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can i rerun the setup assistant for os x lion

Went I installed Lion today on my macbook pro, i missed the setup assistant is there a way to get it back?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Nov 27, 2011 11:54 AM

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10 replies

Nov 27, 2011 5:06 PM in response to NypsyZ

Back up all data if you haven’t already done so. Before proceeding, you must be sure you can restore your system to the state it’s in now. If you skip this step, no one but you will be responsible for the consequences.


This procedure is for advanced users only. If you don't understand it, don't do it.

Launch the Terminal application; e.g., by entering the first few letters of its name in a Spotlight search. Copy or drag -- do not type -- the line below into the Terminal window, then press return:


sudo rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone


You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning not to screw up. Confirm.


Reboot. The Setup Assistant will launch.

Nov 27, 2011 7:05 PM in response to Pondini

I should have said that it doesn't delete user directories. It does re-initialize the 501 account. If you import user data, the entire dslocal database is replaced. Otherwise, other accounts are not affected (at least that's how it was the last time I tried it, which was before Lion; I haven't seen any documentation of a change.) If you ended up with a different set of users than before, you'd have to delete or move the orphaned home folders manually.

Nov 27, 2011 7:20 PM in response to Linc Davis

Linc Davis wrote:


I should have said that it doesn't delete user directories. It does re-initialize the 501 account.

Sorry, I don't understant exactly what you mean.


If you skip Setup Assistant on first boot and create a user (automatically an Admin account with UID 501), then run the command you posted and reboot, what happens when you tell Setup Assistant to transfer users?


Do you mean the 501 user account is replaced by the one transferred by Setup Assistant, even if it has the same user name as the one already created?


What if (as often happens) you had run Migration Assistant and transferred the same or other accounts?


It sounds like there could easily be various conflicts with user names and/or UIDs -- true?

Nov 27, 2011 8:43 PM in response to Pondini

If you skip Setup Assistant on first boot and create a user (automatically an Admin account with UID 501), then run the command you posted and reboot, what happens when you tell Setup Assistant to transfer users?


If you created a 501 user named "foo" on the first boot, and on the second boot you import a 501 user also named "foo," then you get the imported user's settings and data. If you import a 501 user named "bar," then your 501 user now has that user's name, settings, and data in /User/bar. You also have an orphaned directory /Users/foo. The "foo" user, and all other users defined from the first boot, are gone, but their home folders remain. That's how it worked a few years ago. I haven't tried it since then.


If any conflict would otherwise result, it could be avoided by deleting the dslocal and shadow databases, and the unwanted home folders, along with the "AppleSetupDone" semaphore file before rebooting. You would then be starting with a clean slate.


cd /var/db

sudo rm -r .AppleSetupDone dslocal shadow /Users/!(Shared)

Nov 27, 2011 8:54 PM in response to Linc Davis

Linc Davis wrote:

. . .

If you created a 501 user named "foo" on the first boot, and on the second boot you import a 501 user also named "foo," then you get the imported user's settings and data.

So the user home folder (from first boot) would be replaced by the imported one?


That seems the opposite of your earlier post: "I should have said that it doesn't delete user directories. It does re-initialize the 501 account."


Seems to me that it would be much simpler and more reliable, especially for a casual user, to create a new, temporary Admin account, delete all the old ones, then use Migration Assistant per the green box in Using Setup Assistant on Lion. That would preserve all the transferred account names and UIDs.


And even more so, since we're not sure how the other approach would work on Lion.

can i rerun the setup assistant for os x lion

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