All contents of /Applications restricted by SIP

aleksandarfrommadrid wrote:

I can't update/delete/install any apps.

Thank you for the tip! Oddly enough, my ~/Applications folder is empty, all the apps are still installed into the /Applications folder. Should my apps have been moved to ~/Applications when I have upgraded to Catalina and/or BigSur? How can I make ~/Applications folder the target for any new app installation?

I see now accessing the user Applications folder acts as an 'alias' and reads MacIntosh HD/Applications.

So I am afraid no help there.

The two Volume read only System files was introduced with macOS Catalina....

ref: About the read-only system volume in macOS Catalina - Apple ...

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210650

Can you verify your user:

whoami

Your user would have admin privileges , this you can see:

ls -la /Users

drwxr-xr-x 6 root admin 192 Jan 1 2020 .

drwxr-xr-x 20 root wheel 640 Jan 1 2020 ..

-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 0 Jan 1 2020 .localized

drwxr-xr-x+ 3 Guest _guest 96 Oct 24 2020 Guest

drwxrwxrwt 42 root wheel 1344 Sep 13 16:07 Shared

drwxr-xr-x+ 81 <YourUserName> staff 2592 Oct 15 07:01 <YourUserName>

So I am unclear exactly the issue... " I can't update/delete/install any apps. "

We do know you can not deleted baked in applications in the macOS....(?) But "any" apps seems quite different issue.

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/open-a-mac-app-from-an-unidentified-developer-mh40616/11.0/mac/11.0

Install and uninstall apps from the internet or disc on Mac

Change Privacy preferences on Mac - Apple Support

Greetings aleksandarfrommadrid,

We understand that you are having some difficulty downloading or updating apps on your Mac, and we'd like to help. Begin by following the guidance found here:

If you can't download or update apps on your Mac

If any issues remain, Contact Apple Support directly for further assistance.

Take care.

aleksandarfrommadrid wrote:

I'm running Big Sur 11.6. Since ~3 weeks ago I can't update/delete/install any apps. As per /System/Library/Sandbox/rootless.conf, in the /Applications folder only the Safari app should be restricted:

mac$ grep -i "\s+/applications" /System/Library/Sandbox/rootless.conf 

/Applications/Safari.app

Does this SIP status of all apps in the /Application folder explain why I can't delete/update/install any application? Another symptom is that the "Move to bin" option doesn't even show up in the pop-up menu when I right-click on anything in the /Application folder.

If anyone has ran into a similar issue and managed to resolve it, I'd really like to hear your experience. :)

thanks!

/Aleksandar

Your Applications in your User/Home folder: ~/Applications

Finder>Shift Command A

Open a Mac app from an unidentified developer - Apple Support

Safely open apps on your Mac - Apple Support

You do not have r/w access to System files since macOS Catalina

ref: About the read-only system volume in macOS Catalina - Apple ...

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210650


I don't know if it is possible to tell the difference between /Applications and /System/Volumes/Data/Applications.

Apps in the former should only be Apple's apps bundled with the OS, but I believe some third-party apps snuck in when Catalina went Read-only OS volume. Those are pretty much stuck unless you boot into Recovery or another boot drive and remove them from /Applications. Reinstalling them should put them in the Data volume Applications folder where you can update or remove them.