[launchd-dev] Run job when network configuration changes

[Kevin Van Vechten]

On Dec 4, 2007, at 8:01 PM, Jeremy Reichman wrote:
> On 12/4/07 10:47 PM, "Nathan Duran" <launchd at khiltd.com> wrote:
>> On Dec 4, 2007, at 7:26 PM, Jeremy Reichman wrote:
>>
>>> If I haven't filed one myself, I will be doing so. And I think I
>>> have one
>>> other person from the MacEnterprise set who will, as well.
>>
>> Since using an ip-up script has been known to destroy VPN  
>> connectivity
>> (4873060) this would be a useful feature indeed.
>
> Since Kicker.xml seems to be no more, it would potentially be useful  
> to have
> launchd jobs be able to fire for almost any arbitrary  
> SystemConfiguration
> change. I'm sure there is a possibility of using that for evil, so  
> I'd want
> to guard against that as much as possible.
>
> Using launchd for this would also make the configuration much more  
> granular
> for sys admins: just drop your script and your launchd plist onto  
> the target
> computer in a launchd directory, and your job is all set to go when  
> loaded.
> Compare that to editing Kicker.xml in Tiger, which was a Apple- 
> supplied file
> in the System domain ...

I agree this would be a very useful feature, but there are subtleties  
that complicate the implementation of what seems like a  
straightforward idea (for example, Launchd cannot be a direct client  
of SystemConfiguration without fear of deadlock as SystemConfiguration  
talks to the launchd-managed daemon configd).  Nevertheless, we are  
exploring ways to broaden the set of events that can be specified in a  
launchd plist.

- Kevin