Automator script not running at specified interval, and not automatically running when launched

Question

Automator script not running at specified interval, and not automatically running when launched

I've got a an Automator script that copies files off a connected external SSD to an internal folder, which is backed up to Dropbox.

If I run the script manually it works. But, I checked, and when the computer's user logs in, the script just pops up with an option for me to manually run it.

After I do that, I would expect it would run based on the interval I specified. However, I ran it last night, and left the computer logged in, and it should've ran multiple times since then. But, nothing new has been copied over.

Here's the Automator script:

rsync -av --exclude 'RC_Data_FMS' --exclude 'Sample' --del /Volumes/SSD/Backup_External/ /Users/computer/Dropbox/Filemaker/backups

Here's the plist file located in the ~/Library/LaunchAgents folder:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<dict>

<key>KeepAlive</key>

<key>Label</key>

<string>FMS Backup</string>

<key>ProgramArguments</key>

<array>

<string>/Users/computer/Desktop/FMS Backup.app</string>

</array>

<key>RunAtLoad</key>

<true/>

<key>StartInterval</key>

<key>Minute</key>

</dict>

</plist>

Mac mini, macOS 14.7

Posted on Apr 18, 2025 10:39 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Camelot

Level 9

58,311 points

Apr 18, 2025 1:14 PM in response to Tech-RainDefense

Lots to unpack here.

Ordinarily, an Automator app wouldn't display a popup to run, which makes me wonder what your workflow looks like. What (other?) actions are in your workflow?

Secondly, if your workflow just calls that shell command (presumably via a Run Shell Script action, why bother using Automator at all, when you can just write that shell script, or literally invoke rsync directly in your launchAgent .plist

That said, the fundamental problem with your script is that StartInterval is defined as a number of seconds between launches. There is no inherent support for the Minute parameter. If you want your script to run every 45 minutes, then you should have:

	<key>StartInterval</key>
	<integer>2700</integer>

Where 2,700 seconds equates to 45 minutes.

Alternatively, if you mean your script to run at every 45 minutes past the hour, that requries

	<key>StartCalendarInterval</key>
	<dict>
        <key>Minute</key>
	    <integer>45</integer>
    </dict>

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