- launchd-dev - lists.macosforge.org

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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Re: [launchd-dev] Having issue with launchAgents
by Arjun SM 27 Jan '09

27 Jan '09

Thanks a heap for your reply and my apologies i didn't mentioned the version. I am running on 10.5.5 I will take your advice and reply back with my findings. ~Arjun On Thu, Jan 22, 2009 at 3:51 PM, Quinn <eskimo1(a)apple.com> wrote: > At 12:13 +0530 22/1/09, Arjun SM wrote: > >> I have created a custom Menulet which i have made it as a launchAgent . >> The problem i am facing is after installation if i logout and login again my >> Menulet doesn't come up at all. >> > > You're running on 10.5.x, right? The symptoms you describe almost make it > sound like you're testing on 10.4.x (launchd agents don't work in a useful > way prior to 10.5). > > Beyond that, I suggest you start with something simple. I installed the > following plist on my 10.5.6 machine and it worked just fine. So, start from > that, and mutate it towards what you've got, and see what causes it to stop > working. > > $ cat /Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.textedit.plist > <?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.apple.textedit</string> > <key>Program</key> > <string>/Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit</string> > <key>RunAtLoad</key> > <true/> > </dict> > </plist> > > S+E > -- > Quinn "The Eskimo!" <http://www.apple.com/developer/> > Apple Developer Relations, Developer Technical Support, Core OS/Hardware > _______________________________________________ > launchd-dev mailing list > launchd-dev(a)lists.macosforge.org > http://lists.macosforge.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/launchd-dev >

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Having issue with launchAgents
by Arjun SM 22 Jan '09

22 Jan '09

Hi all, I have created a custom Menulet which i have made it as a launchAgent . The problem i am facing is after installation if i logout and login again my Menulet doesn't come up at all. I checked the Console.log for more information on it and gave me following error messages which i am not understanding. 22/01/09 11:47:22 AM Menulet[2941] kCGErrorInvalidConnection : CGSGetWindowBounds: Invalid connection 22/01/09 11:47:22 AM Menulet[2941] kCGErrorCannotComplete : CGSDeviceGetGeometry: Invalid device window 22/01/09 11:47:22 AM Menulet[2941] kCGErrorCannotComplete : CGSDeviceGetGeometry: Invalid device window 22/01/09 11:47:22 AM Menulet[2941] kCGErrorInvalidConnection : CGSGetWindowGeometry: Invalid connection 22/01/09 11:47:22 AM Menulet[2941] kCGErrorInvalidConnection : CGSGetWindowGeometry: Invalid connection 22/01/09 11:47:22 AM Menulet[2941] kCGErrorInvalidConnection : CGSGetWindowGeometry: Invalid connection 22/01/09 11:47:22 AM Menulet[2941] kCGErrorInvalidConnection : CGSGetWindowGeometry: Invalid connection 22/01/09 11:47:22 AM Menulet[2941] kCGErrorCannotComplete : CGSDeviceGetGeometry: Invalid device window 22/01/09 11:47:22 AM Menulet[2941] kCGErrorCannotComplete : CGSDeviceSynchronize: Invalid device window I was wondering if it has anything to do with my plist which i have installed in /Library/LaunchAgents/com.myself.menulet.plist <?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> <false/> <key>KeepAlive</key> <true/> <key>Label</key> <string>com.myself.menulet</string> <key>ProgramArguments</key> <array> <string>/Library/Application Support/Applications/Menulet.app/Contents/MacOS/Menulet</string> </array> <key>QueueDirectories</key> <array/> <key>RunAtLoad</key> <true/> </dict> </plist> should i add any other key to this plist. i did go through this technical document and decided not to add "LimitLoadtoSessionType" since by default Aqua is selected. http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn2005/tn2083.html#SECWINDOWSERVERLIFE… Please help ~Arjun

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LaunchDaemon unable to launch and causing messages in log
by pavan kumar 09 Dec '08

09 Dec '08

Hi, When I am trying to Launch my launchdaemon I am getting an error "Bug: launchd_core_logic.c:3011 (23585):0: initgroups(loginname, desired_gid) != -1" and my daemon is not getting launched. Please let me know what is the reason for this error. Thanks Pavan

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fork & exit in Shell Script
by Charles Darwin 19 Nov '08

19 Nov '08

Hi all, I have a shell script that runs RunAtLoad. Here is the script: ######## /bin/test -f /Volumes/tutorials || /bin/mkdir -p /Volumes/tutorials && /sbin/mount_afp afp://username:password@url/tutorials/ /Volumes/ tutorials/ /bin/test -f /Volumes/homes || /bin/mkdir -p /Volumes/homes && /sbin/ mount_afp afp://username:password@url/homes/ /Volumes/homes/ ######## and here is the plist: ------------------ <?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>label</string> <key>ProgramArguments</key> <array> <string>path/to/script</string> </array> <key>StartCalendarInterval</key> <dict> <key>RunAtLoad</key> <true/> </dict> </dict> </plist> ------------------ It takes almost a minute after my users login to see the afp sharepoint mounted. Here is the log from syslog: ------------------ Oct 29 11:49:31 … loginwindow[240] <Error>: Login Window Started Security Agent Oct 29 11:49:31 … SecurityAgent[248] <Error>: Showing Login Window Oct 29 11:51:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: exited with exit code: 58 Oct 29 11:51:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: 9 more failures without living at least 60 seconds will cause job removal Oct 29 11:52:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: exited with exit code: 58 Oct 29 11:52:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: 8 more failures without living at least 60 seconds will cause job removal Oct 29 11:53:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: exited with exit code: 58 Oct 29 11:53:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: 7 more failures without living at least 60 seconds will cause job removal Oct 29 11:54:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: exited with exit code: 58 Oct 29 11:54:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: 6 more failures without living at least 60 seconds will cause job removal Oct 29 11:55:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: exited with exit code: 58 Oct 29 11:55:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: 5 more failures without living at least 60 seconds will cause job removal Oct 29 11:56:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: exited with exit code: 58 Oct 29 11:56:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: 4 more failures without living at least 60 seconds will cause job removal Oct 29 11:57:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: exited with exit code: 58 Oct 29 11:57:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: 3 more failures without living at least 60 seconds will cause job removal Oct 29 11:58:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: exited with exit code: 58 Oct 29 11:58:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: 2 more failures without living at least 60 seconds will cause job removal Oct 29 11:59:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: exited with exit code: 58 Oct 29 11:59:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: 1 more failure without living at least 60 seconds will cause job removal Oct 29 12:00:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: exited with exit code: 58 Oct 29 12:00:00 … launchd[204] <Warning>: <label>: too many failures in succession ------------------ Does this have anything to do with "your daemon must not daemonize itself (fork and exit)"? (whatever that means) Any idea how I can fix it? Thanks, Charles

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Daemon & Network Availability?
by Karl Moskowski 14 Nov '08

14 Nov '08

Hello, all! I'm working on a project comprised of a launchd daemon and a GUI client app. I used the BetterAuthorizationSample project as a template for installing and starting up the daemon the first time. In the daemon's start-up code, it connects to a remote server. It all works fine on installation. However, when I reboot my computer, the daemon starts up, but the network isn't available yet, and the connection fails. I tried using SystemConfiguration notifications to receive changes to the network state, but that doesn't work - the computer has an IP address at that point, but the remote server is still not reachable. I also tried setting the KeepAlive option in the daemon's plist to NetworkState = true. However, that doesn't seem to work either - it just starts as KeepAlive = true. Is there some other way to indicate a dependency on the network? Do I need a delay at start up to wait for a connection? For better or worse, I used a named DO connection to handle IAC between the daemon & GUI. Could this be part of the problem (the caveats in TN2083 lead me to believe it's just inadvisable but not wrong outright)? Also, is launchd checkin, etc., required? I did have it in main(), but it kept failing, even though I had ServiceIPC = true. In case it helps, the current daemon plist is below. Thanks. ---- Karl Moskowski <kolpanic(a)voodooergonomics.com> Voodoo Ergonomics Inc. <http://voodooergonomics.com/> <?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> <dict> <key>NetworkState</key> <true/> </dict> <key>Label</key> <string>com.company.myd</string> <key>ProgramArguments</key> <array> <string>/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.company.myd</string> </array> </dict> </plist>

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Re: [launchd-dev] Daemon & Network Availability?
by Karl Moskowski 10 Nov '08

10 Nov '08

So, I've been doing a bit of research, and I've noticed a couple of effects: - for the launchd checkin process to succeed, the daemon's plist needs a Sockets section and ServiceIPC=true - at boot time, to have the daemon launch only when the network is available, set RunAtLoad=false and KeepAlive={NetworkState=true} These two are independent; if I omit the Sockets & ServiceIPC and checkin in main(), then reboot with no network, the daemon starts after I connect the ethernet cable. There are few complications: - launchd loads the daemon as soon as the network interface is available, before it has a valid IP address. - launchd loads the daemon at boot if any network interfaces are connected (e.g., Parallels ports) - launchd doesn't unload the daemon automatically if the network goes down To workaround the first two, I guess I could put a reachability test in the initialization code of main() and exit if I can't get to the server, allowing launchd to reload the daemon automatically. For the last, I can also exit if the connection dies and let launchd control resurrection. What do you think? ---- Karl Moskowski <kolpanic(a)voodooergonomics.com> Voodoo Ergonomics Inc. <http://voodooergonomics.com/>

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Re: [launchd-dev] Diagnosing launchd daemon failure to launch
by Iain Delaney 10 Nov '08

10 Nov '08

Ahh, that was the problem. So the real issue is that my daemon is loading, but not responding to my client app. I'm trying to use Distributed Objects on top of UNIX Domain sockets. The directory for the socket is /var/tmp, and the client and server can communicate if I run both programs inside XCode. However, when I move the daemon program to /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools and copy to plist into /Library/LaunchDaemons everything stops working. The client seems to be hanging while trying to connect to the socket. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? Thanks, Iain At 10:46 -0500 5/11/08, Iain Delaney wrote: >Then I reboot, and run 'launchctl list' in the terminal. Did you use "sudo launchctl list", or just "launchctl list"? The latter will show you the list of jobs for login session launchd, not for the global launchd. S+E -- Quinn "The Eskimo!" <http://www.apple.com/developer/> Apple Developer Relations, Developer Technical Support, Core OS/Hardware

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Diagnosing launchd daemon failure to launch
by Iain Delaney 05 Nov '08

05 Nov '08

Hello all, I was wondering if you could help me with a launchd issue I'm having problems with. I've built my daemon and installed it in /Library/ PrivilegedHelperTools. I've made a launchd plist for it, and put the plist in /Library/LaunchDaemons. Then I reboot, and run 'launchctl list' in the terminal. I can't see my daemon; it appears that it didn't get loaded. If I then run 'launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons' and then run the 'list' again, I can see the daemon with a pid. This tells me that the plist and the file locations are okay, I think. I don't see anything in the console logs (I previously had problems with the ownership of the plist, but that seems to be fixed). Would anyone have any idea what's going wrong, or how I can diagnose the problem? Thanks in advance, Iain Delaney

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