STPrivilegedTask - Objective C class

An NSTask-like wrapper around AuthorizationExecuteWithPrivileges() in the Security API to run shell commands with root privileges in Mac OS X.

Created a long time ago. It has been updated to support ARC and is available via CocoaPods.

Examples

Create and launch task

STPrivilegedTask *privilegedTask = [[STPrivilegedTask alloc] init];
[privilegedTask setLaunchPath:@"/usr/bin/touch"];
NSArray *args = [NSArray arrayWithObject:@"/etc/my_test_file"];
[privilegedTask setArguments:args];

// this is optional, defaults to /
// [privilegedTask setCurrentDirectoryPath:[[NSBundle mainBundle] resourcePath]];

// launch it, user is prompted for password
OSStatus err = [privilegedTask launch];
if (err != errAuthorizationSuccess) {
	if (err == errAuthorizationCanceled) {
	    NSLog(@"User cancelled");
	} else {
	    NSLog(@"Something went wrong");
	}
} else {
	// task successfully launched
}

Getting task output

// ... launch task

[privilegedTask waitUntilExit];

// Read output file handle for data
NSFileHandle *readHandle = [privilegedTask outputFileHandle];
NSData *outputData = [readHandle readDataToEndOfFile];
NSString *outputString = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:outputData encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];

Getting output while task runs in background

// ... launch task

NSFileHandle *readHandle = [privilegedTask outputFileHandle];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:@selector(getOutputData:) name:NSFileHandleReadCompletionNotification object:readHandle];
[readHandle readInBackgroundAndNotify];

// ...

- (void)getOutputData:(NSNotification *)aNotification {
    //get data from notification
    NSData *data = [[aNotification userInfo] objectForKey:NSFileHandleNotificationDataItem];
    
    //make sure there's actual data
    if ([data length]) {
        // do something with the data
        
        // go read more data in the background
        [[aNotification object] readInBackgroundAndNotify];
    } else {
        // do something else
    }
}

Notification when task terminates

Observe STPrivilegedTaskDidTerminateNotification.

[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:@selector(privilegedTaskFinished:) name:STPrivilegedTaskDidTerminateNotification object:nil];

- (void)privilegedTaskFinished:(NSNotification *)aNotification {
	// do something
}

BSD License


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 # modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
 #     * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
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 #       notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
 #       documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
 #     * Neither the name of Sveinbjorn Thordarson nor that of any other
 #       contributors may be used to endorse or promote products
 #       derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
 # 
 # THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND
 # ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
 # WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
 # DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL  BE LIABLE FOR ANY
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 # (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
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