My Launchd protocol.
Here are the steps I did.
Step 1.
Write application to launch: This is my application called beatrice2.app. All
it does is open a website.
- Use
script editor
tell application "Google
Chrome"
activate
set theUrl to "http://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/hgCustom?hgsid=267914753"
if (count every window) = 0 then
make new window
end if
set found to false
set theTabIndex to -1
repeat with theWindow in every window
set theTabIndex to 0
repeat with theTab in every tab of theWindow
set theTabIndex to theTabIndex + 1
if theTab's URL = theUrl then
set found to true
exit repeat
end if
end repeat
if found then
exit repeat
end if
end repeat
if found then
tell theTab to reload
set theWindow's active tab index to theTabIndex
set index of theWindow to 1
else
tell window 1 to make new tab with
properties {URL:theUrl}
end if
end tell
Step 2: Save your app in /usr/bin/:
- Use terminal
- Here I copied the
application from the desktop and
pasted it in /usr/bin
- Next I checked to see if the
application is in usr/bin
speedcongenics:Desktop
samantha$ sudo cp /Users/samantha/Desktop/Beatrice2.app /usr/bin
speedcongenics:Desktop
samantha$ cd /usr/bin
speedcongenics:bin
samantha$ ls -la Beatrice2.app
-rwxr-xr-x@
1 root wheel 13780 May 15 08:06 Beatrice2.app
Side
note: If you would like to delete the application from usr/bin:
To delete
- Use
terminal
samantha-s-imac:Desktop samanthataffner$ sudo rm -rf
/usr/bin/beatrice2.app
Step 3: Write a
.plist: This is my plist. I called
it: com.apple.beatrice.plist
-
I wrote this in TextWrangler http://www.barebones.com/products/TextWrangler/download.html
-
This
plist calls my application in /usr/bin/Beatrice.app
-
It
activates at 11:35AM every day
-
It also uses
two files Beatrice.err & Bearice.out:
These help with debugging
<?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.apple.beatrice</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/usr/bin/Beatrice.app</string>
</array>
<key>StartCalendarInterval</key>
<dict>
<key>Hour</key>
<integer>11</integer>
<key>Minute</key>
<integer>35</integer>
</dict>
<key>StandardErrorPath</key>
<string>/tmp/Beatrice.err</string>
<key>StandardOutPath</key>
<string>/tmp/Beatrice.out</string>
</dict>
</plist>
Step 4: Choose where you would like to save your
plist at. This depends on what users this cronjob will be used for.
save .plist in for every user: /System/Library/LaunchDaemons
save .plist in only for one user: /System/Library/LaunchAgents
-
Saved
mine in LaunchDaemons
Step 5: Add .err and .out files
-
Use terminal
-
This will
make the two files
speedcongenics:bin
samantha$ cd /tmp
speedcongenics:tmp
samantha$ ls
Beatrice.err launch-FiA4Y0 launch-ajbvGL
Beatrice.out launch-IioWT4 launch-bF7prV
com.hp.launchport launch-JF2LIV launch-kx77NW
launch-1UjaTy launch-N51jhz launch-wTLkMD
launch-2zebDO launch-SijDxz launchd-90670.DuGDuP
launch-EjxSF5 launch-TtNSBM
speedcongenics:tmp
samantha$ sudo pico Beatrice2.err
Add
# Hello push control X then Y (this makes the file)
Step 6: Change permissions of your .plist file
- Use terminal
- Some of the explanations have been modified from:
-
See what your permissions are by doing the following
speedcongenics:tmp
samantha$ cd /System/Library/LaunchDaemons
speedcongenics:LaunchDaemons
samantha$ ls -la com.apple.beatrice.plist
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root wheel 523 May 11 19:57
com.apple.beatrice.plist
-
The very first letter in a file's ls -la listing states what type of file it is. For example:
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root wheel 523 May 11 19:57
com.apple.beatrice.plist
.plist is a regular file as its listing begins
with the character -.
- The
next nine characters represent the file's permissions. Permissions are always
listed in the order of read, write, and execute. If the letter is listed, the
permission is granted; if there is a - instead of the letter, that permission is denied. The
permissions are repeated three times to represent owner, primary group, and
everyone else. In the following listing:
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root wheel 523 May 11 19:57
com.apple.beatrice.plist
- As
before, .plist is
a regular file since its listing begins with a -. The owner of the file (root) has read and write
permissions, and without execute permission. Anyone in the primary group
(wheel) has read permission to this file, but not write or execute permission.
Everyone else has read permission, but not write or execute permission.
-
These permissions can be changed by the following commands in the terminal.
-
now we see my file has root (rw-), wheel (r--), and everyone else (r--)
- Here I
explain a little about the chmod from what I’ve learned from the links listed
above
- Since
everything in Unix is a file and every file has permissions for the owner
(root), group(wheel), and world
0
= no operations
1
= execute permission or the ability to cd in the case of a directory
2
= write permission
4
= read permission
-
These
numbers are added together. Here
are examples
o 644 = ((4(read) + 2(write))Root permission) +
((4(read))Wheel permission) + ((4(read))Everyone else permission)
o 755 = my file needs to be -rwxr-xr-x for this cronjob
§ The commands below changes my .plist to -rwxr-xr-x
Please
NOTE: I’ve changed computers from here on. So locations of my file also changed.
samantha-s-imac:LaunchDaemons samanthataffner$ sudo chmod
755 com.apple.beatrice.plist
Password:
samantha-s-imac:LaunchDaemons samanthataffner$ ls -l com.apple.beatrice.plist
-rwxr-xr-x@
1 root wheel 662 May 14 11:33
com.apple.beatrice.plist
Step 7: Now we have to launch our .plist. This will have to be done after every
modification of the .plist or the .app.
- Use
terminal
samantha-s-imac:LaunchDaemons
samanthataffner$ sudo chgrp wheel com.apple.beatrice.plist
samantha-s-imac:LaunchDaemons
samanthataffner$ sudo launchctl unload
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.beatrice.plist
samantha-s-imac:LaunchDaemons
samanthataffner$ sudo launchctl load
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.beatrice.plist
samantha-s-imac:LaunchDa
