In the examples below, the preferences are modified using the defaults command in the Terminal application. However, the information should be sufficient to configure Particulars with MDM or another deployment tool. (Not all configuration changes take effect immediately.)
Particulars has a special mode named 'Lab Mode' that disables end-user interaction with the application. In Lab Mode, Particulars must be configured using Managed Preferences or another deployment tool.
Lab Mode eases deployment of Particulars in a computer lab or other mass deployment. It changes the following about Particulars' behavior:
These changes combine to make the user interface of Particulars inaccessible. The value is boolean, meaning it will take true or false.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars labMode -bool true
Since all user interface elements are disabled in labMode, how to quit Particulars is not immediately obvious. To quit Particulars while in labMode, open the Terminal application and enter:
killall Particulars
On macOS Ventura and later, macOS presents a Login items added notification when Particulars enables Launch at Login. Additionally, macOS Ventura allows users to remove Login Items in System Settings. This behavior can be suppressed by an MDM. The following information can be used in a MDM Service Management Managed Login Items payload.
| Team Identifier | 2Z25XDNP2X |
|---|---|
| Particulars Bundle Identifier | net.glencode.Particulars |
| Particulars Launcher Bundle Identifier | net.glencode.ParticularsHelperApp |
When a Mac with Particulars enabled to launch at login is upgraded from macOS Monterey or earlier to macOS Ventura or later, Particulars migrates from launching Particulars Launcher to launching Particulars.
The standard Detail Levels can be configured as follows. The value is an integer.
| Level | Number |
|---|---|
| Hardware | 253 |
| Status | 2045 |
| Network | 4093 |
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars detailLevel -int 2045
Sets the display (or monitor) on which Particulars will show system information. If the display is later unavailable, Particulars will default back to the primary display.
The value is an integer, taking 2 for the 2nd display, for example.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars preferredDisplay -int 2
Sets the relative position of system information on the desktop.
The value is an integer following the layout below.
| 0 - Top Left | 1 - Top Center | 2 - Top Right |
| 3 - Middle Left | 4 - Middle Center | 5 - Middle Right |
| 6 - Bottom Left | 7 - Bottom Center | 8 - Bottom Right |
Values not documented in the table above are ignored and the default (Top Left) is used.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars desktopPosition -int 6
Sets the text theme. Each theme has a corresponding number. If using a custom theme see the section below.
| Theme | Number |
|---|---|
| Classic | 0 |
| System (Default) | 1 |
| Mono | 2 |
| Custom | 255 |
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars textTheme -int 1
Particulars has 3 options for the shade of the output. The value is an integer and the options are as follows:
| Shade | Number |
|---|---|
| Automatic | 0 |
| Light text (default) | 1 |
| Dark text | 2 |
Values not documented in the table above are ignored and the default is used.
The Automatic setting scans the current desktop picture to determine what setting to use. If battery life or performance is a concern, use 1 or 2.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars lightDarkText -int 2
Sets the text size. The default is 18. Values between 12 and 24 are typical.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars textSize -int 24
Sets the letter case of the labels. Each case option has a corresponding number.
| Case | Number |
|---|---|
| Unaltered | 0 |
| lower (Default) | 1 |
| UPPER | 2 |
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars labelCase -int 0
Determines whether the system information on the desktop has a drop shadow behind it. The value is boolean, meaning it will take true or false.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars dropShadow -bool true
When using a custom theme, fonts and colors for labels and values are stored in binary formats in the above named preferences. These binary formats makes them difficult to set with the defaults commands. They can be extracted from the preferences file and copied to other computers.
By default, Particulars only displays information about the primary active network interface. To show information about all active network interfaces, set allNetworkInterfaces. The value is boolean, meaning it will take true or false.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars allNetworkInterfaces -bool true
Particulars shows the DHCP server address and the length of the DHCP lease. Setting this preference will also show the remaining lease time. The value is boolean, meaning it will take true or false.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars dhcpLeaseRemaining -bool true
By default, MAC (Media Access Control) addresses are formatted with colon separators and in lowercase. There are other MAC address formats available.
| Number | Name | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Plain | lowercase, no separators | 0123456789ab |
| 1 | Unix (default) | lowercase, colon separated | 01:23:45:67:89:ab |
| 2 | Cisco | lowercase, dot separated | 0123.4567.89ab |
| 3 | Windows/IEEE | uppercase, dash separated | 01-23-45-67-89-AB |
The value is an integer. Values not documented in the table above are ignored and the default is used.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars macAddressFormat -int 2
By default, all network information is displayed. It is possible to construct a custom set of network information. To create a custom network detail level, take the numeric value of each particular piece of information in the table below and sum them.
| Interface name | 1 |
| MAC address | 4 |
| SSID | 8 |
| IPv4 addresses | 16 |
| DHCPv4 server and lease | 32 |
| IPv6 addresses | 64 |
| Router | 256 |
| DNS servers | 512 |
| DNS search domains | 1024 |
| Public IP address | 2048 |
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars networkDetailLevel -int 2933
When enabled, Particulars will post system notifications when it detects a change in the primary IPv4 address or the public IP address. Notifications are also governed by settings in the Notifications preference pane in System Preferences. The value is boolean, meaning it will take true or false.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars networkNotifications -bool true
Use this preference to have Particulars display subnet masks in the short CIDR (Classless Inter-domain Routing) notation. For example, 255.255.254.0 will show as /23. The value is boolean, meaning it will take true or false.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars subnetMaskCIDRNotation -bool true
Adds a count of CPU cores to the CPU item. The value is boolean, meaning it will take true or false. Changing this preference requires a restart of the application to take effect.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars coreCount -bool true
In addition to the pre-defined detail levels, it possible to construct a custom detail level. To create a custom detail level, take the numeric value of each particular piece of information in the table below and sum them.
| Computer name | 1 |
| Model identifier | 2 |
| Model name | 4 |
| Serial number | 8 |
| CPU/SoC | 16 |
| RAM | 32 |
| GPU | 64 |
| Operating system | 128 |
| Current user | 256 |
| Uptime | 512 |
| Disk free space | 1024 |
| Network | 2048 |
| Darwin version | 16384 |
| Model number | 32768 |
| Part number | 65536 |
For example, to only display Model name, Serial number, CPU, RAM, GPU and Operating system, the total is 252 (4+8+16+32+64+128).
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars detailLevel -int 252
Free/available disk space can be displayed in multiple ways. The value of the option is an integer.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars diskFreeSpace -int 1
By default, Particulars only shows disk space for the boot disk. Enable this preference to show disk space for other disks. The value is boolean, meaning it will take true or false.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars diskFreeSpaceNonBootVolumes -bool true
On first run, Particulars displays a welcome window that describes how it runs on the Desktop and then hides all other apps and opens the preferences window. To skip this first run experience, set this preference. (As mentioned above, enabling labMode implies this setting.)
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars firstRunDone -bool true
Header text or footer text is displayed on the desktop in a separate paragraph above or below all particulars. These preferences support line breaks with the use of \n in the string. Any leading or trailing whitespace is removed.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars headerText "This Mac is property of Burger Bell"
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars headerText "Text on line 1\nText on line 2"
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars footerText "For technical support call ext 1701"
If setting headerText or footerText using Managed Preferences with a property list file, multi-line strings must be formatted in-line with newlines and no leading whitespace on subsequent lines:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>footerText</key> <string>Text on line 1 Text on line 2</string> </dict> </plist>
Enabling this removes Particulars from the macOS Dock. Enabling or disabling this preference from Terminal will automatically restart Particulars and open the Preferences window. The value is boolean, meaning it will take true or false. (As mentioned above, enabling labMode implies this setting.)
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars hideDockIcon -bool true
When Particulars is running with the Dock icon shown, it will be hidden along with all other apps when one selects Hide Others from another application's menu. This preference keeps Particulars visible. The value is boolean, meaning it will take true or false.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars ignoreHiding -bool true
This preference adds the operating system version's marketing name (e.g., Big Sur, Catalina, etc) to the Operating system particular output. The value is boolean, meaning it will take true or false.
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars operatingSystemVersionName -bool true
Adds an item to the macOS menu bar that allows quick access to preferences, copying, and other functions. The value is boolean, meaning it will take true or false. (As mentioned above, enabling labMode overrides this setting.)
defaults write net.glencode.Particulars showMenuBarExtra -bool true