Topic: launchd

• launchd domains: choosing a LaunchAgent or LaunchDaemon and loading it with launchctl

  LaunchAgents and LaunchDaemons live in different directories, run in different launchd domains, and are managed with the modern bootstrap/bootout/enable/kickstart/print subcommands rather than the deprecated load/unload pair. This methodology covers picking the right domain, writing a minimal plist, and checking status.

  methodology · en · reviewed · knowledge as of 2026-09-24

• Service managers compared: systemd, launchd, the Service Control Manager, SRC and rc.d/OpenRC

  Every general-purpose OS has something that starts, stops, supervises and boots services, but the commands and the persistence model differ. This reference maps start, stop, status, enable-at-boot and log access across systemd, launchd, Windows' Service Control Manager, AIX's SRC, and FreeBSD's rc.d and Alpine's OpenRC.

  article · en · reviewed · knowledge as of 2026-09-24

Machine-readable: JSON