Configure Launchd Graphically

We've written about launchd (the daemon which governs OS X system processes) before. We've detailed its xml-based syntax, even as we've struggled to remember every tag and attribute. We could have saved ourselves the trouble and pointed to Peter Borg's Lingon, the free graphical editor for launchd plist files.

Inexplicably named for a swedish berry, with an icon like the giant red ball from Alias, Lingon's odd presentation quickly gives way to its powerful and convenient functionality. Its main panel allows you to create and edit launchd jobs with just their names, the Terminal command or script they run, and their scheduling options.

An advanced mode offers syntax-colored construction of the full range of launchd options (such as inetd compatibility, hard resource limits, and listening sockets). For power-users, Lingon is a tremendous time-saver, eliminating a great deal of referencing and proofreading for what amounts to an occasional task. For the novice, it's like Dreamweaver for dangerous system modifications.

Lingon has one major annoyance: The inability to save files anywhere other than live system directories. This isn't so bad if you're composing your plist files on a system that's meant to run them. If you're composing a launchd job for another machine (or many others), you must save it first without enabling it, then fish it out of the directory Lingon squirreled it away in. A "Save As" feature would go a long way here, and the absense of one could cause serious trouble for a careless user.

Despite its eccentricities, Lingon is an impressive tool, simple when it needs to be and complex where it has to. It's also a generous open-sourced contribution to the Macintosh administration community.

Lingon is available free of charge.