How to Wake a Sleeping Mac in Automator?

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Level 1

121 points

How to Wake a Sleeping Mac in Automator?

I have an Automator "Watch me Do" process that closes down an app at a particular time each day. The problem is this is often when the Mac is sleeping. If so, the process doesn't run, but shows an error message, something like "Cannot complete the task...". I figure there must be a way to wake the Mac via Automator, but I don't see a command to do that.

I thought about maybe scheduling it through Energy Saver, but that would not only wake the computer, but turn it on if it's off. If the computer is off, I do not need to run the process.

I'm not proficient with AppleScript and terminal processes, so I'm hoping I can solve this completely through Automator.

Thanks in advance for your help.

iMac 21.5", macOS 10.15

Posted on Nov 16, 2019 9:55 AM

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Answer 1

Camelot

Level 9

58,215 points

Nov 19, 2019 9:53 PM in response to Buffsters

> I need a command to wake the computer so it can perform that function

Open Terminal.app and run:

sudo pmset repeat wake MTWRFSU 07:55:00

This will wake your system at 7:55am every day.

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Answer 2

Buffsters Author

Level 1

121 points

Nov 18, 2019 6:44 AM in response to Camelot

Well... First off, Automator DOES work for certain processes when the computer is asleep, as it turns on apps for me every night while I'm asleep and so is the computer. The context is that I live in a remote area and have limited bandwidth. So, for instance, I have Automator turn on Dropbox for me at 2AM when the bandwidth is cheaper, and I want to shut it off at 8AM when rates go up. The problem is once the newest version of Dropbox is opened it doesn't appear as an app, but as an add-on extension, which Automator does not recognize as an app when the "Quit Application" command is used. So... I used the "Watch Me Do" command in Automator to quit Dropbox, which works just fine, unless the computer is sleeping. Automator will not perform "Watch Me Do" on a sleeping computer. So, long story short... I need a command to wake the computer so it can perform that function. Does this make better sense?

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Answer 3

Buffsters Author

Level 1

121 points

Nov 16, 2019 10:39 AM in response to Buffsters

I discovered the terminal command "caffeinate" and I've added a Run JavaScript command in Automator with the following command:

function run(input, parameters) {

// caffeinate -u -t 1

return input;

}

I hope this works... I'll let you know.

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Answer 4

Buffsters Author

Level 1

121 points

Nov 16, 2019 3:02 PM in response to VikingOSX

So you're saying that "caffeinate" is a terminal command? And it will not work from a Run JavaScript command in Automator? How then do I get Automator to run the terminal command "caffeinate," which wakes up the computer from sleep so that my the rest of my Automator program will run when the computer is asleep?

Thanks for your response.

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Answer 5

rccharles

Level 6

13,027 points

Nov 17, 2019 7:31 PM in response to VikingOSX

That's beyond the scope of my answer. I assumed the earlier posters had taken that into consideration with their answers.

I don't sleep my machine. I've had problems doing that in begone ages so I've forever stopped.

I'll leave this to more knowledgeable folks on how to do this.

R

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Answer 6

Camelot

Level 9

58,215 points

Nov 17, 2019 10:16 PM in response to Buffsters

I think the original post needs some clarification as to the goal here.

From what I can tell the original ask is pretty moot since the app isn't running is the system is asleep. What am I missing here?

Also, caffeinate will prevent your system from sleeping, but that wasn't the original ask.

You can use the command line tool pmset to schedule a repeating event to wake (and not power on) your system at a set time, which could be used to ensure the system is running when your quit script runs, but it doesn't answer why you need to quit the app when the system is asleep anyway.

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