Question about this symlink

[right0n]

Hi,

Found this as I was lurking around in my terminal..

lrwxr-xr-x@ 1 root wheel restricted,hidden 54B Dec 2 12:37 Safari.app -> ../System/Cryptexes/App/System/Applications/Safari.app

Maybe I'm completely in the woods about this but this location sits under the Preboot volume which my understanding is a bit shaky but it has to do with SIP and for holding stuff that is subject to frequent change as it's not read-only.

Anyone care to share any insight into why this might be set up this way? The rest of my installed apps are under /Applications and are not restricted/hidden.

 

[right0n]

Just adding some more detail

% find / -name Safari.app 2>/dev/null
/System/Library/Templates/Data/Applications/Safari.app
/System/Volumes/Preboot/Cryptexes/App/System/Applications/Safari.app
/System/Volumes/Data/System/Library/Templates/Data/Applications/Safari.app
/System/Volumes/Data/Applications/Safari.app
/Applications/Safari.app

 

[jcscol]

Cryptexes are part of Ventura's Rapid Security Response mechanism. They are located on the Preboot volume, as you have found.

 

[right0n]

As always, apple's approach and naming of things are crystal clear. Why are there 5 things on my newly installed machine named Safari.app ? The main one which has a hidden and restricted flag on it.. Which pf these five Safaris am I posting out of I wonder.

 

[jcscol]

Why are there 5 things on my newly installed machine named Safari.app ?

There is only one executable Safari.app, and that's the one in the Cryptex which is installed as part of a security update after the initial Ventura install (in /System/Volumes/Preboot/Cryptexes/App/System/Applications/).

All the others you list are links to that version.

lrwxr-xr-x@ 1 root  wheel  54  8 Dec 05:07 /System/Library/Templates/Data/Applications/Safari.app -> ../System/Cryptexes/App/System/Applications/Safari.app
lrwxr-xr-x@ 1 root  wheel  54  8 Dec 05:07 /System/Volumes/Data/Applications/Safari.app -> ../System/Cryptexes/App/System/Applications/Safari.app
lrwxr-xr-x@ 1 root  wheel  54  8 Dec 05:07 /Applications/Safari.app -> ../System/Cryptexes/App/System/Applications/Safari.app

 

[NoBoMac]

And to add to the confusion, /Applications is a firmlink that is a mashup of /System/Volumes/Data/Applications and /System/Applications

https://eclecticlightdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/catalinaintsimple.jpg?w=1880

Boot volume layout

A complete guide to the structure and layout of APFS startup disks from High Sierra to Big Sur (Intel), together with tear-out PDF charts.

eclecticlight.co

Spoiler: /usr/share/firmlinks

% cat /usr/share/firmlinks
/AppleInternal    AppleInternal
/Applications    Applications
/Library    Library
/System/Library/Caches    System/Library/Caches
/System/Library/Assets    System/Library/Assets
/System/Library/PreinstalledAssets    System/Library/PreinstalledAssets
/System/Library/AssetsV2    System/Library/AssetsV2
/System/Library/PreinstalledAssetsV2    System/Library/PreinstalledAssetsV2
/System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Library    System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Library
/System/Library/Speech    System/Library/Speech
/Users    Users
/Volumes    Volumes
/cores    cores
/opt    opt
/private    private
/usr/local    usr/local
/usr/libexec/cups    usr/libexec/cups
/usr/share/snmp    usr/share/snmp

 

[right0n]

And to add to the confusion, /Applications is a firmlink that is a mashup of /System/Volumes/Data/Applications and /System/Applications

Thanks for the article I'll look into that. What you wrote here is the essence of what's bothering me. The whole directory structure is a big mashup. If it was taters it'd be real tasty but look at this random example just for instance...

~ % find / -type d -name private 2>/dev/null
/System/Library/Templates/Data/private
/System/Library/Templates/Data/private/var/spool/postfix/private
/System/Library/Templates/Data/private/var/protected/trustd/private
/System/Library/OpenSSL/private
/System/Volumes/Data/System/Library/Templates/Data/private
/System/Volumes/Data/System/Library/Templates/Data/private/var/spool/postfix/private
/System/Volumes/Data/System/Library/Templates/Data/private/var/protected/trustd/private
/System/Volumes/Data/System/Library/OpenSSL/private
/System/Volumes/Data/private
/System/Volumes/Data/private/var/spool/postfix/private
/System/Volumes/Data/private/var/protected/trustd/private
/private
/private/var/spool/postfix/private
/private/var/protected/trustd/private

yummy, mash! I think this one is my favorite
/private/var/protected/trustd/private, a UUID in there would really make it monumental..