launchdmacOS
launchd macOS is the system and service management framework used by macOS to uniformly start, stop, and manage daemons, agents, and scripts. Designed to replace traditional init and cron mechanisms, launchd coordinates the lifecycle of services from boot time and can also launch them on demand or in response to events.
At the core, launchd is the central manager for launch services, typically started by the kernel as
Plist files for launchd are stored in system-wide and user-specific locations, such as /System/Library/LaunchDaemons, /System/Library/LaunchAgents, /Library/LaunchDaemons,
Management of launchd is performed with the launchctl command, which can load and unload jobs, inspect status,
In summary, launchd on macOS provides a unified, extensible approach to service management, enabling reliable startup,