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514094f9 1<?xml version="1.0"?>
d3fae78f 2<!DOCTYPE refsection PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
12b42c76 3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd">
d3fae78f 4
f48f7543 5<!--
db9ecf05 6 SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later
96b2fb93 7 Copyright © 2014 Josh Triplett
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8-->
9
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10<refsection>
11 <refsection id='confd'>
12 <title>Configuration Directories and Precedence</title>
13
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14 <para>Configuration files are read from directories in <filename>/etc/</filename>,
15 <filename>/run/</filename>, <filename>/usr/local/lib/</filename>, and <filename>/usr/lib/</filename>, in
37b22b3b 16 order of precedence, as listed in the SYNOPSIS section above. Files must have the
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17 <literal>.conf</literal> extension. Files in <filename>/etc/</filename> override files with the same name
18 in <filename>/run/</filename>, <filename>/usr/local/lib/</filename>, and
19 <filename>/usr/lib/</filename>. Files in <filename>/run/</filename> override files with the same name
20 under <filename>/usr/</filename>.</para>
5ae4336a 21
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22 <para>All configuration files are sorted by their filename in lexicographic order, regardless of which of
23 the directories they reside in. If multiple files specify the same option, the entry in the file with the
24 lexicographically latest name will take precedence. Thus, the configuration in a certain file may either
25 be replaced completely (by placing a file with the same name in a directory with higher priority), or
26 individual settings might be changed (by specifying additional settings in a file with a different name
27 that is ordered later).</para>
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29 <para>Packages should install their configuration files in <filename>/usr/lib/</filename> (distribution
30 packages) or <filename>/usr/local/lib/</filename> (local installs). Files in <filename>/etc/</filename>
31 are reserved for the local administrator, who may use this logic to override the configuration files
32 installed by vendor packages. It is recommended to prefix all filenames with a two-digit number and a
33 dash, to simplify the ordering of the files.</para>
34
35 <para>If the administrator wants to disable a configuration file supplied by the vendor, the recommended
36 way is to place a symlink to <filename>/dev/null</filename> in the configuration directory in
37 <filename>/etc/</filename>, with the same filename as the vendor configuration file. If the vendor
38 configuration file is included in the initrd image, the image has to be regenerated.</para>
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39 </refsection>
40
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41 <refsection id='main-conf'>
42 <title>Configuration Directories and Precedence</title>
43
a7a18878 44 <para>The default configuration is set during compilation, so configuration is only needed when it is
c76f2fb0 45 necessary to deviate from those defaults. The main configuration file is either in
cae6ba72 46 <filename>/usr/lib/systemd/</filename> or <filename>/etc/systemd/</filename> and contains commented out
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47 entries showing the defaults as a guide to the administrator. Local overrides can be created by creating
48 drop-ins, as described below. The main configuration file can also be edited for this purpose (or a copy
cae6ba72 49 in <filename>/etc/</filename> if it's shipped in <filename>/usr/</filename>) however using drop-ins for
c76f2fb0 50 local configuration is recommended over modifications to the main configuration file.</para>
e93549ef 51
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52 <para>In addition to the "main" configuration file, drop-in configuration snippets are read from
53 <filename>/usr/lib/systemd/*.conf.d/</filename>, <filename>/usr/local/lib/systemd/*.conf.d/</filename>,
54 and <filename>/etc/systemd/*.conf.d/</filename>. Those drop-ins have higher precedence and override the
55 main configuration file. Files in the <filename>*.conf.d/</filename> configuration subdirectories are
56 sorted by their filename in lexicographic order, regardless of in which of the subdirectories they
57 reside. When multiple files specify the same option, for options which accept just a single value, the
58 entry in the file sorted last takes precedence, and for options which accept a list of values, entries
59 are collected as they occur in the sorted files.</para>
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61 <para>When packages need to customize the configuration, they can install drop-ins under
62 <filename>/usr/</filename>. Files in <filename>/etc/</filename> are reserved for the local administrator,
63 who may use this logic to override the configuration files installed by vendor packages. Drop-ins have to
64 be used to override package drop-ins, since the main configuration file has lower precedence. It is
65 recommended to prefix all filenames in those subdirectories with a two-digit number and a dash, to
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66 simplify the ordering of the files. This also defined a concept of drop-in priority to allow
67 distributions to ship drop-ins within a specific range lower than the range used by users. This should
68 lower the risk of package drop-ins overriding accidentally drop-ins defined by users.</para>
e93549ef 69
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70 <para>To disable a configuration file supplied by the vendor, the recommended way is to place a symlink
71 to <filename>/dev/null</filename> in the configuration directory in <filename>/etc/</filename>, with the
72 same filename as the vendor configuration file.</para>
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73 </refsection>
74</refsection>