macOS User Defaults (user-defaults)

Wrapper for macOS defaults, designed for running with admin privileges to read/write the defaults of another user while properly handling permissions and reloading of defaults to reflect and apply any changes.

Usage

Usage remains the same as the native macOS defaults command, with the following additional flags, which may be used with a single or double dash:

Flag	Description
user	The user to read/write the preferences with.
quiet	Does not show error output or confirmations. In the case of a read command, only the value is shown.
force	When writing, will ignore the existence of a Managed Preference and write the value anyway.
version	Displays the version

When using the user flag, written preferences are stored in the user's library unless the domain specified is an absolute path.

Additional Conveniences

• If writing, the user's defaults are automatically reloaded. This ensures the following:
  • The change is effective immediately.
  • The System Settings (or System Preferences) shows the updated value.
• If writing, warns about attempting to modify Managed Preferences and aborts unless --force flag is used
• Any boolean-like value is automatically saved as a boolean, unless a different type is specified.
  • Includes: YES|Yes|yes|NO|No|no|TRUE|True|true|FALSE|False|false|1|0
• A domain of .GlobalPreferences is automatically changed to -g for compatibility.

Optional Installer Script

If your script is running as root, you can silently install the library using the 1-liner below:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jonesiscoding/user-defaults/HEAD/bin/install.sh)" || exit 1

The installer will check this repo for the most recent release, then if needed, download & install to /usr/local/sbin/user-defaults.