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flowrider

macrumors 604
Nov 23, 2012
7,321
3,003
I download the Beta for TechTool Pro V 8.0.3 this morning. It includes Disk Permissions (both repair and verify) and I have used it on OS 10.11.1 and it works.

Lou
 
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KALLT

macrumors 603
Sep 23, 2008
5,380
3,415
The Terminal utility pkgutil still has a function for verifying and repairing permissions of installed packages (App Store installs, apps installed using the Installer, some system updates). Only caveat is that it won’t help you with protected files and folders as long as SIP is active. But seriously, you will very unlikely ever need it.
 

You are the One

macrumors 6502a
Dec 25, 2014
633
795
In the present
How do you check the integrity of the permissions settings? Let's say if you (like I did), turned SIP off for some testing and then forgot about having done that.

I've turned it on now but it would be good to verify that the settings are what they are supposed to be.

And if not, how it fix?
 

thirdeyeopen666

macrumors 6502
Sep 16, 2007
460
128
Not that repairing permissions didn't used to fix some problems... but it has never been the panacea that people seem to believe it was. Repairing permissions every few months does not lead to a "smoother system."
 

RabidMacFan

macrumors 6502
Jun 19, 2012
363
175
California
The most frequent offenders to System permissions are application installers that like to shove stuff into the /System/Library folder. I would usually run "Fix permissions" after installing Adobe or Microsoft applications, which would often install all sorts of stuff in there.

With El Capitan rootless (which is really just an extended attribute given to the system folder), applications will have to stop installing weird stuff in there with the wrong permissions.

El Capitan isn't even released yet, so who knows. Maybe after it's released, there will be a handful of scripts or applications to address issues caused by people disabling SIP.
 
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KALLT

macrumors 603
Sep 23, 2008
5,380
3,415
How do you check the integrity of the permissions settings? Let's say if you (like I did), turned SIP off for some testing and then forgot about having done that.

I've turned it on now but it would be good to verify that the settings are what they are supposed to be.

And if not, how it fix?

A fix implies a problem. Even if the permissions are not set correctly, this doesn’t mean that there is a problem. Sometimes wrong permissions can lead to problems. The system checks and repairs the permissions upon installing a system update, which should give you periodic maintenance. A straightforward manual fix would be a system reinstall. You can just reinstall OS X from recovery without tainting your configuration or user files. It will make sure that the core system is correctly installed.
 

leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,521
19,677
How do you check the integrity of the permissions settings? Let's say if you (like I did), turned SIP off for some testing and then forgot about having done that.

I've turned it on now but it would be good to verify that the settings are what they are supposed to be.

And if not, how it fix?

To add to KALLT's answer (which is IMO correct), you can also write a simple script that verifies the permission agains the permission database and sets them accordingly. If you disable SIP, then you know what you are doing, so writing a script like that is certainly not a problem, right?
 
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You are the One

macrumors 6502a
Dec 25, 2014
633
795
In the present
To add to KALLT's answer (which is IMO correct), you can also write a simple script that verifies the permission agains the permission database and sets them accordingly. If you disable SIP, then you know what you are doing, so writing a script like that is certainly not a problem, right?

:rolleyes: Ty, both.
 

xgman

macrumors 603
Aug 6, 2007
5,697
1,425
I like to "tinker". I have some 3rd party stuff that does need access. I will disable SIP. I understand the risks.
 

fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,252
5,563
ny somewhere
I like to "tinker". I have some 3rd party stuff that does need access. I will disable SIP. I understand the risks.

you should be able to disable SIP, set up those apps, then re-enable SIP; works for bartender, and how i changed some default icons...
 

benji888

macrumors 68000
Sep 27, 2006
1,889
410
United States
Just stop repairing permissions. It has not been necessary for several years and in El Capitan permissions cannot change because of rootless.

No need for this voodoo.
What basis do you have to say this?
If repairing permissions hasn't been necessary for years, then why is it, when Safari gets bogged down or I have issues with iTunes, I repair permissions and it all works smoothly again???? I have to do this quite often, so often I wonder what the freaking deal is with OS X...I mean, it was designed to fix permissions just after installing an app, but, I have to use it very often...no new apps or anything installed.

Here is a typical example of the results:

"2015-09-28 18:37:19 -0400: Repairing permissions for “Benjamin's Fusion Drive”
2015-09-28 18:39:59 -0400: Group differs on “Library/Printers/InstalledPrinters.plist”; should be 80; group is 0.
2015-09-28 18:39:59 -0400: Permissions differ on “Library/Printers/InstalledPrinters.plist”; should be -rw-rw-rw- ; they are -rw-r--r-- .
2015-09-28 18:39:59 -0400: Repaired “Library/Printers/InstalledPrinters.plist”
2015-09-28 18:42:30 -0400: User differs on “private/var/db/displaypolicyd”; should be 0; user is 244.
2015-09-28 18:42:30 -0400: Group differs on “private/var/db/displaypolicyd”; should be 0; group is 244.
2015-09-28 18:42:30 -0400: Repaired “private/var/db/displaypolicyd”
2015-09-28 18:43:01 -0400:

2015-09-28 18:43:01 -0400: Permissions repair complete"

I almost always have the same permissions repaired, though, sometimes only the "printers" ones, or only the "displaypolicyd" ones.

I am concerned about this and also DiskWarrior, the one and only disk utility I can highly recommend (I've been using it for years), as they have not yet stated if it is compatible with El Capitan nor any updates.
 

fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,252
5,563
ny somewhere
If repairing permissions hasn't been necessary for years, then why is it, when Safari gets bogged down or I have issues with iTunes, I repair permissions and it all works smoothly again???? I have to do this quite often, so often I wonder what the freaking deal is with OS X...I mean, it was designed to fix permissions just after installing an app, but, I have to use it very often...no new apps or anything installed.

I am concerned about this and also DiskWarrior, the one and only disk utility I can highly recommend (I've been using it for years), as they have not yet stated if it is compatible with El Capitan nor any updates.


a reboot should help with those things (safari, itunes). if apple is telling you that repairing permissions is irrelevant in 10.11...why do it? as for disk warrior (an amazing app, which has saved my life at least twice), am sure we'll see an update soon, since 10.11 is 'official' in 2 days...
 

leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,521
19,677
If repairing permissions hasn't been necessary for years, then why is it, when Safari gets bogged down or I have issues with iTunes, I repair permissions and it all works smoothly again???? I have to do this quite often, so often I wonder what the freaking deal is with OS X...I mean, it was designed to fix permissions just after installing an app, but, I have to use it very often...no new apps or anything installed.

If this is indeed the case, it means that you are using some software that repeatedly messes up your system files.

Here is a typical example of the results: ...

Those things are absolutely harmless. Its a bug in OS X, but it does not affect any functionality. This can't fix any issues with Safari or iTunes that you might be having. I am managing a department full of Macs and I routinely need to perform maintenance on them. I don't remember a single time when repairing permissions actually fixed the issue.
 

flowrider

macrumors 604
Nov 23, 2012
7,321
3,003
^^^^Yep, I remember it well:eek: We've come a loooong way:rolleyes: As I recall my first Mac used OS 4.3 - well before Mac OS 9:oops: Any of you here remember MultiFinder?

Lou
 
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benji888

macrumors 68000
Sep 27, 2006
1,889
410
United States
If this is indeed the case, it means that you are using some software that repeatedly messes up your system files.



Those things are absolutely harmless. Its a bug in OS X, but it does not affect any functionality. This can't fix any issues with Safari or iTunes that you might be having. I am managing a department full of Macs and I routinely need to perform maintenance on them. I don't remember a single time when repairing permissions actually fixed the issue.
If that is the case, then I do need "conflict catcher" ...that was a must-have app pre-OS X. ;)

Those things may be harmless, but, for some unknown reason, repairing permissions DOES solve the issue, at least temporarily.

Quite a long while ago I used to have a "plug-in" for iTunes that caused problems in a later iTunes update. That should no longer be on my mac at all, but, I wonder if remnants of it still exist. In any case, I think it's going to be time for a clean install...I just hate having to install all my apps and set up everything from scratch.
 

leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,521
19,677
Quite a long while ago I used to have a "plug-in" for iTunes that caused problems in a later iTunes update. That should no longer be on my mac at all, but, I wonder if remnants of it still exist. In any case, I think it's going to be time for a clean install...I just hate having to install all my apps and set up everything from scratch.

Yeah, this is the reason why I have deep dislike for "plugin" programs like that (this includes things like XtraFinder and friends). They inject code into a running system, above undocumented behaviour and can therefore cause all kind of instabilities in subtle ways. I would prefer Apple opening up the plugin API for the stock apps. To give credit where it is due, Apple has been gradually introducing a very powerful base for a plugin API (that is much more then just that), and some of OS-wide plugins have been added with Yosemite. But we need more of those.
 
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