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I've been trying to find out the meaning of LimitLoadToSessionType in launchctl on OS X (Lion).

After scouring the internet, it seems the value can be one of: Aqua, LoginWindow, Background, StandardIO and System.

Are there any missing, and more importantly, does anyone know what effect they have?

user756079
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1 Answers1

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This Apple Technical Note explains most of the session types (it doesn't cover System; I think Tech Note was last updated for Snow Leopard and System was probably added for Lion):

Briefly:

  • Aqua: a GUI agent; has access to all the GUI services
  • LoginWindow: pre-login agent; runs in the login window context
  • Background: runs in the parent context of the user
  • StandardIO: runs only in non-GUI login session (e.g. SSH sessions)

I could guess about System, but then so could you. I wish Apple would update the TN2083 for OS X 10.7.

CharlesB
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Dave Hein
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  • I don't understand what System is either but I ran across a command line app that required it and it means you must install under root. For example with brew, you would do "sudo brew services start " and then the "System" LimitLoadToSessionType is available (its not under a user agent) – Chris Smith Aug 30 '22 at 17:04