Disable Services in OSX (services.msc)

Question

Is there a Services.msc or ntsysv utility for OSX? I just want to harden my OSX by disabling any unwanted service and it's ports.

Answer 1

The OS X equivalent of Windows services is Launchd. The OS X equivalent of services.msc on Windows is launchctl. The daemons managed by launchd can be on demand or can be triggered periodically (this is configurable in launchd.plist)

You can manage the daemons from the command line (from Terminal.app under /Applications/Utilities/) or by using a tool like Lingon.

From the command line:

• List agents/jobs loaded using

  launchctl list
  

• Disable and enable an agent using (persists between boots)

  launchctl enable <name> or launchctl disable <name>
  

• Stop and start an agent immediately using

  launchctl kickstart <name> or launchctl kill <name>
  

The next commands are deprecated commands, which you might see on the Internet:

• Remove an agent/job using

  launchctl remove <name>
  

• Disable an agent/job for the currently booted session alone using

  launchctl unload <name>
  

• Load an agent/job manually using

  launchctl load <name>
  

Additional references:

• Daemons and Services Programming Guide
• man launchctl in Terminal.app (or the online manual for launchctl)
• man launchd in Terminal.app (or the online manual for launchd)
• man launchd.plist in Terminal.app (or the online manual for launchd.plist)
• launchd on Wikipedia

Answer 2

note that for the MacOS 10.13, you need to use launchctl disable system/ this will stop the process, but would keep the definition in the system folder.