Automatically activate the Java web plug-ins setting on Mac OS X 10.6.x

One of the features of Apple’s Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 9 update is that this Java update for Mac OS X 10.6.8 turns off the automatic execution of Java applets through web browsers.

The Java update does allow for the automatic execution of Java applets to be re-enabled through the browser. However, if it’s been a while since a Java applet was launched, then automatic execution of Java applets is once again automatically disabled.

The good news is that Apple is using exactly the same method to disable Java on 10.6.8 that they used on 10.7.x. I’ve tested my existing script / LaunchAgent combination on a 10.6.8 test Mac and it works without any modifications.

On 10.6.8 and higher, the script will enable the Enable applet plug-in and Web Start Applications setting in the Java Preferences application.The LaunchAgent runs the script on login to any user account with the logging-in user’s privileges and permissions. It’s available here on my GitHub repo.