Core Helper (Obsoleted)

Howtos
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:reminder_ribbon: Core Helper is not required for Core Shell (Setapp)

In order to work with local terminal, authentication agent, system configurations and other advanced features, you must install Core Helper.

How to install?

  1. Download Core Helper Installer application using the link below:

  2. When the download is complete, launch Core Helper Installer by double-clicking it.

  3. After Core Helper has been installed, enable it in Preferences:
    image

Why is this necessary?

The apps on the Mac App Store must be sandboxed, it means they can't communicate with other apps so there is no way to access local shell nor authentication agent (like ssh-agent) in the App Store version of Core Shell / Core Tunnel. We have introduced an optional Helper tool which makes Core Shell / Core Tunnel work with local shell, authentication agent (e.g. ssh-agent, gpg-agent), system configurations and other advanced features.

The first time you turn on one of those features, it will prompt you to download the Core Helper. The Core Helper only runs when you make a shell / tunnel connection.

Uninstall

It's safe to uninstall the Core Helper, however, all features rely on it will be disabled after uninstallation.

To uninstall Core Helper, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Terminal application, type in launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/E78WKS7W4U.io.coressh.helper.plist and press Enter to unload Core Helper.
  2. Run command rm -rf ~/Library/LaunchAgents/E78WKS7W4U.io.coressh.helper.plist to remove the plist file.
  3. Delete the app using command rm -rf ~/Library/Group\ Containers/E78WKS7W4U.io.coressh/io.coressh.Helper.app.

Features that require Core Helper

  1. Open local terminal window / tab (Core Shell specific)
  2. Access authentication agent (e.g. ssh-agent, gpg-agent)
  3. Reuse of /etc/ssh_config and ~/.ssh/config
  4. Reuse of /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts and ~/.ssh/known_hosts
  5. X11 forwarding
  6. Set one of following ssh directives:
    • ProxyCommand
    • ProxyUseFdpass
    • UserKnownHostsFile
    • CertificateFile
    • IdentityAgent
    • IdentityFile
    • Include
    • ControlMaster
    • ControlPath
    • ControlPersist
    • LocalCommand
    • PermitLocalCommand
    • PKCS11Provider
    • SecurityKeyProvider
    • XAuthLocation
    • KnownHostsCommand

Troubleshooting

The operation couldn’t be completed. (CFErrorDomainLaunchd error 9.)

Core Helper is a tiny Launch Agent (a background task managed by system launchd), launchd starts it on demand.

If you got this error message while reinstalling or upgrading Core Helper, it's very likely the Core Helper launch agent was permanent disabled by you or a third-party app (e.g. CleanMyMac).

Run this command in Terminal.app:

launchctl print-disabled user/$UID | grep io.coressh.Helper

If you get this result:

        "io.coressh.Helper" => true

Now you have the evidence that Core Helper was disabled. To re-enable Core Helper, run command:

launchctl enable user/$UID/io.coressh.Helper

Then proceed to reinstall or upgrade Core Helper as normal.

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