February 2009 - launchd-dev - lists.macosforge.org

SampleD failure with dynamic SockServiceName
by David Anderson 13 Aug '09

13 Aug '09

My intention is have launchd start a daemon on a dynamic port, publish the port number via bonjour, and then connect to this port after determining the port number using CFNetService (Bonjour). Starting from SampleD (and using the included client.pl), I can advertise the service on a hard-coded port via bonjour, lookup the port number using Bonjour Browser, modify client.pl to use this port, and connect using client.pl. The SampleD binary starts correctly in an OnDemand fashion correctly. If I change <key>SockServiceName</key> <string>12345</string> to <key>SockServiceName</key> <string>0</string> then lookup the dynamic port number using Bonjour Browser and configure client.pl to use this port, client.pl will NOT connect to this port and outputs this error: connect: Connection refused at ./client.pl line 77. With a dynamic port, I am unable to connect to this port using a modified client.pl. I can find no evidence that the SampleD binary is starting in an OnDemand fashion. Adding <key>OnDemand</key> <false/> has no effect. Is there anything different about the default configuration of a dynamic port vs a hard-coded port that would impeded the ability to connect to the dynamically assigned port? Thanks, Dave

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launchd - is my job already loaded?
by Jim Correia 05 Mar '09

05 Mar '09

I have a need for a periodic (in this case, twice per day) per user task. I have written a job file and all works great from the command line using launchctl, but I want to set up this task programatically. Is there an API for launchd/launchctl, or should I just fork+exec launchctl to setup my job? Is there a prettier way to determine if my job is already loaded than to exec `launchctl list` and grep the output? Jim

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10.4 & 10.5 LaunchAgent compatibility
by Steffan A. Cline 05 Mar '09

05 Mar '09

I've been working on a solution to some issues with getting OpenOffice.org.app to work in a headless state but there is some issue with the build that prevents this. So, as a work around I am trying to come up with a LaunchAgent that will load OpenOffice.org on boot and run consistently. It seems I have no choice to use LoginWindow and Aqua to keep it up regardless of whether or not a user is logged in. On 10.4.11 no matter what I do, it does not load at boot. I have to manually load it with launchctl load /Library/LaunchAgents/net.execuchoice.doc-converter.plist Obviously this is not practical. On 10.5.x it loads as expected on boot. My questions are: 1) Am I doing something wrong in the following file? 2) Is there something I can do to get this to work universally for both platforms? (10.4 & 10.5) 3) Is there a way to have this launch regardless of the LoginWindow or Aqua session type rather than have an instance close and relaunch? <?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>KeepAlive</key> <true/> <key>OnDemand</key> <false/> <key>RunAtLoad</key> <true/> <key>Label</key> <string>net.execuchoice.doc-converter</string> <key>LimitLoadToSessionType</key> <array> <string>LoginWindow</string> <string>Aqua</string> </array> <key>ProgramArguments</key> <array> <string>/Applications/OpenOffice.org.app/Contents/MacOS/soffice.bin</string> <string>-headless</string> <string>-nologo</string> <string>-nofirststartwizard</string> <string>-invisible</string> <string>-accept="socket,host=127.0.0.1,port=8100;urp;"</string> </array> <key>StandardErrorPath</key> <string>/Library/Logs/OpenOfficeDaemon.log</string> <key>StandardOutPath</key> <string>/Library/Logs/OpenOfficeDaemon.log</string> </dict> </plist> Thanks Steffan --------------------------------------------------------------- T E L 6 0 2 . 7 9 3 . 0 0 1 4 | F A X 6 0 2 . 9 7 1 . 1 6 9 4 Steffan A. Cline Steffan(a)ExecuChoice.net Phoenix, Az http://www.ExecuChoice.net USA AIM : SteffanC ICQ : 57234309 YAHOO : Steffan_Cline MSN : steffan(a)hldns.com GOOGLE: Steffan.Cline Lasso Partner Alliance Member ---------------------------------------------------------------

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Re: [launchd-dev] Launchd API
by Rainer Brockerhoff 02 Feb '09

02 Feb '09

At 07:00 -0800 02/02/09, launchd-dev-request(a)lists.macosforge.org wrote: >Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2009 09:32:29 +0000 >From: Quinn <eskimo1(a)apple.com> >Message-ID: <p06240803c5ac6d770052(a)[10.0.40.15]> > >At 22:03 +0100 28/1/09, Xavier Gu?rin wrote: >>Reading launchctl.c I've already been able to do >>some of the polling code of the agent (even >>though some data structure are still a complete >>mystery as I speak), but the load/unload part >>seems really intricate, and I'm afraid to be >>obliged to use execve + launchctl to make it >>work. > >Right now the <launch.h> API is only rated for >daemons checking in with launchd (ala SampleD). >It is not really designed for job management. >Rather, we recommend that folks do their job >management by fork/exec of launchctl. Despite your recommendation :-) I wrote, or rather, repurposed some code from the launchd project to get job status info using <launch.h>: http://www.brockerhoff.net/bb/viewtopic.php?p=2647#2647 Seems to work well, and if the details change out from under it, it will stop working gracefully. I wouldn't do that for starting/stopping jobs though; too complex. I suppose I should file a bug to request to get some of the launchctl functionality in CoreFoundation... CFLaunchGetJobInfo, CFLaunchLoadJob, etc. -- Rainer Brockerhoff <rainer(a)brockerhoff.net> Belo Horizonte, Brazil "In the affairs of others even fools are wise In their own business even sages err." Weblog: http://www.brockerhoff.net/bb/viewtopic.php

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Launchd API
by Xavier Guérin 02 Feb '09

02 Feb '09

Hello, I'm currently involved in the development of an SSH tunnel management application that strongly relies on launchd (http://vortex-ssh.googlecode.com for the curious). The application is composed of two elements. The first element is a PreferencePane that takes care of the tunnels creation. It generates a launchd-compatible property list for each configured ssh connection, and it will be responsible for loading/unloading of the plists into launchd. The second element is a launchd agent that periodically polls the status of the SSH connections and update some GUI. I'm perfectly aware that this question may have already been asked numerous time (and I'm in advance sorry for this), but is there any kind of documentation concerning the message exchanges with launchd (SampleD not really helping)? Reading launchctl.c I've already been able to do some of the polling code of the agent (even though some data structure are still a complete mystery as I speak), but the load/ unload part seems really intricate, and I'm afraid to be obliged to use execve + launchctl to make it work. Thank you for your time and your help. Regards, Xavier ----- Xavier Guérin - Doctoral student TIMA Laboratory, SLS Group 46, av. Félix Viallet, 38000 GRENOBLE, FR Mail : xavier.guerin(a)imag.fr Phone : +33(0)4 76 57 47 59 Ad Astra Per Aspera Triste e' quel discepolo che non avanza il suo maestro

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