How To Manage System Integrity Protection on Mac
System Integrity Protection, or SIP, was introduced with the OS X El Capitan. It is designed to act as an additional security measure against the most threatening malware by limiting root access to the system. Before SIP, the root user account had full access, something that malware threats could exploit to perform a multitude of nefarious actions. Now, such access is restricted by SIP and certain actions will not be permitted, for example adding code into system processes or trying to modify protected locations. If you see the 'Operation not permitted while System Integrity Protection is engaged,' then you have encroached onto SIP's authority.
Disabling SIP
Generally, it is not recommended to stop SIP from working but, if you want to perform a specific action and the protection system is getting in the way, just follow the steps below.
- Click the Apple logo on the Menu bar.
- Select Restart.
- Press and hold Command+R on your keyboard to start the Mac into Recovery Mode.
- Select Utilities followed by Terminal.
- Type csrutil disable into Terminal's window and press Return or Enter on your keyboard.
- Click the Apple logo and select Restart once more.
Turning SIP back on
To enable SIP follow the first four steps of the process. Once inside the Terminal window, this time type the csrutil enable command and then restart your Mac for the change to take effect.