Mac OS X: Creating a login hook
Monday, June 12th, 2006
Why here? Because I can never find this aricle when I need it. From Apple’s KB article:
[Things to keep in mind] with a login hook:
- The script specified as a login hook must be executable.
- The login hook will be run as root.
- In the login hook script, the variable $1 returns the short name of the user who is logging in.
- Other login actions wait until the hook has completely executed.
How to set up a login hook:
Mac OS X 10.3, 10.4, or later
- Open Terminal (Applications/Utilities).
- In the Terminal window, type:
sudo defaults write com.apple.loginwindow LoginHook /path/to/script
(where /path/to/script is the full path to the script that you want to execute when a user logs in—it doesn’t have to be in the user’s Home directory). This modifies the /var/root/Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow file.- Type your password at the prompt, then press Return.