Operation Not Permitted when on root - El Capitan (rootless disabled)

macos osx-elcapitan
Mark Bourke picture Mark Bourke · Sep 18, 2015 · Viewed 329.3k times · Source

I am trying to move something to /usr/bin on OS X El Capitan. I have disabled rootless using the following commands: sudo nvram boot-args="rootless=0"; sudo reboot, but I keep getting the same error:

MacBook-Air:~ Mark$ sudo cp class-dump /usr/bin
Password:
cp: /usr/bin/class-dump: Operation not permitted
MacBook-Air:~ Mark$ sudo mv class-dump /usr/bin
mv: rename class-dump to /usr/bin/class-dump: Operation not permitted

Answer

Mark Bourke picture Mark Bourke · Sep 18, 2015

Nvm. For anyone else having this problem you need to reboot your mac and press ⌘+R when booting up. Then go into Utilities > Terminal and type the following commands:

csrutil disable
reboot

This is a result of System Integrity Protection. More info here.

EDIT

If you know what you are doing and are used to running Linux, you should use the above solution as many of the SIP restrictions are a complete pain in the ass.

However, if you are a tinkerer/noob/"poweruser" and don't know what you are doing, this can be very dangerous and you are better off using the answer below.

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