This is an original planning guide. It is not a vendor manual, an official standard, or legal advice. Example addresses use documentation ranges. Review every command before you paste it.
What this hour is for
A LaunchDaemon is a system job. A LaunchAgent is a job in a user session. The plist generator drafts XML. It does not load the job and it does not connect to a Mac.
The label is a name you can say. The program is one you already trust. Do not load a plist you downloaded. Do not hide a job. The Mac is one you administer.
One job. Do not load it during the reading. 192.0.2.10/24 and example.com are documentation. They stay in the note.
The change you can finish
Apply nothing while you are writing the note. When the lab window opens, it is one change on the host named in the ticket. Read the draft, then the host, then decide.
Rollback is the file, the package version, or the snapshot you saved first. You do not invent a rollback after the only copy is gone.
- Choose daemon or agent and write why.
- Name the program.
- Draft the plist.
- Reject a downloaded plist.
- Do not load it during the reading.
- Stop.
Mistakes that outlive the command
launchd Explained (LaunchDaemons vs LaunchAgents) goes wrong in a small set of ways. The list is here so the ticket can forbid them before the window.
- A downloaded plist loaded.
- A hidden label.
- Daemon and agent mixed up.
- A Mac you do not administer.
- The job loaded during the reading.
Decisions to write down
One decision for launchd Explained (LaunchDaemons vs LaunchAgents): The kind matches the reason. The program is one you trust. The label is readable. Nothing was loaded yet. And the Mac is yours.
Checks before you call it done
Confirm this before you call the change done: Daemon or agent is written. The program is written. The label is written. Nothing was loaded. And no downloaded plist was used. If one of those fails, stop.
# LaunchDaemon is system. LaunchAgent is a user session.
# Do not load a downloaded plist.
# Do not load it during the reading.Before you leave the host
launchd Explained (LaunchDaemons vs LaunchAgents) ends when the hostname in the prompt matches the hostname in the ticket. If it does not, you are on the wrong host. Stop. A command that succeeded on the wrong host is not progress.
The draft stays a draft until a person has read the names in it. A generator does not log into the host and does not know which disk is empty. You delete a line that names a host, a path, or an account you did not write down.
192.0.2.10/24, gateway 192.0.2.1, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24, and 2001:db8::/32 are documentation. example.com is a documentation name. They belong in the note. They are not values you leave on a host because a draft included them.
prompt-for-this is a reminder that a secret is missing. It is not a password, a key, or a token you save in the ticket or in git. The real secret stays in the password store.
One change is the window. If two things move and the result is wrong, you will not know which one did it. The next change waits for its own page.
If the same step fails twice, stop for the day. The failure is the result. Adding a forum command beside a half-applied change produces a host nobody can rebuild. Restore the copy you took first.
A second person reads the hostname and the change aloud. If they cannot find them in the ticket, the note is not done. Silence is not agreement. Then leave the host alone.
This page is a planning guide. It is not a vendor manual, not an official standard, and not permission to touch a host you do not administer. You do not disable a firewall, AppArmor, or SELinux to make a check pass.
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