[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 v
.Op Fl s
.Op Fl x
.Op Ar -- command Op Ar args ...
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.Nm 
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.
.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 WHEN RUN AS PID 1
.Bl -tag -width -indent
.It Fl d
Daemonize. Useful when passing a command to launchd on the command line.
.It Fl v
Verbose boot.
.It Fl s
Single user mode. Instructs
.Nm launchd
to give a shell prompt before booting the system.
.It Fl x
Safe mode boot. Instructs the system to boot conservatively.
.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
e91b9f68 A	10	.Op Fl v
	11	.Op Fl s
	12	.Op Fl x
	13	.Op Ar -- command Op Ar args ...
	14	.Sh DESCRIPTION
	15	.Nm
	16	manages daemons, both for the system as a whole and for individual users. Ideal daemons can launch
	17	on demand based on criteria specified in their respective XML property lists located in one of the
	18	directories specified in the FILES section.
	19	.Pp
	20	When run with a command, a specific instance of
	21	.Nm
	22	is created and the command is implicitly added to the list of jobs maintained by
	23	.Nm .
	24	If the command exits, that instance of
	25	.Nm
	26	will clean up all jobs maintained by itself and exit. All children of the command will use that
	27	instance of
	28	.Nm .
	29	.Pp
	30	During boot
	31	.Nm
	32	is invoked by the kernel to run as the first process on the system and to further bootstrap the rest of the system.
	33	.Sh OPTIONS WHEN RUN AS PID 1
	34	.Bl -tag -width -indent
ab36757d A	35	.It Fl d
ab36757d A	36	Daemonize. Useful when passing a command to launchd on the command line.
e91b9f68 A	37	.It Fl v
	38	Verbose boot.
	39	.It Fl s
	40	Single user mode. Instructs
	41	.Nm launchd
	42	to give a shell prompt before booting the system.
	43	.It Fl x
	44	Safe mode boot. Instructs the system to boot conservatively.
	45	.El
ab36757d A	46	.Sh ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES
	47	.Bl -tag -width -indent
	48	.It Pa LAUNCHD_SOCKET
	49	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.
	50	.El
e91b9f68 A	51	.Sh NOTES
	52	In Darwin it is preferable to have your daemon launch via launchd instead of modifying
	53	.Nm rc
	54	or creating a
	55	.Nm SystemStarter
	56	Startup Item.
	57	.Pp
	58	At some point in the future, we hope to completely phase out the use of
	59	.Nm rc .
	60	.Sh FILES
	61	.Bl -tag -width "/System/Library/LaunchDaemons" -compact
	62	.It Pa ~/Library/LaunchAgents
	63	Per-user agents provided by the user.
	64	.It Pa /Library/LaunchAgents
	65	Per-user agents provided by the administrator.
	66	.It Pa /Library/LaunchDaemons
	67	System wide daemons provided by the administrator.
	68	.It Pa /System/Library/LaunchAgents
	69	Mac OS X Per-user agents.
	70	.It Pa /System/Library/LaunchDaemons
	71	Mac OS X System wide daemons.
	72	.El
	73	.Sh SEE ALSO
	74	.Xr launchctl 1 ,
	75	.Xr launchd.plist 5 ,
	76	.Xr rc 8 ,
	77	.Xr SystemStarter 8