How to disable unnecessary services on Mac OS X based desktop / server / laptop.
Mac OS X uses the following directories to start various services:
- /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ – System-wide daemons provided by Mac OS X
- /System/Library/LaunchAgents/ – Per-user agents provided by Mac OS X
- ~/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.
launchd manages processes, both for the system as a whole and for individual users using .plist files. Open the terminal and type the following commands to view directory files:
cd /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/
ls -l
ls -l | less
OR
cd /System/Library/LaunchAgents/
ls -l
ls -l | less
Disable Unnecessary Services
Use the launchctl command as follows:
sudo launchctl unload -w /path/to/.plist/file
sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/file.plist
In this example, use the following to disable the Bonjour service:
sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.mDNSResponder.plist
sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.mDNSResponderHelper.plist