launchd

NAME
     launchd -- System wide and per-user daemon/agent manager

SYNOPSIS
     launchd [-d] [-v] [-s] [-x] [-- command [args ...]]

DESCRIPTION
     launchd manages daemons, both for the system as a whole and for individual
     users. Ideal daemons can launch on demand based on criteria specified
     in their respective XML property lists located in one of the directories
     specified in the FILES section.

     When run with a command, a specific instance of launchd is created and
     the command is implicitly added to the list of jobs maintained by
     launchd.  If the command exits, that instance of launchd will clean up
     all jobs maintained by itself and exit. All children of the command will
     use that instance of launchd.

     During boot launchd is invoked by the kernel to run as the first process
     on the system and to further bootstrap the rest of the system.

OPTIONS WHEN RUN AS PID 1
     -d       Daemonize. Useful when passing a command to launchd on the command
              line.

     -v       Verbose boot.

     -s       Single user mode. Instructs launchd to give a shell prompt
              before booting the system.

     -x       Safe mode boot. Instructs the system to boot conservatively.

ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES
     LAUNCHD_SOCKET
              This variable is exported when invoking a command via the
              launchd command line. It informs launchctl how to find the correct
              launchd to talk to.

NOTES
     In Darwin it is preferable to have your daemon launch via launchd instead
     of modifying rc or creating a SystemStarter Startup Item.

     At some point in the future, we hope to completely phase out the use of
     rc.

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
     launchctl(1), launchd.plist(5), rc(8), SystemStarter(8)

Darwin                        September 30, 2004                        Darwin