OS X 10.10.3 launchctl Permission denied

Question

I execute launchctl start com.xxx.xxx.plist

I can find AutoMakeLog.err and the content :

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/Users/xxxx/Downloads/Kevin/auto.py", line 67, in <module>
output = open(file_name, 'w')
IOError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '2015-04-22-09:15:40.log'

plist content :

<array>
  <string>/Users/xxxx/Downloads/Kevin/auto.sh</string>
</array>
<key>StartCalendarInterval</key>
<dict>
    <key>Minute</key>
    <integer>30</integer>
    <key>Hour</key>
    <integer>08</integer>
</dict>
<key>StandardOutPath</key>
<string>/Users/xxxx/Downloads/Kevin/AutoMakeLog.log</string>
<key>StandardErrorPath</key>
<string>/Users/xxx/Downloads/Kevin/AutoMakeLog.err</string>

auto.sh

#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/python /Users/xxxx/Downloads/Kevin/auto.py

auto.py

file_name = time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d-%H:%M:%S', time.localtime(time.time()))
file_name += '.log'
output = open(file_name, 'w')
output.writelines(response.text)
output.close()

auto.sh and auto.py have chomd 777

PS: I direct execution auto.sh there is nothing error.

Looks like you have to run with `sudo` because it doesn't have permissions to that file or directory — heinst, Apr 22 '15 at 02:09

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 22 '15 at 04:54

Even user-specific launchd jobs on OSX are executed with /as the current directory.

Since auto.py is creating a file with a mere filename, without path, it effectively tries to create a file in / and fails due to insufficient privileges.

Thus, either change to a directory the current user can create files in, or specify an explicit path; e.g. (assuming import os):

file_name = os.getenv('HOME') + '/' + time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d-%H:%M:%S', time.localtime(time.time()))

As for how you can run your python scripts directly, without the need for an intermediate shell script:

In your plist file, specify the command to execute as follows:

  <key>ProgramArguments</key>
  <array>
    <string>python</string>
    <string>/Users/xxxx/Downloads/Kevin/auto.py</string>
  </array>

Note that you needn't specify a path for python, because it is in the $PATH when launchd runs your job.

However, note that the $PATH contains fewer entries than what you see in Terminal, and a notable absence is /user/local/bin; the value is (as of OSX 10.10.3):

/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 24 '18 at 19:49

I'm adding this answer for visibility, although was not causing the original issue in this question.

Due to changes in macOS 10.14 Mojave launchd commands have more security restrictions now. If you see Permission denied errors for files and directories owned by your user, then see Q: How Do I Grant Root Access To User Files in Mojave for a possible fix.

OS X 10.10.3 launchctl Permission denied

2 Answers2