file with list of installed apps?

[nickdag]

Anybody got any ideas for this very trivial thing I want to do?

As part of my backup (forget about TM for a moment), I'd like to have a running list of all the applications (and possibly System Preference panes and anything else that you all might recommend) that I have installed. So, if I were to do a clean install, I would have a list of all the applications I wanted to re-install.

I'm not talking about backing up the applications themselves. I just want a stinkin' list. Is there some system file which I can backup then reference for this list? Some ls-type cron I can do of the Applications folder?

I want something totally simple and which I can setup once and forget about.

Make sense? Thanks much.
-nick

 

[GGJstudios]

Is there some system file which I can backup then reference for this list?

I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but System Profiler > Software > Applications has a list of installed apps and their version numbers.

 

[nickdag]

profiler is not automatic

Profiler info, while useful, is not continually and automatically updated. As far as I know, I have to open Profiler and use it to see and output the information.

The idea is that when a new app is installed, this list (wherever it is) is updated automatically. I would also include this list in any automatic backups I set. So, if I need to re-install, I'll have an up-to-date list of everything.

 

[Sc00tr]

In terminal, cd to the applications directory and just use the ls command. you can rap this into a script and set it to run at login.

something like this.
ls *.app > somefile.txt