macos-admin

Purpose

This skill handles macOS system administration tasks, including managing preferences, users, disks, and security features like SIP, Gatekeeper, FileVault, and console logs.

When to Use

Use this skill for automating macOS admin operations in scripts, such as configuring system settings during deployment, managing user accounts in enterprise environments, or troubleshooting security issues via logs.

Key Capabilities

• Manage system preferences via systemsetup for settings like time zone or energy saver.
• Handle users and groups using dscl for creating, deleting, or modifying accounts.
• Perform disk operations with diskutil for mounting, verifying, or encrypting volumes.
• Control SIP (System Integrity Protection) with csrutil to enable/disable for kernel extensions.
• Manage Gatekeeper via spctl to assess app security policies.
• Handle FileVault encryption using fdesetup for status checks and enablement.
• Access console logs with log command for system diagnostics.

Usage Patterns

Invoke this skill in shell scripts or Python subprocess calls, always with elevated privileges (e.g., via sudo). For example, wrap commands in a function that checks for admin rights first. Use environment variables for configuration, like $ADMIN_PASSWORD for scripts requiring authentication. Pattern: Check prerequisites (e.g., OS version with sw_vers), execute the command, and parse output for automation.

Common Commands/API

Use sudo for most commands due to admin requirements. Here's how to accomplish key tasks:

• Create a user: dscl . -create /Users/newuser; dscl . -create /Users/newuser UserShell /bin/bash; dscl . -create /Users/newuser RealName "New User"
• Check SIP status: csrutil status (output: "System Integrity Protection: enabled")
• Enable FileVault: sudo fdesetup enable -user username -pass $ADMIN_PASSWORD
• Manage Gatekeeper: spctl --assess --verbose /path/to/app to verify app allowance
• Mount a disk: diskutil mount disk1s1
• View console logs: log show --predicate 'subsystem == "com.apple.console"' --last 1h
• Change system preference (e.g., computer name): sudo scutil --set ComputerName NewName

Code snippet for user creation in Python:

import subprocess
subprocess.run(['sudo', 'dscl', '.', '-create', '/Users/newuser'])
subprocess.run(['sudo', 'dscl', '.', '-create', '/Users/newuser', 'RealName', 'New User'])

Code snippet for SIP check:

import os
result = os.popen('csrutil status').read()
if 'enabled' in result:
    print("SIP is active")

Integration Notes

Integrate by calling macOS CLI tools from your AI agent's code via subprocess or os.system. For scripts, ensure the agent runs with admin privileges; use sudo and pass credentials via env vars like $ADMIN_PASSWORD. Config formats: Use plist files for preferences (e.g., edit /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow.plist with defaults write). For API-like access, leverage AppleScript via osascript, e.g., osascript -e 'tell application "System Preferences" to activate'. If combining with other skills, pipe output to tools like jq for JSON parsing of log data.

Error Handling

Always check command exit codes; for example, use subprocess.run(..., check=True) in Python to raise exceptions on failure. Common errors: Permission denied (code 1) – prompt for sudo or check $EUID for root status. Handle SIP-related errors by verifying status first. For disk operations, catch I/O errors with try-except blocks. Example: If diskutil fails, log the error and retry after user confirmation. Use 2>&1 to capture stderr in scripts, e.g., command 2>&1 | grep error.

Concrete Usage Examples

1. Automate user creation for a new employee: First, check if the user exists with dscl . -read /Users/username, then create if not: sudo dscl . -create /Users/newuser && sudo dscl . -passwd /Users/newuser $NEW_PASSWORD. Use in a script to handle onboarding.
2. Secure a system by enabling FileVault: Run sudo fdesetup status to check current state, then if disabled, execute sudo fdesetup enable -user admin -pass $ADMIN_PASSWORD to encrypt the drive, ensuring data protection.

Graph Relationships

• Related to: macos-core (for general macOS utilities), security-tools (for Gatekeeper and SIP integration), user-management (for dscl operations).
• Depends on: system-services (for console logs access).
• Conflicts with: non-macos skills due to OS-specific commands.