running a python script on Mac boot

Question

I'm trying to get a python script to run on startup. I have the following file: com.test.service.plist :

<?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>com.test.service</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/bin/sh</string>
        <string>/var/www/html/app/appstart.sh</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

copied to ~/Library/LaunchAgents/

loaded as

launchctl load -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.test.service.plist

the script has 2 lines:

/usr/bin/python /var/www/html/app/app.py
echo "hello" >> /var/www/html/app/test.txt

the script runs (the file test.txt gets created with 'hello' in it) however, the app.py doesn't run. for testing purposes, all i did inside the app.py was:

import os
os.system("echo 'python' >> /var/www/html/app/test.txt")

if i just run the appstart.sh in terminal, then python runs no problem

i followed instructions in this question already, but no luck

Why does your app.py script do the same thing as the bash script? — dopatraman
– dopatraman, Commented Apr 1, 2015 at 2:26
because I don't want to paste 200 lines of code in here and this is a very quick & easy way to test if the script runs. — ierdna
– ierdna, Commented Apr 1, 2016 at 19:13

Tristan · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-05 10:11:51Z

1

+50

Some time ago I used cron to do just that. You can make an entry like this

@reboot /path/to/my/script

more info about cron

The path to my script will be the path to your appstart.sh file.

So you open your terminal.

You type in crontab -e (this will open a file in your default editor, problably nano)

You scroll down and on the bottom of the file you type @reboot /path/to/file

Then you save and exit.

edited Apr 5, 2016 at 10:11

answered Apr 2, 2016 at 19:50

Tristan

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1 Comment

ierdna Over a year ago

i know on apple site they advise against using cron, but it seems to be the only reliable task scheduler on OS X. Thanks for the answer.

Zectbumo · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-01 20:41:58Z

1

Make sure the .plist file is chmod 644.

You asked for "run on Mac boot" and "run on startup" which tells me you are in the wrong directory. LaunchAgents is for running scripts on user login. To run on startup the .plist file needs to be in /Library/LaunchDaemons and owned by root:wheel.

If you don't need a shell to launch a shell script to launch python then I recommend a shortcut:

<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
    <string>/usr/bin/python</string>
    <string>/var/www/html/app/app.py</string>
</array>

answered Apr 1, 2016 at 20:41

Zectbumo

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1 Comment

ierdna Over a year ago

in my case it doesn't matter actually, running on user login is fine too, but neither of those worked for me

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