Yasu

Created with System Administrators who service large groups of Macintosh workstations in mind, Yasu (Yet Another System Utility) is an Apple OS X maintenance utility developed to do a specific group of tasks quickly within a few clicks, instead of endlessly typing shell script commands in the Terminal application.

Yasu window with default settings.

What Yasu Does

Yasu is a “Universal Binary” Macintosh utility that allows system administrators, as well as standard users, to conveniently run various system level Unix shell scripts which run maintenance routines and clear the many cache files used by OS X. Yasu is a simple, first line of attack for a workstation that has started “acting up.” More often than not, a thorough purge of the cache files of a Mac will bring its behavior back into line.

What Yasu Doesn’t Do

Yasu is not a solution for total system maintenance, and is not a replacement for the Unix “cron” or “launchd” daemons. While Yasu works great on its own for certain things, you should use it along with other utilities, such as DiskWarrior or TechTool Pro, to keep your system in optimal health.

So What’s The Difference?

One of the questions I get asked most is “Why should I use Yasu instead of one of those other utility applications?” It’s a good question. There are several similar utilities to choose from that do the same things as Yasu, and then some. But that’s just it, sometimes that “then some” is way too much for the average user. Tweaking some obscure Finder setting really doesn’t matter when it comes to keeping your Mac healthy. I intentionally developed Yasu to only contain the tasks that are most crucial to maintaining system health — and all in one window. Tasks aren’t spread out across several tabs for a user to switch back and forth between. Instead, all tasks are right there in one window, ready to run when you say go. Less really is more in this case.

Using Yasu

Once selecting which options you want to run and hitting the return key, if you’re logged in as an administrator, you’ll be prompted with an authentication dialog. Enter your user name & password and click “Okay” (or hit the “Return” key). If you are logged in as a non-admin level account, you’ll only be allowed to perform the standard user options. Additionally, no authentication dialog will appear when you click “Run” (or hit the “Return” key).

Important Note: Yasu can take a long time to run. It may seem as if the application is not doing anything, but rest assured that it is. It should be left alone to complete the tasks you have chosen to perform. It is recommended that you not run other applications while performing maintenance with Yasu. Also, you should be aware that if “Restart” or “Shutdown” when finished is selected, your workstation will do just that once all tasks have completed.

Once you’ve authenticated as an admin (if the tasks you’ve selected call for it), Yasu will present a “run panel” and begin performing each selected task, letting you know what’s going on. Once all tasks are complete, Yasu will perform which ever option you’ve selected in the finish menu.

Still Using OS X 10.2 – 10.3.9?

If you haven’t upgraded to OS X 10.4 or later yet, you can still download a free version of Yasu that works on those earlier systems by clicking here.

But Don’t Take My Word For It…

Check out what the following sites have to say about what Yasu does, and how to use it in regular troubleshooting and maintenance yourself…

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