Creating feature in mac app to override the users security setting

Question

I'm a newbie at mac osx development. I would like to know if there's any way to override the mac desktop security settings to allow an application - which is not registered in the Mac App Store, to be installed?

The setting should come from the app that I'm trying to install. That means, whenever I install the app to any mac computer, regardless of its security settings as the following,

Allow applications downloaded from:

Mac App Store
Mac App Store and identified developers
Anywhere

The app should set the settings to Anywhere, allowing it to be installed. Any help would be very much appreciated.

This sound very malicious. There is no real value add to what you are intending to do and makes me question your intentions. — JGallardo, Nov 19 '15 at 19:43

score 71 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 07 '12 at 18:57

71

Launch System Preferences from the Apple menu.
Choose “Security & Privacy” and then click the “General” tab, followed by clicking the lock icon in the corner to unlock the settings.
Look for “Allow applications downloaded from:” and choose “Anywhere”.
Accept the security warning and allow.

Note that you should be careful and aware that now the job of protecting the system from malicious apps belongs to you instead of the OS.

answered Sep 07 '12 at 18:57

CodeCurmudgeon

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Wrong. The question is clearly asking for something that the app can do, not something that the user can do. – JWWalker Sep 07 '12 at 22:03
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I agree with @JWWalker...I'm not asking how to make restrictions on app installation. CodeCurmudgeon..please take a little time to read the whole thing first. I appreciate your effort though... – Kimpoy Sep 07 '12 at 23:01

score 23 · Answer 2 · answered May 03 '13 at 14:44

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Right click the (app) icon and click 'open' in contextual menu - no need to disable the OS security.

answered May 03 '13 at 14:44

Rick L

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score 16 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 21 '12 at 00:18

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This is not possible. The existence of that setting is intended to protect users from malicious executables. If there were a way for any arbitrary executable to override that setting, what protection would it offer? Malicious executables would simply change the setting to "Anywhere" like you suggest, bypassing the security features of Mac OS X.

answered Aug 21 '12 at 00:18

Greg Hewgill

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You're absolutely right, Greg. That made sense. Thanks for your response. – Kimpoy Aug 21 '12 at 00:23
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This is not an answer to the question. – YemSalat Sep 09 '15 at 01:05
I don't think this is correct. I was able to open the file by navigating to it in the wider and Command+O – Ev. Nov 11 '15 at 03:58

Rob Keniger · Answer 4 · 2013-01-18T01:03:45.753

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You need to sign your application using a Mac Developer certificate, which you can obtain from Apple. That will mark your app as built by an "identified developer" and it will launch just fine without changing any settings.

edited Jan 18 '13 at 01:03

answered Jan 18 '13 at 00:55

Rob Keniger

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score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 18 '13 at 00:50

1

Control Click the app icon to override this security feature. This is a one off, you don't have to change your settings, you can do it per-app.

answered Jan 18 '13 at 00:50

user1988963

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score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 06 '15 at 21:22

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There is one other way...

All you have to do to do it manually is to open up Terminal, cd into the .app application, cd into the Contents folder, then cd into the MacOS folder, then type ./YourAppNameHere and execute by typing Enter.

answered Oct 06 '15 at 21:22

Superwhisker

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Creating feature in mac app to override the users security setting

6 Answers6