Solved macOS Sierra: Operation Not Permitted on Terminal Commands

Rook · September 29, 2017

Hey!

So I'm running macOS in VMWare and everything I try to modify some system files or specifically files in /usr/bin it gives me the "operation not permitted error" and doesn't change anything.

Anyone have any ideas on how to bypass that or gain full permissions to do anything to the OS?

Thank you!

Rook · September 29, 2017

Ok, I found a the fix!

We simply had to disable csrutil and then reboot via Terminal.

csrutil disable
reboot

But you can only do that when your macOS is in Recovery Mode.

Easiest way to enter recovery mode on VMWare is to add this line to your .vmx file:

macosguest.forceRecoveryModeInstall = "TRUE"

Then reboot your macOS and it will go into Recovery Mode so you can run the command above.

Once done, shut down your mac, remove the line in .vmx and boot your macOS once more to into your user account.

If you get stuck in Recovery Mode, you need to delete the .nvram file next to your .vmx. Make sure your .vmx settings are all correct.

Updated September 29, 2017 by DiDA

Klepto · September 29, 2017

You install it to /usr/local/bin, not /usr/bin.

/usr/bin is read only because it protects the system from malware crap.

On 9/29/2017 at 4:28 PM, DiDA said:
Ok, I found a the fix!

We simply had to disable csrutil and then reboot via Terminal.
csrutil disable
reboot 
But you can only do that when your macOS is in Recovery Mode.

Easiest way to enter recovery mode on VMWare is to add this line to your .vmx file:
macosguest.forceRecoveryModeInstall = "TRUE"
Then reboot your macOS and it will go into Recovery Mode so you can run the command above.

Once done, shut down your mac, remove the line in .vmx and boot your macOS once more to into your user account.
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