The operation cannot be completed - you do not have sufficient privileges

Question

Level 1

1 points

The operation cannot be completed - you do not have sufficient privileges

I'm getting this more and more.

"The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for some of the items."

I get this when trying to drag a new version of an application into the Applications folder when an older version already exists there. I can delete the old version and then drag the new, but I shouldn't have to.

I installed a new set of updates over the Software Update system panel last night and the iTunes update gave me the same message (others didn't). My wife (who is also an admin - same as me) got the message simply when opening an application she hasn't used in some time.

When I repair disk permissions I get literally thousands of "ACL found but not expected" messages, but none of them go away. Repair disk returns no concerns.

I've done the obvious stuff like repair permissions, check the permission setup under the "Get Info" option on the folders. Admins have read write on everything. I also verified I am still listed as an admin.

I also got the latest firmware update installed.

Please help. I never had these problems before Leopard.

iMac 2.8GHz Intel, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Apr 10, 2008 4:46 PM

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Answer 1

Silica

Level 1

11 points

Apr 14, 2008 4:18 PM in response to bushiwu

I am getting the same message sporadically. Sometimes a newer version will overwrite the old version without any problem. Other times, I get the same message you are reporting. I would like to know the reason for this as well.

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Answer 2

Courcoul

Level 6

18,558 points

Apr 14, 2008 5:23 PM in response to bushiwu

This is, as you guessed, a permissions problem, but not new to Leopard; it happened since the days of 10.2.0. The workaround I have is to create a folder insida Applications and put your goodies in there. That way you can overwrite the old versions without all this password stuff. Only time this won't work is when an app comes with the installer, but you need Admin password for those as well.

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Answer 3

bushiwu Author

Level 1

1 points

May 3, 2008 12:13 PM in response to Courcoul

Part of the problem is that many times I won't be asked for password. For example, automatic updates to Firefox will not complete. Each time I launch it the application tries to install updates which fail. The message tells me to check that I have permission to make updates or to contact my system administrator, which is me.

I've seem this problem before, but not to the degree that I've seen it in Leopard and it usually wasn't anything that a permissions repair wouldn't resolve. Repairing permissions hasn't done anything for me under Leopard.

Thanks for the advice on the applications folder. I've also noticed that I don't get the error if I simply delete an application that I'm trying to update and install the newest version from scratch. I should never have to go to that much trouble though. This isn't Windows.

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Answer 4

bushiwu Author

Level 1

1 points

Jun 7, 2008 4:21 PM in response to bushiwu

Today after finally getting tired of manually downloading and installing updates I decided to re-install Leopard. I'm back to 10.5 and still having the same issues. This is ultra-annoying. I would consider completely wiping the HD and starting from scratch, but that seems to be a ridiculous amount of effort to resolve something seemingly as minor as permission issues.

Is anyone else having this issue or figured out a solution lately?

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Answer 5

V.K.

Level 9

56,174 points

Jun 7, 2008 4:35 PM in response to bushiwu

it sounds like you have incorrect permissions and ACLs on your Applications folder.

Run the following terminal commands from an admin account (you do realize you can only write to /Applications from admin account?). Just copy and paste the commands into a terminal window.

sudo chown -R root:admin /Applications

You'll have to enter your admin password (which you won't see) that's normal. This will reset the ownership on /Applications to system defaults.
Next run

sudo chmod -R g w,X /Applications

this should set unix permissions correctly.

next run

sudo chmod -RN /Applications

this will delete all ACLs from everything in /Applications.

Next run

sudo chmod +a "everyone deny delete" /Applications /Applications/Utilities

This will put the necessary ACLs back where they belong.

Finally, don't use "apply to enclosed items" button when changing permissions on sytem folders. That's what probably caused all your problems. many system folders have hidden ACLs and using this button propagates them to everything inside.

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Answer 6

bushiwu Author

Level 1

1 points

Jun 7, 2008 4:57 PM in response to V.K.

You are fast. I was actually researching and applying your fix to another post.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7037007&#7037007

That solution resolved the thousands upon thousands of ACL messages in my Permissions Verification. Thanks. I also was able to finally install a FireFox update (my first since March).

You are right, I did apply permissions to all enclosed items in my Applications Folder when I first starting working on the problem. It was after that when I started seeing all of the ACL messages.

As a rule of thumb I don't run Terminal commands unless necessary so I won't run the messages you suggest here unless I have trouble installing the other updates I've had trouble with.

Thanks so much. You are the permissions master!

Message was edited by: bushiwu

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Answer 7

V.K.

Level 9

56,174 points

Jun 7, 2008 5:12 PM in response to bushiwu

you are welcome! If those two commands are enough then you might not have to run the other commands. I wasn't sure how badly messed up your permissions and ACLs were.
good luck!

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