What are the differences between LaunchAgents and LaunchDaemons?

Question

On macOS 10.12.5, I only see LaunchAgents in the Users Library directory. Are the agents only invoked if a user is logged in?

/Library/LaunchAgents/
/Library/LaunchDaemons/
/System/Library/LaunchAgents/
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/
/User/username/Library/LaunchAgents/

score 45 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 09 '21 at 18:53

45

Yes, LaunchAgents are only invoked when the user logs into a graphical session.

LaunchDaemons are typically launched when the system boots and are run outside of a specific user session.

The lauchctl manual page lists these folders with short descriptions:

Files

~/Library/LaunchAgents Per-user agents provided by the user.

/Library/LaunchAgents Per-user agents provided by the administrator.

/Library/LaunchDaemons System-wide daemons provided by the administrator.

/System/Library/LaunchAgents Per-user agents provided by Mac OS X.

/System/Library/LaunchDaemons System-wide daemons provided by Mac OS X.

edited Nov 09 '21 at 18:53

emery

103

answered Jul 15 '17 at 12:47

Graham Miln

43,776

Thanks Graham! Would you happen to know which user runs /Library/LaunchAgents launch agents? – sunknudsen Jan 04 '21 at 16:03
1

Each user runs their own instance of the LaunchAgents entries. They launch when the user logs in. – Graham Miln Jan 04 '21 at 16:32

What are the differences between LaunchAgents and LaunchDaemons?

1 Answers1

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