launchctl(1)

NAME
launchctl - Interfaces with launchd

SYNOPSIS
launchctl [subcommand [arguments ...]]

DESCRIPTION
launchctl interfaces with launchd to load, unload daemons/agents and generally control launchd. launchctl supports taking subcommands on the command line, interactively or even redirected from standard input. These commands can be stored in $HOME/.launchd.conf or /etc/launchd.conf to be read at the time launchd starts.

SUBCOMMANDS

load [-wF]
    paths ... Load the specified configuration files or directories of configuration files.

    -w  Remove the disabled key and write the configuration files back out to disk.

    -F  Force the loading of the plist. Ignore the Disabled key.

unload [-w]
    paths ... Unload the specified configuration files or directories of configuration files.

    -w  Add the disabled key and write the configuration files back out to disk.

start joblabels ...
    Start the specified jobs by label.

stop joblabels ...
    Stop the specified jobs by label. Jobs may restart automatically if demand driven.

list
    List all of the jobs loaded into launchd.

setenv key value
    Set an environmental variable inside of launchd.

unsetenv key
    Unset an environmental variable inside of launchd.

getenv key
    Get an environmental variable inside of launchd.

export
    Export all of the environmental variables of launchd for use in a shell eval statement.

getrusage self | children
    Get the resource utilization statistics for launchd or the children of launchd.

log [level loglevel] [only | mask loglevels...] Get and set the syslog(3) log level mask. The available log levels are: debug, info, notice, warning, error, critical, alert and emergency.

limit
    [cpu | filesize | data | stack | core | rss | memlock | maxproc | maxfiles] [both [soft | hard]] With no arguments, this command prints all the resource limits of launchd as found via getrlimit(2). When a given resource is specified, it prints the limits for that resource. With a third argument, it sets both the hard and soft limits to that value. With four arguments, the third and forth argument represent the soft and hard limits respectively. See setrlimit(2).

stdout path
    Set the standard out file descriptor to the given path. launchd

stderr path
    Set the standard error file descriptor to the given path. launchd

shutdown
    Tell launchd to prepare for shutdown by removing all jobs.

reloadttys
    Tell launchd to reread /etc/ttys. This option may go away in a future release.

umask [newmask]
    Get or optionally set the umask(2) of launchd.

help
    Print out a quick usage statement.

ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES

LAUNCHD_SOCKET
    This variable informs launchctl how to find the correct launchd to talk to. If it is missing, launchctl will use a built-in default.

FILES
~/Library/LaunchAgents
    Per-user agents provided by the user.
/Library/LaunchAgents
    Per-user agents provided by the administrator.
/Library/LaunchDaemons
    System wide daemons provided by the administrator.
/System/Library/LaunchAgents
    Mac OS X Per-user agents.
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons
    Mac OS X System wide daemons.

SEE ALSO
launchd.plist(5), launchd.conf(5), launchd(8)