TUAW Tip: Check the list of files that get installed on your Mac

Most applications *don't* log anything from their install processes at all, so your post is inaccurate.

If you want to know after the event what went where, you have to enter the package receipt folder (e.g. /Library/Receipts/QuickTime716.pkg/Contents/) and run the 'lsbom' (list bill of materials) command on the BOM file (typically Archive.bom). This will show all the files installed by the package. Please note that the 'root' folder of the installation may not always be the root folder of your hard drive, so you also need to check the value of the IFPkgFlagDefaultLocation key in the Info.plist file in the same folder. Normally this will be '/' indicating the root folder of your hard drive, but sometimes it can be something else, such as /usr/local in the case of the MySQL database installer package from mysql.com.

In addition, you can check the Resources/ folder to see if there are any pre- or post-flight scripts. These are actions that are run by the installer before or after installation (there may also be upgrade scripts in there) in case the installer does anything else like adding new user accounts, changing folder permissions and so on.

I would like to stress though that you need to be highly familiar with Mac OS X and UNIX in general before you attempt to reverse any actions listed in these scripts, but I have often used these receipts to cleanly reverse installations of applications I no longer need; though preference files, application support and caches still need to be removed separately.

The BOM data is also the reason why you should *never* clean out the /Library/Receipts folder as it is used by the operating system to determine file ownership and permissions when running the fix permissions component of Disk Utility.

I would have to strongly disagree with the poster that, " most installers... should place a copy of the install log in ~/Library/Logs."

I find that most installer do not. In fact, the default location for install logs created by Apple's Installer.app is in /private/var/log/install.log (it's a single file). You'll find WAY more install logging in here.

Re: Leonard Nimrod

But that's what Apple recommends:

http://developer.apple.com/tools/installerpolicy.html

"The simplest solution is often the best. If possible, let the user simply drag a bundle from a mounted disk image or CD to the appropriate location on a drive. Apple recommends this type of installation whenever possible.
...
If you use a drag install, you can designate the initial application launch as an appropriate time to place files in specific locations."

I just installed an app to split up .mkv files, called MKVExtract, but the log was blank. I guess this tip does not work every time, or the author can forcefully disable it.

this is a great tip. i sometimes dont install some software if it uses a menubar or a system prefs icon. and even better way to do this is to use Pacifist. you get a hierachial view of the installed files rather than every file in a list. very easy on the eyes.

It's unfortunate that executing the application can then install other files/folders without your knowledge.

I use a Smart Folder to list all the newly created files/folders within a specified time frame.

PC users always claim we do not have the depth of functionality at our fingertips that they have. Soon that argument will never work again. Then what?

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