Using /Applications after read-only mount?

[MichaelK1138]

I'm running Catalina, but considering upgrading to Big Sur or Monterey. As of Big Sur, I know /Applications is mounted as read-only.

That’s problematic for me because I keep folders of app-specific documentation and serial numbers in /Applications. Once I upgrade MacOS, I won’t be able to update those app-specific folders — at least not without being prompted for my admin password at every change.

I can’t be the only person who’s been using the /Applications folder to store more than the apps themselves. Curious to know how others have handled this since upgrading beyond Catalina.

 

[Nermal]

Fortunately, you've misunderstood. While the system apps are read-only, the folder itself is still writable and you can put whatever you like in there. Your admin password is not required to modify anything you've put there yourself.

 

[MichaelK1138]

My work MacBook is running Big Sur and had app-specific folders (like '1Password-Docs') in /Applications when it was upgraded from Catalina.

Things I can do without being asked to authenticate:

* I can create a new folder in /Applications called 'test'
* I can copy a document to /Applications/test called README.rtf
* I can edit /Applications/test/README.rtf

Things that require me to authenticate:

* Create a new folder within /Applications/Utilities called 'test'.
(However I can copy README.rtf to /Applications/Utilities/test without authenticating).
* Copy README.rtf to a pre-existing folder within /Applications/Utilities called 'Pandoc'
* Rename /Applications/Utilities/Pandoc/README.rtf
* Trying to edit /Applications/Utilities/Pandoc/README.rtf results in: "You don't have permission to write to the folder that the file 'README.rtf' is in. You can duplicate this document and edit the duplicate."

* Copy README.rtf to a pre-existing folder in /Applications called '1Password-Docs'
* Rename the folder /Applications/1Password-Docs
* Trying to edit /Applications/1Password-Docs/README.rtf results in: "You don't have permission to write to the folder that the file 'README.rtf' is in. You can duplicate this document and edit the duplicate."

 

[Nermal]

In the case of 1Password-Docs, it appears that something in the upgrade process messed with the permissions. Can you please post the output of "ls -dl /Applications/1Password-Docs" when run from Terminal?

As for Utilities, it seems to be a bit special. I dare not fiddle with it

 

[MichaelK1138]

drwxr-xr-x 8 350784341 797340618 256 Jul 24 14:07 /Applications/1Password-Docs

Weird. Pre-existing folders within /Applications and /Applications/Utilities are owned by that uid/gid, as are files within those folders. Many .app directories within /Applications are also owned by that uid/gid; others owned by root:wheel or root:admin; none owned by me (whereas: on my personal MacBook Pro with Catalina, most apps are owned by me).

Even some of the Apple-provided apps (GarageBand) are owned by that uid/gid. Safari is owned root:wheel.

Those aren't local IDs so I'm not sure where they came from.

As root, I did a chown -R me:staff on /Applications/1Password-Docs and that fixed my access problems. I should reboot to see if the permissions remain.

As a pre-upgrade step on my personal MacBook, I think I will move all my custom folders out of /Applications and /Applications/Utilities and move them back after the upgrade.

 

[Nermal]

Weird.

That's putting it mildly. I've never seen numeric ids in there and I can't say what could have caused that in the first place. I'd put it down as an oddity rather than expected behaviour.

Good plan on moving all the custom stuff out before doing an upgrade.

 

[MichaelK1138]

Thanks for your suggestion. I didn't bother to check ownership because I assumed this behavior had to do with read-only mount.

Anecdotally, friends who've upgraded to Big Sur and Monterey say they see the same behavior. I'm waiting to hear further details.