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I have an agent/daemon that runs a backup script (I use restic) at 4:05am on a StartCalendarInterval. My understanding is that if a launchd agent is running, that should prevent osx from sleeping. Is that wrong?

I can see that my script partially worked as a snapshot was created in the repository, but when I went to check the snapshot, the repo had a lock on it which indicates to me something happened mid-run.

Here is my plist file for the agent.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
        <dict>
                <key>Label</key>
                <string>backup.restic.username</string>
                <key>ProgramArguments</key>
                <array>
                        <string>/Users/username/Documents/scripts/backup.sh</string>
                </array>
                <key>StartCalendarInterval</key>
                <dict>
                        <key>Minute</key>
                        <integer>5</integer>
                        <key>Hour</key>
                        <integer>4</integer>
                </dict>
        </dict>
</plist>

Is there something I can add there to prevent sleeping? I will say the macbook wasn't plugged in and was at 35% battery when I woke up.

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  • Most probably not related to the issue, but is it a copy/paste issue or does your plist really contain the first two lines twice?
    – nohillside ♦
    Commented Jan 6, 2019 at 16:29
  • 1
    As for the question as such: Check out man caffeinate and a bunch of questions/answers on this site regarding its use and constraints.
    – nohillside ♦
    Commented Jan 6, 2019 at 16:31
  • @nohillside, copy/paste issue. Sorry! A brief look and caffeinate appears to be what I need. Thanks!
    – user650271
    Commented Jan 6, 2019 at 16:35

1 Answer 1

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@nohillside gave me what to lookup. Updated to use caffeinate to prevent disk and system from sleeping.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
        <dict>
                <key>Label</key>
                <string>backup.restic.username</string>
                <key>Program</key>
                <string>/usr/bin/caffeinate</string>
                <key>ProgramArguments</key>
                <array>
                        <string>-im</string>
                        <string>/Users/username/Documents/scripts/backup.sh</string>
                </array>
                <key>StartCalendarInterval</key>
                <dict>
                        <key>Minute</key>
                        <integer>5</integer>
                        <key>Hour</key>
                        <integer>4</integer>
                </dict>
        </dict>
</plist>
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2
  • 1
    When using ProgramArguments the first string is actually assigned to $0 during execution (so should be the name of the program again).
    – nohillside ♦
    Commented Jan 6, 2019 at 19:12
  • I've tested this a few times with launchctl start backup.restic.username and it works as intended. I don't see any errors in /var/log/system.log as well. Could it be a change in launchd versions? Based on my googling, they've changed a lot in recent years :D. Edit: It looks like you are correct UNLESS you also use the key Program.
    – user650271
    Commented Jan 6, 2019 at 20:44

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