Some permission related issue on macOS.

File lock issue#

For some time, when I open kitty terminal on macOS, I always see the following warning message:

zsh: locking failed for /Users/jdhao/.histfile: operation not permitted: reading anyway

This may be because the HOME directory is locked (for me, this is the case). To unlock the directory, open the Finder and click the $HOME directory, press Command + i to get the file info. Under the General section, make sure that the Locked button is unchecked.

To change the file lock state on the command line, use chflag:

chflag -R nouchg /path/to/directory

After restarting the terminal emulator, the issue should be gone.

Operation permission issue#

Another issue I often get is that when I use ls or rm on some files, I often get a message like the following:

ls ~/Library/Messages ls: Messages: Operation not permitted

This is due to the disk access issue. Open macOS Security & Privacy settings and go to Privacy tab. Give your terminal emulator Full Disk Access.

Restart your terminal and the issue will be fixed.

References#

• https://superuser.com/questions/279235/why-does-chown-report-operation-not-permitted-on-os-x
• File lock issue:
  • https://www.macworld.com/article/231333/macos-file-settings-the-difference-between-locked-and-sharing-permissions.html
  • Change lock state on command line: https://superuser.com/q/40749/736190
  • https://www.jeffgeerling.com/tutorial/2008-12-02/dealing-locked-files-mac
• Operation not permitted: https://osxdaily.com/2018/10/09/fix-operation-not-permitted-terminal-error-macos/