Nick, I am glad you figured out before I had to type too much. ;-) Please refer to: https://guide.macports.org/#installing.macports.source.multiple (section 2.2.4) and observe several rules. In particular it looks like you are still missing *--with-applications-dir=XXX* and*--without-startupitems*.
Also on my controlled Mac where I do not have any admin privileges, I do not use *--with-install-user* or *--with-install-group*. I simply run configure while logged in as the desired user and group. On Wed, Jul 2, 2025 at 5:11 PM Nick <[email protected]> wrote: > Found the issue, my PATH was pointing to an older macports binary which > used different macports.conf! No help required now. > > On Wed, Jul 2, 2025 at 6:57 PM Nick <[email protected]> wrote: > >> My proposal here is to create a new user account for macports and >> development work. Logged into this account 'mp0' I tried: >> >> ./configure --with-no-root-privileges --prefix=${HOME]/mp-install >> --with-install-user=mp0 --with-install-group=mp0 >> make >> make install >> >> However, now when I try to install a port I get an error that macports >> has insufficient privileges to write to the install directory. I can touch >> files in this directory without any error. >> >> Does anyone have suggestions on resolving this? >> >> I created the account using dscl, not sure if there is something that I >> should be aware of doing this. >> >> Thanks! >> >> On Wed, Jul 2, 2025 at 5:16 PM Nick <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> What are best practices in sandboxing MacPorts to a non-admin user >>> account and still retaining the ability to use XQuartz? >>> >>> For instance, I would like to invoke all applications as a certain user, >>> without administrative privileges, however at the same time still be able >>> to use XQuartz graphically from my privileged account. I was hoping XQuartz >>> could be installed specific to this non-admin user as well. Unsure if such >>> isolation is possible. >>> >>> I'm doing some sandbox testing. I see a 'macports' user, however in my >>> first installation many of the files in /opt/local are owned by root. I >>> was hoping to install a specific to a user account for all MacPorts. >>> >>
