Over at the ZeroTier forum is a thread:
The thread covers two distinct problems:
- The
ZeroTier One.pkgpackage downloaded from ZeroTier.com won't install on macOS Ventura. - The package installs but the associated app won't start and the menu bar item is not present.
I had the second problem on a new M2 MacBook Pro (Ventura 13.4) where I had used Apple's Migration Agent to migrate from an old Intel MacBookPro which had been running Big Sur.
I tried re-installing the ZeroTier One.pkg package but it made no difference. However, the zerotier-cli command line tool showed the M2 MacBook Pro had joined my ZeroTier Cloud network, and reachability tests showed it was functioning normally in the sense of forwarding traffic between clients.
At more or less the same time I had also upgraded an Intel iMac from Mojave to Ventura. The ZeroTier app and menu bar item behaved normally on that system. This suggested the problem might be related to Apple Silicon, which was a theory also raised by other people posting on the thread.
There was a brief side-trip exploring whether or not the menu bar item was present but was obscured by the "notch". That included a discussion of tools such as Bartender, Hidden Bar and Dozer. I installed Hidden Bar and it was quite helpful in demonstrating that the "notch" wasn't implicated.
Since contributing to the thread, I have had the opportunity to install the ZeroTier One.pkg package on a "clean skin" M2 MacMini, also running macOS Ventura 13.4. That went without a hitch and both the app and menu bar item behaved normally.
In the Venn Diagram of these things, that left the Migration Agent process as the prime suspect. This, too, was mentioned by another contributor to the thread who had migrated from Mojave to an M2 MacBook Air running Ventura 13.2.1.
One thing I noticed when installing ZeroTier One.pkg on the M2 MacMini was a Gatekeeper request to authorise ZeroTier's participation in System Events. I did not get a similar request from either the Intel iMac or the M2 MacBook Pro, implying that the authorisation had persisted across the OS upgrade (Intel iMac) and migration (M2 MacBook Pro). That was the clue I needed.
On the M2 MacBookPro, I went to:
- System Settings
- Privacy & Security
- Automation
- Privacy & Security
ZeroTier was in the list. Clicking the disclosure triangle showed "System Events" enabled. I disabled it, then re-enabled it, rebooted, launched the ZeroTier app from the Applications folder and, bingo, the menu bar item appeared.
It's the old "have you tried turning it off and on again" trick!
If you're reading this you may be wondering why I'm posting this information as a gist instead of adding it to the thread on the ZeroTier forum?
That's a very good question.
I did try adding it to the thread.
However, some technoweenie forum bwana has decreed that thou shalt not contribute more than thrice to any given thread. Having made three posts while trying to get to the bottom of this problem, it seems I'm not now allowed to mention that I have, in fact, found the solution.
The Pythonesque error message (proceedeth thou not beyond three; four is right out) proposes overcoming this restriction by editing an existing post but there seems to be no obvious way of doing that. And, trust me, I've clicked on every widget I can spot. If there's an editing button somewhere, it's very well hidden.
I wondered if deleting one of my earlier posts would allow me to add one more. The earlier post is gone but it still counts against my three.
Did I consider starting another thread on the forum? Yes.
Did I consider registering another username? Yes.
Did I do either? Nope. It seems to me that there is vey little to be gained from arguing with, or trying to find workarounds for, this kind of brainlessness.