Terminal Application For Mac Os X
Nov 27, 2015 Do you want OS X 10:11 El Capitan faster than you can use the OS X Terminal Commands 10 below. The commands disable various delays from that standard built by Apple. Open OS X Terminal, which you can find in the folder: Applications Utilities. Copy and paste the following command either in the Terminal window. OS X user interface.
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Gatekeeper is a security measure, introduced in OS X Mountain Lion, that allows the system to prevent the execution of code that does not meet certain criteria, such as possessing a valid digital signature from Apple’s developer community. When setting up GateKeeper in the Security system preferences, you can set it so that only approved applications from the Mac App Store are allowed to run, additionally allow programs from approved developers to run, or you can set no restrictions and allow everything to run.
NOTE: The “Allow applications downloaded from anywhere” option is hidden by default in Gatekeeper for macOS from Sierra onward. You can see this by going to the Security & Privacy preference panel, and under the “General” section you will not find such an option for Gatekeeper app allow settings.
Typically if you want to have an application launch approved by the GateKeeper feature on a MacOS, you right-click on the unidentified developers application and choose “Open”, or go through System Preferences to bypass Gatekeeper that way.
Another option is to manually add application approvals and exceptions to Gatekeeper by turning to the command line in Mac OS X, and for this we will use the included spctl command.
Add an Application Exception
To add an application to Gatekeeper exceptions and approved application launch list, use the –add flag with spctl to approve an application launch. The following syntax style is appropriate:
| spctl ——add /Path/To/Application.app |
For example, to add approval for the imaginary application called “GooseRoute” that resides in the users downloads folder, the syntax string would look like the following:
| spctl ——add ~/Downloads/GooseRoute.app |
You will need to enter an administrator password to approve the application with Gatekeeper, otherwise you can prefix the command with sudo if you’re performing this from SSH or want to automate the process.
Another way adding a program (specified by the program path) is using a label, in this case called “MyLabel.” You can name the rule anything you wish, and as mentioned above you can complete the program’s full path by dragging it to the Terminal window.
| spctl ——add ——label “MyLabel” /Path/To/program |
Think of the label as a group to which you are adding the application, so you can repeat the above command and specify a different program to assign it to the same rule label (or use a different label if you choose). Note that this step will require you to either run the command as administrator or provide your administrator password in the authentication dialog that pops up.
Similarly, using the same label used in the previous example, we can remove even an entire “group” of programs from Gatekeeper by issuing a command similar to the following:
| spctl ——remove ——label “MyLabel” |
To see a list of all the rules on the system, simply run the following command in the Terminal.
| spctl ——list |
In the output for this list, you will see your custom labels among built-in rules like the “Developer ID” and “Mac App Store” labels.
To list apps from unknown sources you’ve approved for use we can use, in Terminal:
| sudo spctl ——list grep UNLABELED |
Enter your administrator password, if asked, then press Enter or return again.
Remove an Application Exception
Removing an application from the Gatekeeper approval list is just as easy, simply switch out the –add flag with –remove, the syntax is otherwise the same:
| spctl ——remove /Path/To/Application.app |
Enabling and disabling Gatekeeper
While the easiest way to disable Gatekeeper is through the System Preferences, you can also do so from the OS X Terminal with the following command:
| spctl ——master-disable |
In addition to enabling or disabling, you can check whether Gatekeeper is running using the status option with this command:
| spctl ——status |
You can also reverse this and go back to the default strict Gatekeeper settings of only allowing apps from the Mac App Store and identified developers by issuing the following command string:
| sudo spctl ——master-enable |
Hitting return and re-authenticating will return macOS Gatekeeper back to its strict default state of disallowing random apps from launching.
If Gatekeeper is enabled the status will respond with assessments enabled, for successful disabling of Gatekeeper the response will be assessments disabled.
Determine if an application is allowed
With Gatekeeper enabled, you can have the system check a specific application package to see whether it has privileges to run. To do so, simply type “spctl -a” in the Terminal followed by a single space, and then drag the application of choice to the Terminal window to complete the full path to the program package so it looks like the following:
| spctl -a /Path/To/program.app |
The program can be an application bundle, a shell script, or any other executable file. When you execute this command on the targeted file, Gatekeeper will assess the file’s eligibility to run and output the results to you.
Manage Gatekeeper remotely
If you need to remotely enable or disable Gatekeeper, this can be performed by using spctl via the SSH protocol, or by using the Terminal or even through Apple Remote Desktop (available on the Mac App Store or the Online Apple Store).
These commands should be executed as the root System Administrator user since administrator authentication is required to configure Gatekeeper.
If we imagine that the computer we need to remotely enable Gatekeeper on is called remote01 and the user admin account is admin, if this computer is on the same network as your own computer, you can use the following to SSH remote login to the computer and manage Gatekeeper:
Enable Remote Login on the remote01 computer within Sharing preferences:
On your computer, open the Terminal utility and enter:
| ssh [email protected] |
This command assumes that the user account is admin, that the computer’s domain name is remote01.example.com.
When asked if you are sure you want to continue connecting to this remote host, enter yes, then press the Enter key.
Now enter the password for the admin user that you wish to remotely authenticate as and press the Enter key.
The Terminal prompt should now have you logged in as the admin user on the remote remote01 computer.
To remotely enable Gatekeeper, enter the following, then press by the enter key:
| sudo spctl ——master-enable |
The below displays the result of this command in the Security and Privacy preferences pane:
To remotely disable Gatekeeper, enter the following, then press the Enter key:
| sudo spctl ——master-disable |
Below displays the result of this command in the Security and Privacy preferences pane:
Authenticate, if required, with the admin user’s password and press the enter key. To verify your changes, as already done if checking this directly on the system and not remotely, enter the following, followed by the enter key :
| spctl ——status |
File Quarantine
The Gatekeeper feature uses the File Quarantine system to identify known malware. File Quarantine is essentially a blacklist of malware signatures that Gatekeeper uses to identify a downloaded file that includes any known malware.
Apple updates the File Quarantine system on a regular basis, and downloads the updates to Mac along with other system and security updates.
Even if it very recommended to NOT HALT the File Quarantine updates, here there are the methods to halt these if your Internet data rate (speed) is not so high. While there doesn’t seem to be a reason today to prevent the updates, it can still be done with these steps:
OS X Mountain Lion and earlier:
- Open System Preferences and select the Security & Privacy preference pane.
- Click the lock and enter an administrator name and password.
- Click the Advanced button.
- In the sheet that drops down, place or remove the checkmark in the “Automatically update safe download list” item.
OS X Mavericks through macOS High Sierra:
- Open System Preferences and select the App Store icon.
- Place or remove the checkmark from the “Install system data files and security updates” item.
OS X Mojave and later:
- Open System Preferences and select the Software Update preference pane.
- Click the Advanced button. In the sheet that drops down, place or remove the checkmark in the “Install system data files and security updates” box.
The Terminal app allows you to control your Mac using a command prompt. Why would you want to do that? Well, perhaps because you’re used to working on a command line in a Unix-based system and prefer to work that way. Terminal is a Mac command line interface. There are several advantages to using Terminal to accomplish some tasks — it’s usually quicker, for example. In order to use it, however, you’ll need to get to grips with its basic commands and functions. Once you’ve done that, you can dig deeper and learn more commands and use your Mac’s command prompt for more complex, as well as some fun, tasks.
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Download FreeHow to open Terminal on Mac
The Terminal app is in the Utilities folder in Applications. To open it, either open your Applications folder, then open Utilities and double-click on Terminal, or press Command - spacebar to launch Spotlight and type 'Terminal,' then double-click the search result.
You’ll see a small window with a white background open on your desktop. In the title bar are your username, the word 'bash' and the dimensions of the window in pixels. Bash stands for 'Bourne again shell'. There are a number of different shells that can run Unix commands, and on the Mac Bash is the one used by Terminal.
If you want to make the window bigger, click on the bottom right corner and drag it outwards. If you don’t like the black text on a white background, go to the Shell menu, choose New Window and select from the options in the list.
If Terminal feels complicated or you have issues with the set-up, let us tell you right away that there are alternatives. MacPilot allows to get access to over 1,200 macOS features without memorizing any commands. Basically, a third-party Terminal for Mac that acts like Finder.
For Mac monitoring features, try iStat Menus. The app collects data like CPU load, disk activity, network usage, and more — all of which accessible from your menu bar.
Basic Mac commands in Terminal
Terminal Commands For Mac Os X
The quickest way to get to know Terminal and understand how it works is to start using it. But before we do that, it’s worth spending a little time getting to know how commands work. To run a command, you just type it at the cursor and hit Return to execute.
Every command is made up of three elements: the command itself, an argument which tells the command what resource it should operate on, and an option that modifies the output. So, for example, to move a file from one folder to another on your Mac, you’d use the move command 'mv' and then type the location of the file you want to move, including the file name and the location where you want to move it to.
Let’s try it.
Type cd ~/Documentsthen and press Return to navigate to your Home folder.
Type lsthen Return (you type Return after every command).
You should now see a list of all the files in your Documents folder — ls is the command for listing files.
To see a list of all the commands available in Terminal, hold down the Escape key and then press y when you see a question asking if you want to see all the possibilities. To see more commands, press Return.
Unix has its own built-in manual. So, to learn more about a command type man [name of command], where 'command' is the name of the command you want find out more about.
Terminal rules
There are a few things you need to bear in mind when you’re typing commands in Terminal, or any other command-line tool. Firstly, every character matters, including spaces. So when you’re copying a command you see here, make sure you include the spaces and that characters are in the correct case.
You can’t use a mouse or trackpad in Terminal, but you can navigate using the arrow keys. If you want to re-run a command, tap the up arrow key until you reach it, then press Return. To interrupt a command that’s already running, type Control-C.
Commands are always executed in the current location. So, if you don’t specify a location in the command, it will run wherever you last moved to or where the last command was run. Use the cdcommand, followed by a directory path, like in Step 1 above, to specify the folder where you want a command to run.
There is another way to specify a location: go to the Finder, navigate to the file or folder you want and drag it onto the Terminal window, with the cursor at the point where you would have typed the path.
Here’s another example. This time, we’ll create a new folder inside your Documents directory and call it 'TerminalTest.'
Open a Finder window and navigate to your Documents folder.
Type cd and drag the Documents folder onto the Terminal window.
Now, type mkdir 'TerminalTest'
Go back to the Finder, open Text Edit and create a new file called 'TerminalTestFile.rtf'. Now save it to the TerminalTest folder in your Documents folder.
In the Terminal window, type cd ~/Documents/TerminalTest then Return. Now type lsand you should see 'TerminalTestFile' listed.
To change the name of the file, type this, pressing Return after every step:
cd~/Documents/Terminal Test
mv TerminalTestFile TerminalTestFile2.rtf
That will change the name of the file to 'TerminalTestFile2'. You can, of course, use any name you like. The mv command means 'move' and you can also use it to move files from one directory to another. In that case, you’d keep the file names the same, but specify another directory before typing the the second instance of the name, like this:
mv ~/Documents/TerminalTest TerminalTestFile.rtf ~/Documents/TerminalTest2 TerminalTestFile.rtf
More advanced Terminal commands
Terminal can be used for all sorts of different tasks. Some of them can be performed in the Finder, but are quicker in Terminal. Others access deep-rooted parts of macOS that aren’t accessible from the Finder without specialist applications. Here are a few examples.
Copy files from one folder to another
In a Terminal window, type ditto [folder 1] [folder 1] where 'folder 1' is the folder that hosts the files and 'folder 2' is the folder you want to move them to.
To see the files being copied in the Terminal window, type -v after the command.
Download files from the internet
You’ll need the URL of the file you want to download in order to use Terminal for this.
cd ~/Downloads/
curl -O [URL of file you want to download]
If you want to download the file to a directory other than your Downloads folder, replace ~/Downloads/ with the path to that folder, or drag it onto the Terminal window after you type the cd command.
Change the default location for screenshots
If you don’t want macOS to save screenshots to your Desktop when you press Command-Shift-3, you can change the default location in Terminal
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location [path to folder where you want screenshots to be saved]
Hit Return
killall SystemUIServer
Hit Return
Change the default file type for screenshots
By default, macOS saves screenshots as .png files. To change that to .jpg, do this:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type JPG
Press Return
killall SystemUIServer
Press Return
Delete all files in a folder
The command used to delete, or remove, files in Terminal is rm. So, for example, if you wanted to remove a file in your Documents folder named 'oldfile.rtf' you’d use cd ~/Documents to go to your Documents folder then to delete the file. As it stands, that will delete the file without further intervention from you. If you want to confirm the file to be deleted, use -i as in rm -i oldfile.rtf
To delete all the files and sub-folders in a directory named 'oldfolder', the command is rm -R oldfolder and to confirm each file should be deleted, rm -iR oldfolder
Just because you can use Terminal to delete files on your Mac, doesn’t mean you should. It’s a relatively blunt instrument, deleting only those files and folders you specify.
Another way to free up space
If your goal in removing files or folders is to free up space on your Mac, or to remove junk files that are causing your Mac to run slowly, it’s far better to use an app designed for the purpose. CleanMyMac X is one such app.
It will scan your Mac for files and recommend which ones you can delete safely, as well as telling you how much space you’ll save. And once you’ve decided which files to delete, you can get rid of them in a click. You can download CleanMyMac here.
As you can see, while Terminal may look scary and seem like it’s difficult to use, it really isn’t. The key is learning a few commands, such as those we’ve outlined above, and getting to know the syntax for those commands.
However, you should be careful when using Terminal, it’s a powerful tool that has deep access to your Mac’s system files. Check commands by googling them if you’re not sure what they do. And if you need to delete files to save space, use an app like CleanMyMac X to do it. It’s much safer!