Lesson 13: Manage System Resources

Question 1

What are the four default top-level folders visible in the Finder?

Answer 1

The four default top-level folders visible in the Finder are:

1. Applications, containing applications to which all local users have access
2. Library, containing system resources to which all local users have access
3. System, containing necessary system resources
4. Users, containing all the local user home folders

Question 2

What are six common system resources?

What purpose does each resource serve?

Where are they located in the file hierarchy?

Answer 2

Six common system resources are:

1. Extensions, which attach themselves to the system kernel to provide hardware and peripheral driver support;
2. Frameworks, which are shared code libraries that provide additional software resources for both applications and system processes
3. Fonts
4. Preference files, which contain application and system configuration information
5. LaunchAgents and LaunchDaemons, used by launchd to provide services that automatically start when they are needed, at system startup, or at user login
6. Logs, which are text files that contain error and progress entries from nearly any application or system service

Question 3

What are the four system resource domains?

What purpose does each domain serve?

Answer 3

The four system resource domains are:

1. User, containing applications and system resources specific to each user account
2. Local, containing applications and system resources available to all users on the local Mac
3. Network (optional), containing applications and system resources available to any Mac that has an automated network share
4. System, containing applications and system resources required to provide basic system functionality

Question 4

What purpose does the ~/Library/Containers folder serve?

What items are found in this folder?

Answer 4

The ~/Library/Containers folder contains resources for sandboxed applications.

The system creates and maintains a separate container folder for each sandboxed application.

A sandboxed application is more secure because it can only access items inside its container.

Question 5

What purpose does the ~/Library/Group Containers folder serve?

What items are found in this folder?

Answer 5

The ~/Library/Group Containers folder contains resources for sandboxed applications that are also shared with other applications.

The system creates and maintains a separate group container folder for each sandboxed application that specifies a need to share resources with other applications.

Only items intended for sharing will be located in a group containers folder.

Question 6

What happens when a user double-clicks a font file?

Answer 6

When you open a font file, macOS will open a preview of the font in the Font Book application.

From here, you can click the Install Font button to copy the font into ~/Library/Fonts.

Question 7

How can you identify duplicate fonts?

Answer 7

The Font Book application shows a small dot next to the name of any font that has duplicate resources.

Question 8

How does System Integrity Protection (SIP) help ensure that macOS system resources remain secure?

Answer 8

SIP prevents users and processes with administrator or root access from modifying core macOS system items.

Protected items include:
• /System
• /bin
• /sbin
• /usr
• Core system applications