How do I remove the 'restricted' flag from a file without SIP?

Question

I downloaded macOS Installers 10.13.6 and 10.14.6 via softwareupdate, and the InstallESD.dmg files are protected by root, and are restricted.

FYI: the flags on the file are: -rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel restricted ..., I checked using ls -lO

How do I delete the files WITHOUT disabling SIP (majority of answers here, others don't work), because I feel like going through the effort of disabling SIP just to delete one file, and then restart your mac is unnecessary.

Do you want to know how to remove the flag or just delete these sort of files. — bmike, Jan 28 '24 at 14:59

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 28 '24 at 14:53

1

You can't touch the flag or file from a normally running macOS, but you don't have to disable SIP either. Just boot into recovery mode and remove the file or flag from there using terminal commands. You will have to mount the Volume first, then go through /Volumes/YourSystemDrive as / is the recovery system.

answered Jan 28 '24 at 14:53

Bachsau

167

Do you have to remove the flag before trashing it? – bmike Jan 28 '24 at 14:55
@bmike Not if you delete it from the recovery environment using rm -rf. – Bachsau Jan 28 '24 at 22:16
That’s what I thought. Not exactly what OP was asking but there’s no need to fuss with permissions when booted from another macOS than the one needing deletion. – bmike Jan 29 '24 at 02:46

How do I remove the 'restricted' flag from a file without SIP?

1 Answers1