Fixing permissions

Can someone here explain to me what "permissions" are, and what exactly is happening when I use disk utility to repair them?

Basically, Mac OS X is a Unix system, and Unix was designed from the ground up as a multi-user system. This means that every file is given a set of permissions that defines who is allowed to do what with it. Permissions-related problems can be varied in nature, but the basic idea is that you or various other system "users" don't have the access that is needed to something.
When you repair permissions in Disk Utility, it basically only repairs the system and applications. The permissions for those things are known, so they can be fixed by being set back to their default values. Repairing permissions does not repair anything else, such as permissions on your user folder, and this also means that permissions repair is meaningless on a drive that has no system installed on it.

Similar Messages

Purchased Lion, installed it - once I log in - i get the curtain and message to hold the power button till it shuts down. Worked with the disk repair utility - fixed permissions - still can't get past the "black curtain of death" any suggestions?

purchased Lion, installed it - once I log in - i get the curtain and message to hold the power button till it shuts down. Worked with the disk repair utility - fixed permissions to hold the power button till it shuts down. Worked with the disk repair utility - fixed permissions - still can't get past the "black curtain of death" any suggestions?
My machine was patched to date 10.x.x. I was lucky to get an internet connection and I selected the option to re-download Lion... its curruently being downloaded. What if that doesn't work?
Any thougths would be appreciated.
Joe

And you have a workstation? not a notebook.
Usually a driver or hardware, nothing that Disk utility will fix.
You know of course what a Prohititory Sign is?
prohibitory sign, kernel panic
Forum devoted to Lion:
Mac OS X v10.7 Lion Communities
Tips and FAQs
FAQ kernelpanic
Resolving Kernel Panics
Avoiding eliminating Kernel panics
Lion App Compatibility Table - RoaringApps
RoaringApps Mac OS X Lion Application Compatibility
did you make sure your apps, drivers, and hardware support Lion?

I have upgraded Snow Leopard with Combo 10.6.8, the supplemental update and fixed permissions, but still can't open app store to upgrade to Mountain Lion. I am on the Cayman Islands. Thanks for the help!

I have upgraded Snow Leopard with Combo 10.6.8, the supplemental update and fixed permissions, but still can't open app store to upgrade to Mountain Lion. I am on the Cayman Islands. Thanks for the help!

Don't be afraid to bump this topic. There's also an App Store forum where you might repost this question, but give some of these details in your post. I'd rephrase the topic to something like "Can't use App Store to upgrade." (Instead of can't "open".) Then give the details.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_app_store/using_mac_apple_store

Disk permissions never fix permissions

Hi there,
I ran fix permissions three times now and the same files keep getting fixed during each run. why is that happening? why do they never get fixed?
Here is the list the log. What can I do about this?
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Classes/jconsole.ja r", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Classes/jconsole.ja r".
User differs on "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home/lib", should be 0, user is 95.
Repaired "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home/lib".
User differs on "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Libraries", should be 0, user is 95.
Repaired "System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Libraries".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Java/Support/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Home/lib/security/cacerts", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Java/Support/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Home/lib/security/cacerts".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Java/Support/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are lrw-r--r-- .
Repaired "System/Library/Java/Support/Deploy.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Classes/jconsole.jar ", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Classes/jconsole.jar ".
User differs on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Home/lib", should be 95, user is 0.
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Home/lib".
User differs on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Libraries", should be 95, user is 0.
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Libraries".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/ Contents/Home/lib/security/cacerts", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/ Contents/Home/lib/security/cacerts".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/ Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/ Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/ Contents/Resources/Java/libdeploy.jnilib", should be -rwxr-xr-x , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Deploy.bundle/ Contents/Resources/Java/libdeploy.jnilib".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Resources/JavaPlugin Cocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar", should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Resources/JavaPlugin Cocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/deploy.jar".
Permissions differ on "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Resources/JavaPlugin Cocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/libdeploy.jnilib", should be -rwxr-xr-x , they are lrwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Resources/JavaPlugin Cocoa.bundle/Contents/Resources/Java/libdeploy.jnilib".
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAg ent" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Permissions differ on "private/etc/resolv.conf", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are -rwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "private/etc/resolv.conf".
Permissions differ on "usr/lib/ruby", should be lrwxr-xr-x , they are drwxr-xr-x .
Repaired "usr/lib/ruby".
Cheers

These are innocuous messages that may be safely ignored. They are caused by a Java and ARD update. They will recur every time you repair permissions.

Disk Utility - FIX PERMISSIONS

When i try and fix permissions it just hangs saying it will be done in one minute....I tried it at the apple store on their macs and had the same problem on multiple machines...Any thoughts on what the deal is here?

Yes the estimate it calculates is approximate and it always talks longer than 1 minute... it takes a few minutes on mine on a fairly clean install...
No problems if you wait though...

Fixing permissions problem on Mac OS that impedes start of Adobe applications

See this article for a suggestion for how to deal with a cause of After Effects (and other applications) taking a long time to start on Mac OS:
fixing permissions problem on Mac OS that impedes start of Adobe applications
This same issue also affects the functioning of Dynamic Link and warnings regarding QuickTime not being installed.

"Later I used DirectoryChooser. This is working fine but the pop-up is always coming behind javafx applet when started in browser. Note: This is working fine if we run as stand alone applicationYou should file a bug/feature request about this against the Runtime project:
http://javafx-jira.kenai.com
Exception in thread "AWT-AppKit" java.awt.HeadlessExceptionSee:
http://javafx-jira.kenai.com/browse/RT-20784 "Mac: Headless environment issue, MacOSX"
The above issue discusses some potential workarounds which may (or may not) work in your situation.
Try the latest 8-ea build (available at http://jdk8.java.net/download.html).
The graphics environment is no longer forced to be headless in the java 8 trunk (the jira case I linked is closed as fixed), but it may take a week or two for the fix to propagate to the jdk8 early access download page.
Also note that this kind of call from a JavaFX application to a Swing component isn't really a supported configuration (embedding JavaFX in a JFXPanel in a Swing application is supported, but other forms of interaction between JavaFX and Swing such as JavaFX opening Swing dialogs are not). That's not to say that it might not work, it's just that you shouldn't expect it to work now or continue to work in the future (especially in an applet deployment context where the window handling is more complex for the underlying frameworks due to the browser embedding). Further facilities to ease Swing and JavaFX integration are planned for JavaFX 8 (http://javafx-jira.kenai.com/browse/RT-12100 "Swing components inside JavaFX"), but I don't know if it would mean that the scenario you are trying to achieve would be supported.
A further alternative you might have would be to deploy your application as a Swing application rather than a JavaFX application and wrap your JavaFX content in a JFXPanel. It is likely that opening a Swing JFileChooser would work in such a mixed code scenario, though I have not tried it.

Removing kexts and fixing permissions

hi all, i need a bit of advice on removing kexts from OSX also info about permissions.
im a long time windows user um......., anyway ive recently come over to Mac OSX bought a Macbook pro, i want some info regarding kexts and permissions
i installed a ps3 controller kext which is fine but should i ever need to remove it do i just delete the kext manually and fix permisssions or is there a better way of doing this?
when should i fix permissions apart from problems with files? i dont quite understand the process of removing kexts properly and fixing permissions, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
im no noob with computers in general, far from it as im MCSE qualified but macs is a whole new ball game which im wanting to learn, so any help is greatly appreciated.
i must say this far im loving the macbook pro's

many thanks for your replies.
i didnt want to say before but i have had some experience previously but with hackintosh, i know thats not permitted here
but i wanted to see what all the fuss was about with the mac and now i bought one. so if im getting this correct then there is no need to fix permissions after removing kexts.
i also read that that .pkg installs also add a receipt to the kext in receipt directory which shows what the permissions should be, ive checked my permissions and had a few descrepancies mainly to do with airport, i therefore fixed the permissions via the disk utility not from OSX DVD.
question is i havent touched the airport utility so why would the permissions be changed?
thanks

How to enable disk utility verify/fix permissions

My iMac is running os x 10.6.8 snow leopard.
A month ago the system(software) was re-installed by apple store for a fixing of booting panic.
It's all fine know but I found the disk utility's verify/fix permissions functions were disabled. My question is: what'll cause this and how to enable them?
Thanks

elimqiu wrote:
It's all fine know but I found the disk utility's verify/fix permissions functions were disabled. My question is: what'll cause this and how to enable them?
You mean verify/repair disk, not permissions. Forget about repair permissions. It's a waste of time.
As for verify/repair, you cannot repair the volume you are booted from so you need to boot from some other bootable volume. That could be Disk Utility launched on your Installer dvd or a external bootable backup.

How should I setup my users and netork? Or fix Permissions

I've been running OS X Server 10.2.8 and all was fine but I'm having one heck of a time getting permissions to propigate. Anyway, we ran out of disk space and I just added an 80GB drive to the raid via Software Raid. I am copying everything back onto the raid now. The raid is seperate from the startup disk and set as a sharepoint as inherit permission from parent.
The problem I'm having is that when trying to set the permissions it doesn't propigate them properly. I don't want to click on 18,000 items to set the permission.
We are an art department with 10 users. There is an Archive folder that is read only, a user folder that each user can see the other users items but only write to their own folder, prepress folder for sending things to prepress, item development that is read only.
I'm trying to set everything in the Archive as read only and it only propigates the 1st level of folders only. No items or subfolders.
I am not using home directories or any net booting. Basically a share point with different folders inside it. Each folder is assigned a group. In the users folder there are 10 folders with different users (groups) assigned to them. The users set up as groups can read and write and everyone else is read only.
Access settings are typically:
Owner (Admin) Read Write
Group (User setup as a group) Read Write
Everyone Read Only
Some folders that I want to be read only are setup as:
Owner (Admin) Read Write
Group (Group such as Art Deparment or prepress) Read Only
Everyone Read Only
Does this setup look right for a small workgroup? Does anyone know how to propicate the permissions? The protical buttons are greyed out on any folder down from my sharepoint. The say Use standard POSIX behavior.
Someone help please. Thanks.

Nevermind. There was a post over in the Terminal forum that mentioned the program BatChmode. That did the trick and fixed the permissions.

Fixing Permissions (iTunes.app) in OS 10.8.5 Update - HELP FIX?

I recently updated from OS 10.8.4 to OS 10.8.5 .... and although the update went fine, I have seen an issue with the "Apple Disc Utility" that raises concerns for me.
Everytime I have run the "permissions" repair, I have seen a "TON" of repair lines for the "Applications > iTunes.app > Contents . Resources > files.
The list must have been a hundred lines or more ...
(Actually were too many to screen grab, so here are a few I see):
Any idea why these "iTunes" permissions keep poping up to be fixed .... and then once fixed or repaired, just keep popping up again to need "permissions" repair again in the "Apple Disc Utility"?
Also, the first repair "permissions line I see is always:
> Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAg ent" has been modified abd WILL NOT BE REPAIRED
Any idea as to what this is refering too as well.
I never had any problem repairing "permissions" before this OS 10.8.5 update .... and certainly not to the enormous length that the "permissions" repair liting shows. It's a huge list of over 100 iTunes permissions that need "permissions" repaired.
Any help will be appreciated ....

This is what I keep running into when trying to delete (or install new) the iTunes app from/to my HD Applications folder:
I have been having Apple "permission" repair issues with the newer OS10.8.5 update, and want to re-install my previous iTunes version (v11.0.4 or 11.0.5). When I try to remove the existing 11.1.4 version (that has the permission repair issues), I am not allowed to simply place the 11.1.4 app in the trash and delete, as I get the following pop-up window:
When I also try to launch the iTunes 11.0.5 installer package, I then get this:
How do I get around these issues and delete my iTunes 11.1.4, so I can then install the previous iTunes 11.0.4 or 11.0.5.

How To: Fix Permissions When "Everyone" Is Set To "No Access" On HD

I was messing around with the Permissions of the Macintosh HD. I set the "Everyone" option to "No Access," by right clicking on the Hard Drive and choosing "Get Info." Of course, when I reset the computer it would not boot up. I read numerous posts on this Discussions website, only to find solutions in which you have to enter suspicious commands in the Terminal. This made me uneasy of course, as I had no idea what those commands would do to my machine.
I tried Repairing Permissions, which did not fix the issue. Time Machine backups were hopeless.
I finally found a solution to this issue without having to enter suspicious commands into the Terminal:
Insert the original Snow Leopard install disc that came with the Mac. Power the computer off, then back on. Before you turn it back on, hold down the "c" button on your keyboard. It will take a minute or two, so keep holding it down until the "Languages" screen appears. Now, all that you have to do is follow the on screen prompts to reinstall the OS. *This did not erase any of my data.* The reinstallation took about 45 min, and all was well after that.
I decided to post this as I did not find a solution this simple anywhere during my search for a fix. Sorry if I may have posted this in the wrong forum. I hope this helps anyone experiencing the same issue.

Niel's guide is not some random post, it is in User Tips, which means Apple employees have looked at it. Personally, I would trust anything Niel says more than I would anything an actual Apple employee said anyway. Indeed, I would trust Niel's advice more than advice I would see anywhere else at all!
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

How to fix permissions in /Library/Audio/Plug-ins in Lion

I noticed that very annoyingly, Lion comes with the following default permissions for /Library/Audio/Plug-ins:
drwxr-xr-x 9 root wheel 306 Oct 7 07:37 Plug-Ins
That means that you the user cannot drag a plug-in in and out as you wish. What a pain in the butt!
Simple fix:
sudo chown -R myusername:wheel /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins
sudo chmod -R 775 /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins
Now it's like it should be: you own your own darn folder!
Does anyone have a better way to do this? Like would you recommend just doing the chmod without the chown? Just curious. Also, I wonder why Apple made this curious modification to the system in Lion... it feels like they're increasing the level of restriction upon the owner of the computer from being able to use it themselves.

1.Click on finder
2. Look for GO menu at the top of the screen
3. Click on it and select go to folder option
4. Paste or type /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components there
5. Navigate to this folder
6. Copy and paste the component to that folder. It should ask if you want to replace the original file(files). Click on yes
Hope this will help

Disk Utilities not fixing permissions

On my 2.33 Intel Macbook pro, about 3 years old or so, running LION, 3gigs of ram
WHen I run disk utlities it does not fix a number of permissions even though it say it does.
I thought this was a hard drive problem so I purchased a new, 320 gig hard drive, still the same problem.
I ran tecktool pro 5, and same thing.
Thoughts?
Thanks
Stan

That has been a topic of discussion for the past several OS upgrades. Nearly two years ago, I went through excrutiating detail with Apple tech support "higher-ups" and despite what you're seeing, it's not a concern. The bottom line is that you should ignore it. I agree that it's annoying but there's no benefit in chasing non-problems.
Some six months ago, Apple produced this document.
Yeah, I know that you get a list of a bazillion permissions that were "fixed" but if you immediately do another repair, you'll see that they get fixed again!

Not able to fix permissions after time machine full restore

After doing a full restore from a time machine backup, the permissions of /tmp and /usr/share/derby won't fix. Every time I go into Disk Utility and fix disk permissions these items show up as having incorrect permissions even after stating that they are fixed.

post the full error messages please. they are almost certainly harmless. everybody is getting the one about /usr/share/derby after the recent java update. but do post them anyway.

10.5.2 fixes permissions errors

The 10.5.2 update appears to fix the permissions errors I was getting on my MacBook Pro (unable to open Photoshop, couldn't add/remove names to Address Book).
And despite other posts, not having a problem opening Entourage.

Same here.
From another post I just made:
SEEMS TO HAVE REPAIRED MY "UNKNOWN USER" issue as far as I can tell. My Applications Folder no longer shows the write-protected icon in the lower left corner and if I Get Info on the Applications folder all three permissions show correct now for the first time (I was getting two Unknown Users previously). One thing it did not change is that I am still assigned a 502 ID instead of 501 in the Accounts > Advanced Options - not sure if this is going to present a problem or not in the future?
For the first time "UPDATES" has appeared ACTIVE in my Adobe CS3 Apps and it actually self-launched for the first time in Leopard - so this must have been a permissions issue previously with the Unknown User as the suspect?

Fixing permissions

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