Using programs and commands that do not have a graphical user interface (GUI) but are rather controlled by typing text commands into a terminal program, or shell.
5
votes
1answer
7k views
How do I format a disk partition from the command line on OS X?
How do I format a disk partition from the command line on Mac OS X?
In case someone wonders why: because for some people Disk Utility fails.
5
votes
3answers
463 views
How can I initiate a modem connection from the command line?
I am looking for a way to initiate a PPP connection with my EVDO modem from the command line instead of having to go to System Preferences -> Network and hit "Connect".
5
votes
1answer
458 views
How can I update iTunes Match from the command line?
I use iTunes Match to access my iTunes library at work. I added some new music to my library (back at home) recently, but I forgot to run the "Update iTunes Match" command to ensure that the songs ...
5
votes
3answers
641 views
Updating modifier key mappings through defaults command tool
I am trying to automate the inital setup of my macbook, that includes installing software and changing OS X configuration to my needs.
I have tried to update the modifier keys with defaults, the ...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
How can I set Spotlight metadata to files?
I am looking for a command line utility (I need to use it in a script) that can set Spotlight metadata to files.
4
votes
4answers
2k views
4
votes
3answers
4k views
Use MacVim as standard Terminal?
I used to love the terminal.app for many reasons.
I especially liked the way I could navigate to a file and edit using vim it all in one app, without having to leave the keyboard.
But, since the ...
4
votes
2answers
422 views
Is there a better way to shutdown/restart OSX?
Whenever I want to shutdown/restart OSX I click on the menu, select shutdown, and then click the box for not saving the session, and then click OK. Then there's always at least one program that ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
What is the difference between .bash_profile and .bashrc?
To make an alias for the Terminal in OS X, you can either put the aliases in .bash_profile or .bashrc. What is the difference between the two and why would I choose to put aliases in one and not the ...
4
votes
3answers
231 views
Detect single-user mode from the command line
Is there a way to detect single-user mode in OSX (Lion, specifically) from the command line?
I've tried who -r, which returns 3 in either standard or single-user mode.
I've also tried nvram ...
4
votes
3answers
1k views
Installing command line GNU utils
I've recently started using MacBook Pro with OSX, after years of developing under Ubuntu.
I often use GNU command line tools like make and watch. How do I install these on my Mac?
4
votes
2answers
292 views
What is the preferred method of command line domain name lookup (DNS)?
What command line command do I use to lookup a domain address?
When looking at the man pages for nslookup and dig I can see a section saying that these utilities do not use the Mac OS methods of ...
4
votes
1answer
193 views
How can I open a file in its default application from the command line in OS X?
How can I open a file in its default application from the command line?
For example if I have a file foo.doc, can I type command ./foo.doc into the CLI and have that file open in Word?
Note: on my ...
4
votes
4answers
16k views
How can I list all user accounts in the terminal?
How can I list all local user accounts (whether logged in or NOT so 'users' or 'who' is no good) in the terminal on a mac? OS X version is 10.6.8.
I have seen this suggested - dscacheutil -q group
...
4
votes
1answer
166 views
Command line utility to create screenshot
Is there some command line utility to create a screenshot of the my screen and store it as png? (Preferably one in the system, without need to install anything new)
4
votes
2answers
94 views
Can command-line commands be made insensitive to order of filenames and options?
I'm new to Mac usage. It seems that most commands trip over options given after the file names. In linux, which I've used for years, it doesn't matter. On Apple, it does. Is there some setting ...
4
votes
2answers
108 views
How do I “Get Info” from the command line?
Related to this question: http://superuser.com/q/514528/90435
Via http://osxdaily.com/2010/10/12/find-out-where-a-file-was-downloaded-from/ I find out that you can use 'get info' though Finder to ...
4
votes
1answer
221 views
Why does my Terminal command line screw up like this? (bash's fault?)
When I use the command line history ( CtrlR , CtrlP )
The command line screws up like this:
The cursor is supposedly located at the end of the line ( just pressed CtrlE )
If I press enter, just ...
4
votes
3answers
1k views
Change the default application (for a file extension) via script/command line?
Is there a way to define the default application for a file extension via an Apple script, command line command (like defaults write [...]).
I know that you can change it manually via the information ...
4
votes
4answers
1k views
Creating a virtual serial port
I'm trying to create a pair of virtual serial ports on my mac. This is fairly easy to do with many shareware programs on a PC. I figured there would be some uber-powerful shell command to do this in ...
4
votes
1answer
4k views
How to initiate VPN conection from command line?
I would like to save some mouse clicks and keystrokes by initiating VPN connection from command line. Is there tool for this in Mac OS X? Ideally, it should accept VPN connection name and password and ...
4
votes
3answers
603 views
How to view man pages in a web browser?
Which .conf file do I need to edit in order to view man pages in a web browser? I'd like to use Google Chrome to do this.
Is this possible?
4
votes
1answer
188 views
How do I set an icon for a directory via the CLI? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Changing a file or folder icon using the Terminal
This is a continuation of this thread from Super User. The question is how to set an icon on a directory. At first I ...
4
votes
3answers
629 views
How do I delete a locked, invisible file in the Trash?
On an external disk (that contains a clone), the /.Trashes/501/Users/myusername/Desktop folder contains (within some subfolders) a locked invisible file that I cannot delete. The whole folder starting ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
How do I change the time format used by ls command line on osx?
I want to make ls display time in ISO format (military format). How can I change this behavior?
On Linux I knew that I could force ls to display time in long format by usin --full-time but this ...
4
votes
2answers
113 views
How to install CPAN modules from the command line on OS X?
Simple question: How to install CPAN modules on OS-X like normal Linux/Unix way?
I just want to type in cpan something like install Perl6::Say for example.
4
votes
4answers
1k views
Monitor a folder for changes, and run a command when a change is detected
Is there a simple way to automatically run a (Terminal) command every time a file is changed in a specific folder?
This should be possible via the command line, or a system built-in application, no ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
How do you record audio from command line with osx?
I've tried ffmpeg but there is no /dev/dsp device.
4
votes
2answers
2k views
How to start OS X applications from the command line with optional arguments?
I am looking for an easy way to start different GUI OS X applications from the command line and with different parameters.
If possible I would like to add them to the system PATH in order to call ...
4
votes
1answer
1k views
How can I add all users to Print Administrator group but not full administrator?
Gordon Davisson offered a solution to a "standalone user" in another question
I'm facing the same issue in an office environment.
Printer paused and System Administrator needs to be called to enter ...
4
votes
2answers
4k views
Why does Java SE 6 Web Start (javaws) not find the JRE with Apple's Java for OS X 2012-006 on Mountain Lion?
In brief
The JRE is installed but javaws can not find the JRE.
What can I do on the command line to re-enable the web plugin for Apple's Java 6 in Chrome or Safari?
I want to avoid Java 7. (We're ...
4
votes
4answers
1k views
Copy to network share using local disk cache in Mac OS X Lion
I'm using rsync in Mac OS X Lion to copy a backup directory from my local HD to a network mounted share (local LAN). My goal is to archive the local backup to the network drive, thereby freeing up ...
4
votes
2answers
203 views
Is there a way to provide a sort order to an mdfind query?
In trying to get a list of all music files from a particular album using mdfind I see that the files aren't necessarily returned in any order. I'd prefer album/track order if possible, but can't find ...
4
votes
3answers
287 views
How to stream radio from the command line?
There is an iMac in our lab at university, running Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.
It is never used, so we have taken to using it to play music, as we can SSH to it, and it does not require any permissions to ...
4
votes
1answer
10k views
How do I remove a user via single user mode in 10.7?
I occasionally will setup a user's machine that has been in for repair beyond the simple re-install of the OS. For example: install a new hd, install the OS, create a user, install updates and then ...
4
votes
0answers
153 views
“Open with” in Finder.app gives duplicate entries [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to omit apps from external drives in “Open With” menu?
in finder's open with menu are a lot of dups. I am running latest OX X and patches.
I googled and found ...
3
votes
3answers
2k views
How to add user to a group on command line?
With Linux/Unix, I can use useradd -G developers vivek to add vivek to the developer group. How can I do the same thing with Mac OS X?
Then, how do I check if vivek is in developers group?
3
votes
3answers
1k views
.tar files on OS X Lion
How am I supposed to deal with .tar files with OS X Lion? I'm trying to install Ruby Version Manager, but Lion is throwing a fit about not being able to expand the tar file. This isn't the first time ...
3
votes
2answers
569 views
Disk utility in command line
I'm looking for the CLI equivalent of "Check disk" and "repair disk" in Disk Utility. I think fsck is involved but I don't know with which options, and if it's the only program run.
3
votes
3answers
4k views
Netcat -e on Mac OS X
I'm a newbie macuser coming from Debian, and I'm a big command line user.
One one my preferred one is netcat (aka nc on mac). I especially loved the -e option which enabled to create a process that ...
3
votes
2answers
4k views
Can't install Xcode Command Line Tools on Mountain Lion
I try to install the most recent (july 25) version of Command Line Tools (xcode44cltools_10_76938107a.dm), downloaded from https://developer.apple.com/downloads/, but are stopped with the error ...
3
votes
3answers
777 views
How to list all available .plist keys on a certain domain application by defaults command?
I want to know all keys (property list) which available on certain domain application, as example i could list available key for com.apple.dock by entering this command:
$ defaults read ...
3
votes
2answers
321 views
Using grep on Mac-style text files
When I run grep on a text file, I get nonsense results. It seems as if the whole file is printed out but on one line overwriting itself. I read that on the Mac, text files use \r instead of the ...
3
votes
1answer
305 views
Is it possible to open in default browser a URL from command line reusing same tab?
I know that I can use open command to open a URL in a default browser like:
$ open http://google.com
But what I would like is to execute a similar or same command to open different URLs one after ...
3
votes
1answer
178 views
Can I play chess on my Mac from the command line?
If I were feeling insufficiently geekish on any particular day, and thus found the GUI Chess App to lack an appropriate amount of tech credibility, is there a way to play chess on my Mac from the ...
3
votes
1answer
450 views
How can I add reminders via the command line?
Once in a while it may be useful to add some reminders to Reminders.app from the command line — especially because they are synced to iCloud. Is there any way to do so?
A solution that does not rely ...
3
votes
3answers
4k views
Under 10.8 which file stores the environment variables?
This has been this way since 10.6. There is no .bashrc file in the home dictionary but the environment variable PATH indeed exists as the result of this command shows:
$ echo $PATH
...
3
votes
1answer
78 views
What's the “@”mark at the file description?
I installed princexml for Mac. With ls -alF, I have -rwxr-xr-x@ 1 prosseek admin 14190120 Jun 8 16:11 prince*. What's the meaning of @ in -rwxr-xr-x@?
And when I tried to execute the binary, I got ...
3
votes
1answer
555 views
Child process exited with status 254 error when extracting a tar.xz file
I'm trying to extract a tar.xz file with tar in Mac OS X Lion. I'm using bsdtar 2.8.3 - libarchive 2.8.3. I'm able to use tar to extract anything else I've tried (.zip, .tar, .tar.gz, etc.), but when ...
3
votes
1answer
239 views
Printing the current date/time with sub-second precision
GNU date(1) understands the %N format spec, which outputs nanoseconds, so:
$ date +%H:%m:%S.%N
outputs 19:10:03.725196000
BSD date doesn't understand %N. How can I print the current time with ...
