CTERA Agent Uninstallation Guide for macOS

Overview

This guide will help you completely remove the CTERA agent from your Mac, including all associated files, launch agents, and startup scripts.


Step 1: Quit the CTERA Agent

  1. Open Activity Monitor (Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor)
  2. Search for "CTERA" in the search box
  3. If found, select it and click the X button to force quit
  4. Close Activity Monitor

Step 2: Remove the Application

  1. Open Finder
  2. Navigate to Applications
  3. Find CTERA or CTERA Agent
  4. Right-click and select "Move to Trash" (or drag it to Trash)

Step 3: Remove Launch Agents

Launch agents are what's causing the application to reopen automatically. You need to remove these:

  1. In Finder, press Cmd + Shift + G to open "Go to Folder"
  2. Type this path: 
    ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
  3. Look for files with "CTERA" in the name, such as:
    • com.ctera.agent.plist
    • com.ctera.*.plist
    • Any file containing "CTERA"
  4. Drag these files to Trash

Step 4: Remove Launch Daemons (System-Level)

  1. Press Cmd + Shift + G again
  2. Type this path: 
    /Library/LaunchDaemons/
    Note: This is the root Library, not your user Library
  3. Look for CTERA-related files and drag them to Trash
  4. You may be prompted to enter your admin password

Step 5: Remove from Login Items

  1. Go to System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS)
  2. Click General in the sidebar
  3. Select Login Items (or General > Login Items depending on your version)
  4. Look for CTERA or CTERA Agent in the list
  5. Click the minus (-) button to remove it

Step 6: Empty the Trash

  1. Right-click the Trash icon in your Dock
  2. Select "Empty Trash"
  3. Wait for it to complete

Step 7: Verify Complete Removal

Restart your Mac to ensure CTERA doesn't relaunch:

  1. Restart your Mac (Apple menu > Restart)
  2. After restart, open Activity Monitor
  3. Search for "CTERA" – should return no results
  4. Open Terminal and run: 
    which ctera
    Should return "not found"

Verification Checklist

  • [ ] CTERA process quit in Activity Monitor
  • [ ] Application removed from Applications folder
  • [ ] Launch agents removed from ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
  • [ ] Launch daemons removed from /Library/LaunchDaemons/
  • [ ] CTERA removed from Login Items
  • [ ] Trash emptied
  • [ ] Mac restarted
  • [ ] No CTERA process in Activity Monitor after restart

Troubleshooting

Issue: CTERA keeps reappearing after quitting

Solution: You missed removing the launch agents. Follow Step 3 and Step 4 again, making sure you search carefully for all CTERA-related .plist files.

Issue: Permission denied when accessing LaunchDaemons

Solution: You need admin privileges. Either:

  1. Use sudo in Terminal: 
    sudo rm -rf /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.ctera*
  2. Or authenticate when prompted in Finder

Issue: Can't find CTERA files in LaunchAgents/LaunchDaemons

Solution: Show hidden files in Finder:

  1. Press Cmd + Shift + .
  2. This will show hidden files and folders
  3. Try searching again

Issue: Still seeing CTERA references after all steps

Solution: Clean up leftover files:

rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/CTERA
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.ctera*
rm -rf ~/.ctera

Alternative: Command Line Complete Removal

If you prefer to do everything via Terminal:

# Quit the process
pkill -f CTERA

# Remove application
rm -rf /Applications/CTERA*

# Remove launch agents
rm -rf ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.ctera*

# Remove launch daemons (requires sudo)
sudo rm -rf /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.ctera*

# Remove support files
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/CTERA
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.ctera*

# Empty trash
rm -rf ~/.Trash/com.ctera*

Verification Commands

Run these after uninstallation to confirm CTERA is gone:

# Check for running processes
ps aux | grep -i ctera

# Check Applications folder
ls -la /Applications | grep -i ctera

# Check LaunchAgents
ls -la ~/Library/LaunchAgents | grep -i ctera

# Check LaunchDaemons
ls -la /Library/LaunchDaemons | grep -i ctera

# All should return nothing or "No such file or directory"

Important Notes

  • Make sure you're not actively using CTERA before uninstalling
  • Back up any important CTERA configuration if needed before deletion
  • Some enterprise MDM solutions may reinstall CTERA automatically – if this happens, contact your IT administrator
  • Always empty Trash to completely remove files

Done!

CTERA should now be completely removed from your Mac. If you experience any issues or it reappears, please double-check the Launch Agents and Launch Daemons folders, as those are the most common culprits.