My question is how to make a MacOSX daemon process using launchd start with root privileges automatically after a reboot?
I'm writing an application for in house use that blocks access to web sites. It is written in python and modifies the /ect/hosts file to disable or enable listed urls. The main application is in django and I created a python twisted daemon that does the actual modification of the /etc/hosts file as root access privileges are required.
I have created a plist file which works with one minor issue. After rebooting the daemon process has my normal logon privileges instead of root privileges.
A workaround is to stop the process with my normal privileges then startup the process with sudo.
launchctl unload /Library/LaunchAgents/com.balanceinfosystems.socialshields.twisted.plist
sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchAgents/com.balanceinfosystems.socialshields.twisted.plist
The plist file
<?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.balanceinfosystems.socialshields.twisted</string>
<key>Program</key>
<string>/source/social_shields/social_shields_twisted.py</string>
<key>KeepAlive</key>
<true/>
</dict>
</plist>