Detailed exploration of how RunningBoard manages the service updating data for a widget, and how that update is scheduled and run by chronod.
XPC
Easy to code, these don’t need to use XPC although it’s used by the DAS-CTS scheduling and dispatch system. They aren’t run at constant time intervals, but when appropriate according to other loads.
There’s normally more than 500 background activities, like Time Machine backups and XProtect Remediator scans, waiting for dispatch in the list maintained by DAS. How this works.
Since 2005, macOS has had the master launcher launchd and its LaunchAgents and LaunchDaemons. Then in 2014 Apple added Duet Activity Scheduler to run tasks when conditions are suitable.
Why XProtect Remediator scans can report BadPluginServiceSignature status_code 31 and abort, and why you don’t need to do anything about it.
You’ve just installed an update to macOS security software, then it gives you a status of ‘Unknown’ caused by [] and stops working. What’s wrong?
How can you run an app in a language different to that set for your system? Why doesn’t that work for command tools? And how difficult can a tool make controlling its environment?
SilentKnight was producing some results in a mixture of English and Dutch. Its environment settings needed correction. When that didn’t fix it, I looked deeper to find language-unfriendly design in a command tool.
CTS now schedules many important services, including syncing Calendar, Contacts, Messages, running weekly firmware checks with eficheck, and more.
CTS scheduling and dispatch of background tasks has no user interface, and no controls. How can you tell that there’s a problem, and what to do about it?
The Eclectic Light Company 