Launchd - agent doesn't work

Question

Hi,
I've created an agent with Lingon. It loads but the script failed with the following errors in system.log
Jan 4 20:02:52 dchambon launchd[3231]: fr.dchambon.MontageAuto: exited abnormally: Broken pipe
Jan 4 20:02:52 dchambon launchd[3231]: fr.dchambon.MontageAuto: 4 more failures without living at least 60 seconds will cause job removal
Here is the script :
#!/bin/sh -x
OutilsPAO=`df -t afpfs | grep -q Outils ; echo $?`
if [ $OutilsPAO == 1 ] ; then
mkdir '/Volumes/Outils PAO'
/sbin/mount_afp "afp://pao:INFOPUB@XServPao/Outils%20Pao" '/Volumes/Outils PAO'
if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
echo -e "" | mail -s "Montage Launchd - Echec du montage de \"Outils PAO\"" [email protected]
fi
fi
Echanges=`df -t afpfs | grep -q Echanges ; echo $?`
if [ $Echanges == 1 ] ; then
mkdir '/Volumes/Echanges'
/sbin/mount_afp "afp://pao:INFOPUB@W2SSINFOB01/Echanges" '/Volumes/Echanges'
if [ $? -ne 0 ] ; then
echo -e "" | mail -s "Montage Launchd - Echec du montage de \"Echanges\"" [email protected]
fi
fi
exit 0
Only the first mkdir command is executed
And the plist situated in ~/Library/LaunchAgents :
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Label</key>
<string>fr.dchambon.MontageAuto</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/bin/sh</string>
<string>/Users/dchambon/Scripts/Shell/MontageAuto.sh</string>
</array>
<key>RunAtLoad</key>
<true/>
</dict>
</plist>
Any idea ??
Regards
Didier.

Answer 1

Hi Didier,
   I like your MontageAuto.sh script; I've not seen df used that way. If the AFP shares are not mounted, does the script work when run in the command line as dchambon? The only possible syntax error I see is that you didn't use fully-qualified domain names for the servers, XServPao and W2SSINFOB01. It is possible that your dchambon user has a search domain preference. As a consequence, the mount_afp commands may work only after that preference takes effect. Naturally, it's possible that that preference is not set at the time the Launchd job is run.
   I don't think that RunAtLoad is a mode in which you can run this type of job. RunAtLoad is used to start daemons that run continuously. In fact, Launchd is expected to relaunch the daemon if it quits, which is why you get the error message, "fr.dchambon.MontageAuto: exited abnormally: Broken pipe." One would think that the script would run at least once but I've heard reports of other scripts failing under these circumstances.
   Unfortunately, I don't have a good alternative to RunAtLoad. I would try just removing that key and its value. You could also make the script a LoginHook. To that end, you might find the following article useful, Mac OS X: Creating a login hook. Of course the LoginHook would be run as root.
Gary
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