Forced shutdown at scheduled time

[ferjilo]

Hi

Our Mac is scheduled to shutdown at a certain time every night. It is used by children and I want to prevent that they cancel the shutdown, is there any way to force the shutdown at the scheduled time? Eg no warning dialog, etc. Thanks

 

[Gregg2]

Have you explored System Preferences > Parental Controls ?

 

[ferjilo]

Have you explored System Preferences > Parental Controls ?

Yes. Parental controls are REALLY STUPID at Mac OS. You can set up a lock time but during that time the computer does not shutdown! You need to enter an admin password so it’s better just to schedule shutdown

 

[Gregg2]

try this:
https://technet2u.com/create-schedule-to-shutdown-mac-os-x-automatically/

more comprehensive:
https://www.imore.com/parental-controls-mac-ultimate-guide

 

[ferjilo]

try this:
https://technet2u.com/create-schedule-to-shutdown-mac-os-x-automatically/

more comprehensive:
https://www.imore.com/parental-controls-mac-ultimate-guide

Thank you Gregg2 for your support. Unfortunately those tutorials show what I have setup, a scheduled time lock and a scheduled shutdown, but that’s what doesn’t work well.

At shutdown time the children just cancel the countdown and afterwards the time lock will block the computer but it will still be on. If a defined time lock is set (e.g. at 1am) and the shutdown is scheduled after it (eg at 1:10am), then it does not shut it down and it simply stays locked. Pretty stupid I guess.

 

[ferjilo]

I’ve found a way to force shutdown without warning, so for future searches on the forum:

open terminal and type
sudo crontab -e

If you want the Mac to shutdown everyday at 10:30pm type
30 22 * * * /sbin/shutdown -h now

Save and exit (press Esc key, then type ZZ)

PS: it works perfect. Even if the Mac is on Lockscreen it will be turned off