Apple server issue caused app install, macOS update failures, runtime problems

For a few hours on Thursday, a problem with an Apple certificate checking function was causing apps to hang on launch, and as good portion of the macOS Big Sur update failures.

Specifically, a process called "trustd" is failing when attempting to connect to Apple's Online Certificate Status Protocol website (oscp.apple.com), according to developer Jeff Johnson. A number of reports indicate sluggish app performance, with some believing a crush of users upgrading to macOS Big Sur is to blame.

Johnson discovered the root of the issue using Little Snitch after he experienced apps hanging on launch in macOS Mojave. Johnson points out that denying the connection between "trustd" and oscp.apple.com fixes the issue, as does disabling a Mac's connection to the internet.

Hey Apple users:

If you're now experiencing hangs launching apps on the Mac, I figured out the problem using Little Snitch.

It's trustd connecting to https://t.co/FzIGwbGRan

Denying that connection fixes it, because OCSP is a soft failure.

(Disconnect internet also fixes.) pic.twitter.com/w9YciFltrb
— Jeff Johnson (@lapcatsoftware) November 12, 2020

As Johnson points out in subsequent tweets, users must deny the connection for both system and user.

Apple's system status page as of 4:50 p.m. Eastern.

It isn't clear what the specific problem is with Apple's OSCP mechanism, but Apple notes that it is having performance issues with its Developer ID Notary Service and other functions. That's in addition to a number of other outages affecting Apple Maps, Apple Card, and iMessage as of 4:50 p.m. Eastern (1:52 p.m. Pacific).

Update, 5 p.m. Eastern: Apple's server outage has seemingly spread to Apple Card, Apple Pay, Maps and Messages, which are all experiencing issues.

Update, 5:30 p.m. Eastern: Certain issues have been resolved, including the app install problem, though Maps and Messages are still down.

11 Comments

docno42 3761 comments · 16 Years

About 4 years ago

First YouTube has a 2 or so outage last night, now Apple...

dustin91 2 comments · 4 Years

CRUD!!! I installed the latest Mojave update and thought that's what was causing all the issues, so I'm in the process now of restoring from a Carbon Copy clone. Might have all been for naught... GRRRR.

StrangeDays 12959 comments · 8 Years

docno42 said:

First YouTube has a 2 or so outage last night, now Apple...

It's almost like keeping complex global systems working 24/7 involves massively complex systems engineering and a million moving pieces.

zmaxman 14 comments · 14 Years

Having trouble downloading Big Sur as well - think the system is overloaded

gmgravytrain 884 comments · 8 Years

I was so anxious to download Big Sur to my 2018 6-core i7 Mac Mini running Catalina but I started to download Big Sur and it stopped cold at 42B(ytes), so I said to myself, "Nope, I'm going to wait a couple of more days and see if there are any problems with Big Sur." I figured the servers might be overloaded and there was no actual need for me to rush to download it.

My other computer started to act all strangely when I booted it up and startup applications took forever to launch. It was working fine earlier in the morning when I shut it down. I could find nothing wrong with it. Eventually, applications started moving faster, and then everything was back to normal speed. I thought it was so weird. I guess it was the certificate problem as it cleared itself up. I was also on the latest version of Mojave OS.