-like fashion, and is the more apple-esque way to do things. The launchtl command is used to interact with launchd.

  1. Create an executable file or script (remember to chmod +x) and put it somewhere
  2. Create a property list file -
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.yourusername.myjob</string>
 
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/path/to/your/script.sh</string>
    </array>
 
    <!-- Example: Run every 300 seconds (5 minutes) -->
    <key>StartInterval</key>
    <integer>300</integer>
 
    <!-- Optional: Keep the job alive (restart if it crashes/stops) -->
    <!-- <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <true/> -->
 
    <!-- Optional: Redirect output for debugging -->
    <key>StandardOutPath</key>
    <string>/tmp/com.yourusername.myjob.stdout</string>
    <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
    <string>/tmp/com.yourusername.myjob.stderr</string>
</dict>
</plist>
  1. Use the launchctl command to load the plist file into launchd, which will start the job running according to the schedule in the plist filelaunchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.yourusername.myjob.plist
  2. The launchctl unload command and same path can be used if you want to stop this job. The path mentioned here in ~/Library/LaunchAgents is specific to third party agents (including your own)

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