[apple/launchd.git] / launchd / src / launchd.8

.Dd September 30, 2004
.Dt launchd 8 
.Os Darwin
.Sh NAME
.Nm launchd
.Nd System wide and per-user daemon/agent manager
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm
.Op Fl d
.Op Fl D
.Op Fl s
.Op Fl S Ar SessionType
.Op Ar -- command Op Ar args ...
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.Nm 
manages processes, both for the system as a whole and for individual users.
The primary and preferred interface to
.Nm
is via the
.Xr launchctl 1
tool which (among other options) allows the user or administrator to load and unload jobs.
Where possible, it is preferable for jobs to launch on demand based on criteria specified
in their respective configuration files.
.Pp
When run with a command, a specific instance of
.Nm
is created and the command is implicitly added to the list of jobs maintained by
.Nm .
If the command exits, that instance of
.Nm
will clean up all jobs maintained by itself and exit. All children of the command will use that
instance of
.Nm .
.Pp
During boot 
.Nm
is invoked by the kernel to run as the first process on the system and to further bootstrap the rest of the system.
.Sh OPTIONS
.Bl -tag -width -indent
.It Fl D
Debug. Prints syslog messages to stderr and adjusts logging via
.Xr syslog 3
to LOG_DEBUG.
.El
.Sh OPTIONS WHEN RUN AS PID 1
.Bl -tag -width -indent
.It Fl s
Single user mode. Instructs
.Nm launchd
to give a shell prompt before booting the system.
.El
.Sh ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES
.Bl -tag -width -indent
.It Pa 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.
.El
.Sh NOTES
In Darwin it is preferable to have your daemon launch via launchd instead of modifying
.Nm rc
or creating a
.Nm SystemStarter
Startup Item.
.Pp
At some point in the future, we hope to completely phase out the use of
.Nm rc .
.Sh FILES
.Bl -tag -width "/System/Library/LaunchDaemons" -compact
.It Pa ~/Library/LaunchAgents
Per-user agents provided by the user.
.It Pa /Library/LaunchAgents
Per-user agents provided by the administrator.
.It Pa /Library/LaunchDaemons
System wide daemons provided by the administrator.
.It Pa /System/Library/LaunchAgents
Mac OS X Per-user agents.
.It Pa /System/Library/LaunchDaemons
Mac OS X System wide daemons.
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO 
.Xr launchctl 1 ,
.Xr launchd.plist 5 ,
.Xr rc 8 ,
.Xr SystemStarter 8
Commit	Line	Data
e91b9f68 A	1	.Dd September 30, 2004
	2	.Dt launchd 8
	3	.Os Darwin
	4	.Sh NAME
	5	.Nm launchd
	6	.Nd System wide and per-user daemon/agent manager
	7	.Sh SYNOPSIS
	8	.Nm
ab36757d	9	.Op Fl d
ed34e3c3	10	.Op Fl D
e91b9f68	11	.Op Fl s
ed34e3c3	12	.Op Fl S Ar SessionType
e91b9f68 A	13	.Op Ar -- command Op Ar args ...
	14	.Sh DESCRIPTION
	15	.Nm
ed34e3c3 A	16	manages processes, both for the system as a whole and for individual users.
	17	The primary and preferred interface to
	18	.Nm
	19	is via the
	20	.Xr launchctl 1
	21	tool which (among other options) allows the user or administrator to load and unload jobs.
	22	Where possible, it is preferable for jobs to launch on demand based on criteria specified
	23	in their respective configuration files.
e91b9f68 A	24	.Pp
	25	When run with a command, a specific instance of
	26	.Nm
	27	is created and the command is implicitly added to the list of jobs maintained by
	28	.Nm .
	29	If the command exits, that instance of
	30	.Nm
	31	will clean up all jobs maintained by itself and exit. All children of the command will use that
	32	instance of
	33	.Nm .
	34	.Pp
	35	During boot
	36	.Nm
	37	is invoked by the kernel to run as the first process on the system and to further bootstrap the rest of the system.
ed34e3c3	38	.Sh OPTIONS
e91b9f68	39	.Bl -tag -width -indent
ed34e3c3 A	40	.It Fl D
	41	Debug. Prints syslog messages to stderr and adjusts logging via
	42	.Xr syslog 3
	43	to LOG_DEBUG.
ed34e3c3 A	44	.El
	45	.Sh OPTIONS WHEN RUN AS PID 1
	46	.Bl -tag -width -indent
e91b9f68 A	47	.It Fl s
	48	Single user mode. Instructs
	49	.Nm launchd
	50	to give a shell prompt before booting the system.
e91b9f68	51	.El
ab36757d A	52	.Sh ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES
	53	.Bl -tag -width -indent
	54	.It Pa LAUNCHD_SOCKET
	55	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.
	56	.El
e91b9f68 A	57	.Sh NOTES
	58	In Darwin it is preferable to have your daemon launch via launchd instead of modifying
	59	.Nm rc
	60	or creating a
	61	.Nm SystemStarter
	62	Startup Item.
	63	.Pp
	64	At some point in the future, we hope to completely phase out the use of
	65	.Nm rc .
	66	.Sh FILES
	67	.Bl -tag -width "/System/Library/LaunchDaemons" -compact
	68	.It Pa ~/Library/LaunchAgents
	69	Per-user agents provided by the user.
	70	.It Pa /Library/LaunchAgents
	71	Per-user agents provided by the administrator.
	72	.It Pa /Library/LaunchDaemons
	73	System wide daemons provided by the administrator.
	74	.It Pa /System/Library/LaunchAgents
	75	Mac OS X Per-user agents.
	76	.It Pa /System/Library/LaunchDaemons
	77	Mac OS X System wide daemons.
	78	.El
	79	.Sh SEE ALSO
	80	.Xr launchctl 1 ,
	81	.Xr launchd.plist 5 ,
	82	.Xr rc 8 ,
	83	.Xr SystemStarter 8