Permissive Mode

Who needs Permissive Mode?

If you are using a stand-alone computer with local accounts and home directories, you don’t need Permissive Mode and you can skip this section. However, if your computer is bound to a company, school or university network with home directories mounted from a server, you may not be able to log in after installing Little Snitch without this mode. But don’t worry, Little Snitch activates Permissive Mode automatically after the initial installation, just in case you need it.

Why be permissive?

While no user is logged in or a login is in progress, Little Snitch cannot display connection alerts. Normally, suggestions are created for all connection attempts not covered by rules, but the connection attempt itself is denied. This can cause problems if a network connection is required for the login to succeed, e.g. if a network user account is used.

In Permissive Mode, connection attempts not covered by rules are automatically allowed, circumventing problems with network user accounts. You still get suggestions for connection attempts, but these suggestions automatically act as permanent rules.

Enabling Permissive Mode

Permissive Mode is enabled for the first start of your computer after you install Little Snitch to prevent the problem outlined above. If you ever need to restart your computer in Permissive Mode, you can do so in Little Snitch Configuration. Choose menu item Little Snitch Configuration > Restart in Permissive Mode….

You do not need Permissive Mode for non-essential connections which occur before you log in. These are listed under Login Connections in Little Snitch Configuration’s sidebar and rules can be created after login.