launchctl

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)

Darwin                        September 30, 2004                        Darwin