Start/stop internet sharing from a script?
https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/2488
-
16-10-2019 - |
italiano
english
français
española
中国
日本の
العربية
Deutsch
한국어
Português
RussianQuestion
Is there a way to start/stop internet sharing from the command line or maybe an apple script?
The thing is that I move around my laptop between home and work. At one place I get wireless internet (and thus I have to disable internet sharing), and at the other I get internet from an ethernet cable and set up the computer to share the internet to other devices by creating a small wireless network.
But it's getting a bit tedious having to go into System Preferences and start/stop the internet sharing every time I switch locations, so I would like to have a quick command or script to launch and do the switch on demand.
Any hints or ideas?
Solution
To start Internet Sharing from the CLI:
sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.InternetSharing.plist
To stop, change the load to unload.
Note that if you have the pref pane open when you run this you will not see the change take effect immediately (the UI won't update), but it does work.
OTHER TIPS
One way of doing this is by GUI scripting—System Preferences doesn't have any Applescript support by default.
tell application "System Preferences" to set current pane to pane "com.apple.preferences.sharing"
delay 1
tell application "System Events" to tell process "System Preferences"
click checkbox 1 of row 8 of table 1 of scroll area 1 of group 1 of window "Sharing" -- change to row 10 if you are using anything before Snow Leopard
delay 1
if (exists sheet 1 of window "Sharing") then
click button "Start" of sheet 1 of window "Sharing"
end if
end tell
ignoring application responses
tell application "System Preferences" to quit
end ignoring
I took a cue from mankoff's answer and wrapped it up in an AppleScript. I'm using this script from Automator so that I can easily use it as a service and give it a keyboard shortcut.
Toggle Internet Sharing:
register_growl()
try
if isRunning("InternetSharing") then
do shell script "launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.InternetSharing.plist" with administrator privileges
if isRunning("InternetSharing") then
error "Internet Connection Sharing was Not Disabled"
else
my growlnote("Success", "Internet Connection Sharing Disabled")
end if
else
do shell script "launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.InternetSharing.plist" with administrator privileges
if isRunning("InternetSharing") then
my growlnote("Success", "Internet Connection Sharing Enabled")
else
error "Internet Connection Sharing was Not Enabled"
end if
end if
on error errMsg
my growlnote("Error", errMsg)
end try
on isRunning(processName)
try
return 0 < length of (do shell script "ps ax | grep -v grep | grep " & processName)
on error
return false
end try
end isRunning
on register_growl()
try
tell application "GrowlHelperApp"
set the notificationsList to {"Success", "Warning", "Error"}
register as application "Toggle Internet Connection Sharing" all notifications notificationsList default notifications notificationsList icon of application "Sharing"
end tell
end try
end register_growl
on growlnote(growltype, str)
try
tell application "GrowlHelperApp"
notify with name growltype title growltype description str application name "Toggle Internet Connection Sharing"
end tell
end try
end growlnote
I had far better results (for an already configured sharing setup) on 10.11.6 with the simple variations...
sudo launchctl start com.apple.NetworkSharing
and
sudo launchctl stop com.apple.NetworkSharing
respectively.
The really easy way to do it is to combine @Philip's answer with the NetworkLocation application. NL can tell where you are, and automatically run an AppleScript when it senses you've changed locations.
I think it's required software if you have a laptop—otherwise, it's a PITA to always have to manually reset several settings whenever I change locations.
Slightly different than the other applescript posted (I think in a better way but…). Having options sometimes can help.
tell application "System Preferences"
activate
reveal (pane id "com.apple.preferences.sharing")
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"
try
click checkbox of row 11 of table 1 of scroll area of group 1 of window "Sharing"
if checkbox of row 11 of table 1 of scroll area of group 1 of window "Sharing" is equal to 1 then
repeat until sheet of window 1 exists
delay 0.5
end repeat
end if
if (sheet of window 1 exists) then
click button "Start" of sheet of window 1
end if
tell application "System Preferences" to quit
activate (display dialog "Internet Sharing preferences sucessfully flipped")
on error
activate
display dialog "something went wrong in automation but you are probably in the right menu…"
return false
end try
end tell
end tell
Since the GUI scripting solution posted previously requires international users to adjust the window and button names, I came up with a version that works with any system language. It also works for the other sharing option, and gives localized feedback about the sharing state. I use two different Automator services based on this, one to toggle file sharing and one to toggle internet sharing.
tell application "System Preferences"
set current pane to pane "com.apple.preferences.sharing"
set localized_window to the localized name of the current pane
set localized_app to (localized string "System Preferences")
set localized_ok to {localized string "OK"} -- File sharing
set localized_start to {localized string "START"} -- Internet sharing
end tell
delay 0.3
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"
click checkbox 1 of row 8 of table 1 of scroll area 1 of group 1 of window localized_window
delay 0.2
select row 8 of table 1 of scroll area 1 of group 1 of window localized_window
-- change row numbers to the service you want toggled
if (exists sheet 1 of window localized_window) then
try
click button (localized_ok as string) of sheet 1 of window localized_window
on error
click button (localized_start as string) of sheet 1 of window localized_window
end try
end if
set sharing_state to the value of item 1 of static text of group 1 of window localized_window
end tell
tell application "System Preferences" to quit
display notification sharing_state with title localized_app
-- display notification exists since OS 10.9, for older systems use:
-- display dialog sharing_state buttons {localized_ok} default button 1 with title localized_app giving up after 1.5
end tell
Before/after any configuration the interface or interfaces involved in sharing need to be turned off/on with:
networksetup -setairportpower en1 off
then on. (networksetup -setairportpower en1 on)
My wifi was listed as en1, to lookup yours use networksetup -listnetworkserviceorder. More to the point, when starting internet sharing you will need to add more detailed NAT functionality then just setting the enabled bit.
NAT is turned on/off with bit: -int 0 = off
-int 1 = on
The only thing that is written in /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.nat.plist with
defaults write /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.nat\
NAT -dict Enabled -int 0
is
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>NAT</key>
<dict>
</dict>
<key>Enabled</key>
<integer>1</integer>
</dict>
</dict>
</plist>
You will need to change your plist file to look like the following:
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>NAT</key>
<dict>
<key>AirPort</key>
<dict>
<key>40BitEncrypt</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>Channel</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>Enabled</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>NetworkName</key>
<string>FancyHostNome</string>
<key>NetworkPassword</key>
<data>
</data>
</dict>
<key>Enabled</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>NatPortMapDisabled</key>
<false/>
<key>PrimaryInterface</key>
<dict>
<key>Device</key>
<string>en4</string>
<key>Enabled</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>HardwareKey</key>
<string></string>
<key>PrimaryUserReadable</key>
<string>InfiniBand</string>
</dict>
<key>PrimaryService</key>
<string>XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX</string>
<key>SharingDevices</key>
<array>
<string>en1</string>
</array>
</dict>
</dict>
</plist>
As you can see my plist NAT file may need a little customization to fit your needs.
I use the following script to toggle internet sharing on an early 2011 MacBook Pro / 10.11.3 El Capitan, so with newer hardware you might get away with shorter delays. It adopts ideas from several scripts posted for this purpose (localisation, turning wifi on/off using networksetup, close System Preferences when done).
tell application "System Preferences"
activate
reveal (pane id "com.apple.preferences.sharing")
set localized_window to the localized name of the current pane
end tell
tell application "System Events" to tell process "System Preferences"
delay 1
repeat with r in rows of table 1 of scroll area 1 of group 1 of window localized_window
if (value of static text of r as text) starts with "Internet" then
set sharingBool to value of checkbox of r as boolean
select r
if sharingBool is true
do shell script "/usr/sbin/networksetup -setairportpower en1 off"
else
do shell script "/usr/sbin/networksetup -setairportpower en1 on"
end if
click checkbox of r
end if
end repeat
delay 1
if (exists sheet 1 of window localized_window) then
click button "Start" of sheet 1 of window localized_window
end if
end tell
ignoring application responses
tell application "System Preferences" to quit
end ignoring
Definitive workaround to wifi-sharing constant breaking down in MacosX
I have found a system that finally works and when, less frequently wifi sharing breaks, it manages to recover it automatically in a minute.
The solution is a ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.me.wifisharingup.plist daemon with the next contents:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Label</key>
<string>com.juanfal.wifisharingup</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/Users/mi/bin/wifisharingup.sh</string>
</array>
<key>Nice</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>StartInterval</key>
<integer>60</integer>
<key>RunAtLoad</key>
<true/>
<key>StandardErrorPath</key>
<string>/Users/me/Library/Logs/wifisharingup.err</string>
<key>StandardOutPath</key>
<string>/Users/me/Library/Logs/wifisharingup.out</string>
</dict>
</plist>
You can see, each minute it runs the simple script that follows. Be careful making the previous plist be owned by the root and launch it with:
sudo chown root com.me.wifisharingup.plist
sudo launchctl load /Users/me/Library/LaunchAgents/com.me.wifisharingup.plist
The script it launches each minute (don't forget to make it executable) is:
#!/bin/sh
if [[ ! `ipconfig getifaddr en1` ]]; then
/usr/sbin/networksetup -setairportpower en1 off
/usr/sbin/networksetup -setairportpower en1 on
echo `date` >> "/Users/me/Library/Logs/wifisharingup.err"
else
touch "/Users/me/Library/Logs/wifisharingup.out"
fi
I think the simple periodically (each minute) call to ipconfig getifaddr en1 refreshes something in what is the wifi sharing daemon. Whatever it is, any moment the wifi sharing fails, it looses the self assigned IP address, and then, ipconfig getifaddr en1 fails, so my script totally resets wifi, making it rebuild its previous status and recovering the wifi-sharing.
It has been working for days so far inside a MacMini without keyboard, mouse or monitor, but only plugged into the Ethernet and giving my wifi gadgets access to the world.
You might want to take a look at this (possibly off topic for Stack Overflow) question and its answer: How to start/stop Internet Sharing using AppleScript.
do shell script "/bin/launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.InternetSharing.plist" with administrator privileges
/usr/bin/defaults write /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.nat NAT -dict Enabled -int 0
