macOS

Keyboard shortcuts

Desc	Shortcut
bring up 'force quit applications' menu	cmd + option + escape
take screenshot of all screens	cmd + shift + 3
take a partial screenshot	cmd + shift + 4
lock screen	cmd + shift + eject

Open application bundle

open -a APPLICATION

kernel extensions

# list kernel extensions
kextstat -l
# unload kernel extensions
kextunload -b <id>

Update software

softwareupdate -h

Search help

apple key + ? , search for the help menu

Increase maxfiles for session

ulimit -n 4096

Remove launch agents

# get launch list
launchctl list
# remove item
launchctl remove <svc>

Use particular nameservers for a domain

Create hosts-style file in /etc/resolver/<domain>

See man 5 resolver

Change password on encrypted disk

hdiutil chpass /path/to/disk

Burn ISO

hdiutil burn <image>

List disks

diskutil list

Get linked libraries/object files

# List shared libraries
otool -L <executable>

Create a RAM disk

# Replace XXXXX with MB * 2048 (eg a 4 gig is 8388608 (4096 * 2048))
diskutil erasevolume HFS+ 'RAM Disk' `hdiutil attach -nomount <ram://XXXXX>`

Boot Options

action	keypress
Recovery Mode	Cmd + r
Upgrade to latest compatible macOS	Option + Cmd + r
Verbose Mode	Cmd + v
Single-user Mode	Cmd + s
Safe Mode	Shift
Apple Diagnostics / Hardware Test	D
Boot removable device	C
Boot from network	N
Startup Manager	Option
Reset NVRAM	Cmd + Option + P + R

Wireless diagnostics

All the neat tools for diagnosing busy channels, noise, etc. are in the 'Window' tab

/System/Library/CoreServices/Applications/Wireless\ Diagnostics.app/Contents/MacOS/Wireless\ Diagnostics

# List APs
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport -s

Virtual Memory Stats

vmstat

Power management

man pmset

Use caffeinate to prevent the system from sleeping

Power report

A bunch of dtrace under the hood

/usr/bin/power_report.sh

System/Application defaults

/Library/Preferences and ~/Library/Preferences

man defaults

launch services database

# dump database
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -dump

#Remove Open With entries
lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user

System Preference Panes

PreferencePanes framework

/System/Library/PreferencePanes

System config

scutil - system config utility

help command in the shell has lots of goodies
use n.add KEY + n.watch to get notified of config changes

Look for memory leaks

leaks(1)

System Integrity Protection

csrutil(1)

Installing fonts

copy to ~/Library/Fonts

Get a call stack of a running process

sample PID -file OUTPUT

Time Machine snapshots

tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates
tmutil deletelocalsnapshots DATE

Do Bad Things to your Mac

Note: Voids your warranty, haven't tried it myself

# Disable GateKeeper
sudo spctl --master-disable

# Disable Library Validation
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.libraryvalidation.plist DisableLibraryValidation -bool true

# (From Recovery Mode) Disable System Integrity Protection
csrutil disable

# (From Recovery Mode) Disable Apple Mobile File Integrity
nvram boot-args="amfi_get_out_of_my_way=1"

Type accent marks

character	description
á	Option + e, a
Á	Option + e, Shift + a
é	Option + e, e
É	Option + e, Shift + e
í	Option + e, i
Í	Option + e, Shift + i
ñ	Option + n, n
Ñ	Option + n, Shift + n
ó	Option + e, o
Ó	Option + e, Shift + o
ú	Option + e, u
Ú	Option + e, Shift + u
ü	Option + u, u
Ü	Option + u, Shift + u
¿	Shift + Option + ?
¡	Option + 1
«	Option + \
»	Shift + Option + \
quotation dash (---)	Shift + Option + -

Nice graphical diff

opendiff foo bar

Custom keyboard layouts

~/Library/Keyboard Layouts

https://web.archive.org/web/20140812170917/https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/TextFonts/Reference/TextInputSourcesReference/Reference/reference.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20160318180309/https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/technotes/tn2056/_index.html

Links

Wiping Intel-based macs
https://opensource.apple.com/
https://github.com/herrbischoff/awesome-osx-command-line
https://www.raywenderlich.com/151741/macos-development-beginners-part-1

macOS Catalina

Notes: 32-bit support is dropped

defaults write -g CGFontRenderingFontSmoothingDisabled -bool NO
# then reboot

Fix blurry fonts on non-retina screens

quicklook

Quicklook

Creates thumbnails in the Finder

Can see the plugins in /System/Library/QuickLook and ~/Library/QuickLook

Not a standalone executable, implements QuickLookGeneratorPluginFactory

Uses the quicklookd daemon

qlmanage is used to maintain the plugins and the daemon

macOS ld

# Link files into macho64 for use on macOS
ld -macosx_version_min 10.7.0 -lSystem  file.o

Apple System Log

backwards compatible with syslog

logs are binary, not textual

log - access system log messages

aslmanager

Launchd

# Get system resource limits
launchctl limit

periodic

Called by launchd to execute shell scripts (very cron)

/etc/periodic/ - scripts

/etc/periodic.conf - override the default periodic config

Resources

http://ss64.com/osx/launchctl.html https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man1/launchctl.1.html http://launchd.info/

spotlight

Spotlight

desc	command
manages the metadata for spotlight	mdutil
query the spotlight indexes	mdfind
test/list spotlight plugins	mdimport
list the metadata of a file	mdls
diagnose Spotlight issues	mddiagnose

Ignore a directory for indexing

touch the file .metadata_never_index

Sandboxing

sandbox-exec - deprecated

examples - /usr/share/sandbox and /System/Library/Sandbox/Profiles/

TinySCHEME (reminds me of VXE)

asctl - App sandbox control tool

App Sandbox Design Guide

notifications

notifyd
notifyutil

Frameworks to look into

AddressBook
AppKit
AudioToolBox
ApplicationServices
Automator
CalendarStore
Cocoa
CoreAudio
CoreFoundation
CoreLocation
CoreMotion
DirectoryService
EventKit
Foundation
GSS
iAd
ImageIO
InstantMessage
IOKit
Kernal
LDAP -> OpenDirectory
Message
PreferencePanes
QuickLook
SceneKit
ScreenSaver
Scripting (deprecated?)
Security
ServerNotification
PubSub (RSS/Atom support!)
StoreKit
SyncServices

macOS kernel

kernel syscalls

Darwin

darwinup - manage archives for the system

Filesystems

See filesystem attributes

ls -lO

Apple File System

Replaces HFS+

OS X 10.12+

Features

Container is base storage unit, generally 1:1 mapping to GPT
64-bit inaode numbers
Nanosecond timestamp granularity
Extensible block allocation
Sparse files
COW metadata
Extended attributes
TRIM operations
Native encryption support, with multi-key encryption support
SMB compatible

Links

https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/content/documentation/FileManagement/Conceptual/APFS_Guide/GeneralCharacteristics/GeneralCharacteristics.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40016999-CH2-SW1

FSEvents

(like inotify for mac) /dev/fsevents

Better to use Spotlight, apparently shrug

HFS+

The old filesystem for macOS

Could be case sensitive/insensitive
Could be journaled/unjournaled

Dumb Fun

boot in text console mode

Uncomment the /usr/libexec/getty console line in /etc/ttys

Universal binaries

arch
lipo

Record a terminal session

script -r
# do whatever, then exit
script -p typescript

bundles

Bundles

Layout

Can be accessed by NSBundle

Contents/
  CodeResources/
  Info.plist     Main package manifest
  MacOS/         Binary contents
  PkgInfo        Eight character identifier of package
  Resources/     GUI + project files
  Version.plist
  _CodeSignature/
CodeResources

Framework layout

/System/Library/Frameworks (and also /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks)

Contents/
  Headers/    - .h files
  Modules/
  Resources/
  Versions/
A/
Current/  - symlink to current version

dns

path	description
/etc/resolv.conf	not used
/private/etc/hosts	force resolution
/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist	preferences
`/etc/resolver/`	domain nameserver overrides

Flush DNS cache

# On Yosemite+
sudo discoveryutil mdnsflushcache
# 10.10.4+
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Resolution

# Use Mac resolution service
dns-sd -G v4 example.com

# Query via DirectoryService
dscacheutil -q host -a name example.org

# Don't use Mac resolution
nslookup example.com

DNS settings

scutil --dns

mDNSResponder

listens port 5353

helpful man pages

resolver(5)

auditing

audit logs stored in /var/audit

audit - utility to control the auditing system

Use praudit to output log in human readable form

Use praudit /dev/auditpipe to access the logs in real time

Use auditreduce to filter records from the file

AppleScript

/Library/Scripts

Applescript Editor

Uses AppleEvents

Use osascript and Automator

View AppleEvents output

export AEDebugSends=1 AEDebugReceives=1

opendirectoryd

# directory service command line utility
dscl

dscl . -read /Users/`whoami`

# examine/change state of opendirectoryd
odutil

Property List Format

man plist

# manipulate/check plist files
plutil

MacOS TFTP

Folder is /private/tftpboot, but can be changed by adjusting /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/tftp.plist

sudo launchctl load -F /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/tftp.plist
sudo launchctl start com.apple.tftpd

Tunnelblick

# Connect to a single VPN
osascript -e 'Tell app "Tunnelblick" to connect "example-vpn"'
# Disconnect all VPNs
osascript -e 'Tell app "Tunnelblick" to disconnect all'

widgets

/Library/Widgets

Made of HTML+JS :-P

Dashboard disabled in 10.10 (Yosemite), Moved to Notification Center

XCode

https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/DeveloperTools/Conceptual/debugging_with_xcode/chapters/about_debugging_w_xcode.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40015022

Using old SDKs

Edit MinimumSDKVersion in /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Info.plist

From: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11424920/how-to-point-xcode-to-an-old-sdk-so-it-can-be-used-as-a-base-sdk/11424966#11424966 https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18423896/is-it-possible-to-install-ios-6-sdk-on-xcode-5 https://gist.github.com/rnapier/3370649

Cocoapods

Code signing

security(1) - dump keychains

codesign(1) - create/manipulate code signatures

csreq(1)

code signing is optional in macOS

unsigned code is killed by the kernel in iOS

Speech Synthesis

say "talking from the command line"

Objective-C

Speech Synthesis Programming Guide

speech synthesizers located in /System/Library/Speech/Synthesizers voices located in /System/Library/Speech/Voices

Cocoa

NSSpeechSynthesizer class in AppKit

NSSpeechSynthesizer *synvox = [NSSpeechSynthesizer new];
NSString *hw = @"Hello world";
[synvox startSpeakingString:hw];

Carbon

The Carbon API provides more programmatic control if you need it

security

Note: this is for the CLI to the keychains and Security framework, not a general page.

# Print password
security find-generic-password -a "${account}" -s "${name}" -w

Files

macos.md

Latest commit

History

macos.md

File metadata and controls

macOS

Keyboard shortcuts

Open application bundle

kernel extensions

Update software

Search help

Increase maxfiles for session

Remove launch agents

Use particular nameservers for a domain

Change password on encrypted disk

Burn ISO

List disks

Get linked libraries/object files

Create a RAM disk

Boot Options

Wireless diagnostics

Virtual Memory Stats

Power management

Power report

System/Application defaults

launch services database

System Preference Panes

System config

Look for memory leaks

System Integrity Protection

Installing fonts

Get a call stack of a running process

Time Machine snapshots

Do Bad Things to your Mac

Type accent marks

Nice graphical diff

Custom keyboard layouts

Links

macOS Catalina

quicklook

macOS ld

Apple System Log

Launchd

periodic

Resources

spotlight

Ignore a directory for indexing

Sandboxing

notifications

Frameworks to look into

macOS kernel

Darwin

Filesystems

See filesystem attributes

Apple File System

Features

Links

FSEvents

HFS+

Dumb Fun

boot in text console mode

Universal binaries

Record a terminal session

bundles

Layout

Framework layout

dns

Flush DNS cache

Resolution

DNS settings

mDNSResponder

helpful man pages

auditing

AppleScript

View AppleEvents output

opendirectoryd

Property List Format

MacOS TFTP

Tunnelblick