Encountered this message while using Disk Utility to verify disk permissions. What does it mean and is it something I need to address?
As long as the report ends up with 'Permissions repair complete' then, as far as permissions go, you are fine. You can ignore the various statements in the report:
Permissions you can ignore on 10.5 onwards:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1448
Using 'should be -rw-r--r-- , they are lrw-r--r--' as an example, you will see the that the permissions are not changed, but the | indicates a different location. This is because an update to Leopard onwards changed the location of a number of system components.
Poster rccharles has provided this description of what it all means:
drwxrwxrwx
d = directory
r = read
w = write
x = executeable program
drwxrwxrwx
| | |
| | all other users not in first two types
| |
| group
|
owner
a little more info
Before the user had read & write. A member of the group had read.
After, only the user had read & write.
It means nothing. Repairing permissions is a waste of time and it always spews false warnings.
As usual the advice from Linc Davis runs counter to that from Apple:
Repairing permissions is important, and should always be carried out both before and after any software installation or update.
Go to Disk Utility (this is in your Utilities Folder in your Application folder) and click on the icon of your hard disk (not the one with all the numbers).
In First Aid, click on Repair Permissions.
Background information here:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201560
and here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302672
An article on troubleshooting Permissions can be found here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2963
By the way, you can ignore any messages about SUID or ACL file permissions, as explained here:
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT203172
If you were having any serious problems with your Mac you might as well complete the exercise by repairing your hard disk as well. You cannot do this from the same start-up disk. Reboot from your install disk (holding down the C key). Once it opens, select your language, and then go to Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. Select your hard disk as before and click Repair:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201639
Once that is complete reboot again from your usual start-up disk.
More useful reading here:
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203176
For a full description of how to resolve Disk, Permission and Cache Corruption, you should read this FAQ from the X Lab:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/repairprocess.html
Apple's advice on general maintenance:
I agree with Klaus1 on the permissions repair. I've had a couple of Yosemite updates that gave me problems, not big ones but enough to be annoying. I booted into the Recovery volume (boot with the Command + R keys held down), selected Disk Utility and repaired disk permissions and the disk. Was surprised to see the number of permissions needed to be repaired.
After rebooting normally the issues had cleared up and the system ran like beautifully.
Although it’s immensely popular, repairing permissions is a waste of time unless you have a specific indication of a permission error involving system files, which is rare, or a startup failure. It has traditionally spewed bogus warning messages that mean absolutely nothing.
The built-in help for Disk Utility reads in part:
If you see an alert or a message that says your permissions are set incorrectly, you can correct the disk’s permissions by clicking Repair Disk Permissions.
It’s justifiable, though rarely necessary, to repair permissions after running a third-party software installer, as defective installers have been known to damage the permissions of system files.
The one time you can be 100% sure that repairing permissions is a waste of time is just after installing a system update from Apple.
Warning: SUID file “System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAgent” has been modified and will not be repaired.
