Automatically enable the Java web plug-ins setting in Safari 6.0.3 and later

One of the features of Apple’s Safari 6.0.3 update is that it turns off the automatic execution of Java applets through Safari, even if the Java browser plug-in is otherwise enabled.

Safari 6.0.3 does allow for the automatic execution of Java applets to be re-enabled through the browser. However, if it’s been a while since a Java applet was launched, then automatic execution of Java applets is once again automatically disabled.

This was going to be an issue at my workplace, as we have a couple of applications that rely on Java applets running through the browser. Fortunately, I already had a fix for this issue; it just needed to be updated with some additional commands.

To make this work, I’ve written a script and launch agent combination. The script will perform a couple of tasks:

1. Set the com.apple.WebKit.JavaPlugInLastUsedTimestamp plist key in ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist

2. Enable the Enable applet plug-in and Web Start Applications setting in the Java Preferences application.

#!/bin/sh

# DYNAMICALLY SET THE UUID FOR THE BYHOST FILE NAMING
if [[ `ioreg -rd1 -c IOPlatformExpertDevice | grep -i "UUID" | cut -c27-50` == "00000000-0000-1000-8000-" ]]; then
        MAC_UUID=`ioreg -rd1 -c IOPlatformExpertDevice | grep -i "UUID" | cut -c51-62 | awk {'print tolower()'}`
elif [[ `ioreg -rd1 -c IOPlatformExpertDevice | grep -i "UUID" | cut -c27-50` != "00000000-0000-1000-8000-" ]]; then
        MAC_UUID=`ioreg -rd1 -c IOPlatformExpertDevice | grep -i "UUID" | cut -c27-62`
fi

# Enable Java browser plug-ins in Safari 6.0.3 and later
# for the current user by setting the com.apple.WebKit.JavaPlugInLastUsedTimestamp
# key in ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist

/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete :com.apple.WebKit.JavaPlugInLastUsedTimestamp" $HOME/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Add :com.apple.WebKit.JavaPlugInLastUsedTimestamp real $(( $(date "+%s") - 978307200 ))" $HOME/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist
/usr/bin/plutil -convert xml1 $HOME/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist

# Set the the "Enable applet plug-in and Web Start Applications" setting in
# the Java Preferences for the current user.

/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete :GeneralByTask:Any:WebComponentsEnabled" $HOME/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.java.JavaPreferences.${MAC_UUID}.plist
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Add :GeneralByTask:Any:WebComponentsEnabled bool true" $HOME/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.java.JavaPreferences.${MAC_UUID}.plist
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete :GeneralByTask:Any:WebComponentsLastUsed" $HOME/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.java.JavaPreferences.${MAC_UUID}.plist
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Add :GeneralByTask:Any:WebComponentsLastUsed real $(( $(date "+%s") - 978307200 ))" $HOME/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.java.JavaPreferences.${MAC_UUID}.plist
/usr/bin/plutil -convert xml1 $HOME/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.java.JavaPreferences.${MAC_UUID}.plist

# Forces preferences to be re-read

/usr/bin/killall cfprefsd

The LaunchAgent runs the script on login to any user account with the logging-in user’s privileges and permissions.

You can find the updated script here on my GitHub repo:

https://github.com/rtrouton/rtrouton_scripts/tree/master/rtrouton_scripts/enable_java_web_plugins_at_login