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1 <?xml version='1.0'?>
2 <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd" [
4 <!ENTITY % entities SYSTEM "custom-entities.ent" >
5 %entities;
6 ]>
7 <!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later -->
8
9 <refentry id="systemd.unit"
10 xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
11
12 <refentryinfo>
13 <title>systemd.unit</title>
14 <productname>systemd</productname>
15 </refentryinfo>
16
17 <refmeta>
18 <refentrytitle>systemd.unit</refentrytitle>
19 <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
20 </refmeta>
21
22 <refnamediv>
23 <refname>systemd.unit</refname>
24 <refpurpose>Unit configuration</refpurpose>
25 </refnamediv>
26
27 <refsynopsisdiv>
28 <para><filename><replaceable>service</replaceable>.service</filename>,
29 <filename><replaceable>socket</replaceable>.socket</filename>,
30 <filename><replaceable>device</replaceable>.device</filename>,
31 <filename><replaceable>mount</replaceable>.mount</filename>,
32 <filename><replaceable>automount</replaceable>.automount</filename>,
33 <filename><replaceable>swap</replaceable>.swap</filename>,
34 <filename><replaceable>target</replaceable>.target</filename>,
35 <filename><replaceable>path</replaceable>.path</filename>,
36 <filename><replaceable>timer</replaceable>.timer</filename>,
37 <filename><replaceable>slice</replaceable>.slice</filename>,
38 <filename><replaceable>scope</replaceable>.scope</filename></para>
39
40 <refsect2>
41 <title>System Unit Search Path</title>
42
43 <para><literallayout><filename>/etc/systemd/system.control/*</filename>
44 <filename>/run/systemd/system.control/*</filename>
45 <filename>/run/systemd/transient/*</filename>
46 <filename>/run/systemd/generator.early/*</filename>
47 <filename>/etc/systemd/system/*</filename>
48 <filename>/etc/systemd/system.attached/*</filename>
49 <filename>/run/systemd/system/*</filename>
50 <filename>/run/systemd/system.attached/*</filename>
51 <filename>/run/systemd/generator/*</filename>
52 <filename index='false'></filename>
53 <filename>/usr/lib/systemd/system/*</filename>
54 <filename>/run/systemd/generator.late/*</filename></literallayout></para>
55 </refsect2>
56
57 <refsect2>
58 <title>User Unit Search Path</title>
59 <para><literallayout><filename>~/.config/systemd/user.control/*</filename>
60 <filename>$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/systemd/user.control/*</filename>
61 <filename>$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/systemd/transient/*</filename>
62 <filename>$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/systemd/generator.early/*</filename>
63 <filename>~/.config/systemd/user/*</filename>
64 <filename>$XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/systemd/user/*</filename>
65 <filename>/etc/systemd/user/*</filename>
66 <filename>$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/systemd/user/*</filename>
67 <filename>/run/systemd/user/*</filename>
68 <filename>$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/systemd/generator/*</filename>
69 <filename>$XDG_DATA_HOME/systemd/user/*</filename>
70 <filename>$XDG_DATA_DIRS/systemd/user/*</filename>
71 <filename index='false'></filename>
72 <filename>/usr/lib/systemd/user/*</filename>
73 <filename>$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/systemd/generator.late/*</filename></literallayout></para>
74 </refsect2>
75
76 </refsynopsisdiv>
77
78 <refsect1>
79 <title>Description</title>
80
81 <para>A unit file is a plain text ini-style file that encodes information about a service, a
82 socket, a device, a mount point, an automount point, a swap file or partition, a start-up
83 target, a watched file system path, a timer controlled and supervised by
84 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>, a
85 resource management slice or a group of externally created processes. See
86 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.syntax</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>
87 for a general description of the syntax.</para>
88
89 <para>This man page lists the common configuration options of all
90 the unit types. These options need to be configured in the [Unit]
91 or [Install] sections of the unit files.</para>
92
93 <para>In addition to the generic [Unit] and [Install] sections
94 described here, each unit may have a type-specific section, e.g.
95 [Service] for a service unit. See the respective man pages for
96 more information:
97 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
98 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.socket</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
99 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.device</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
100 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.mount</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
101 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.automount</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
102 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.swap</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
103 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.target</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
104 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.path</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
105 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
106 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.slice</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
107 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.scope</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
108 </para>
109
110 <para>Unit files are loaded from a set of paths determined during compilation, described in the next
111 section.</para>
112
113 <para>Valid unit names consist of a "name prefix" and a dot and a suffix specifying the unit type. The
114 "unit prefix" must consist of one or more valid characters (ASCII letters, digits, <literal>:</literal>,
115 <literal>-</literal>, <literal>_</literal>, <literal>.</literal>, and <literal>\</literal>). The total
116 length of the unit name including the suffix must not exceed 256 characters. The type suffix must be one
117 of <literal>.service</literal>, <literal>.socket</literal>, <literal>.device</literal>,
118 <literal>.mount</literal>, <literal>.automount</literal>, <literal>.swap</literal>,
119 <literal>.target</literal>, <literal>.path</literal>, <literal>.timer</literal>,
120 <literal>.slice</literal>, or <literal>.scope</literal>.</para>
121
122 <para>Units names can be parameterized by a single argument called the "instance name". The unit is then
123 constructed based on a "template file" which serves as the definition of multiple services or other
124 units. A template unit must have a single <literal>@</literal> at the end of the name (right before the
125 type suffix). The name of the full unit is formed by inserting the instance name between
126 <literal>@</literal> and the unit type suffix. In the unit file itself, the instance parameter may be
127 referred to using <literal>%i</literal> and other specifiers, see below.</para>
128
129 <para>Unit files may contain additional options on top of those
130 listed here. If systemd encounters an unknown option, it will
131 write a warning log message but continue loading the unit. If an
132 option or section name is prefixed with <option>X-</option>, it is
133 ignored completely by systemd. Options within an ignored section
134 do not need the prefix. Applications may use this to include
135 additional information in the unit files.</para>
136
137 <para>Units can be aliased (have an alternative name), by creating a symlink from the new name to the
138 existing name in one of the unit search paths. For example, <filename>systemd-networkd.service</filename>
139 has the alias <filename>dbus-org.freedesktop.network1.service</filename>, created during installation as
140 a symlink, so when <command>systemd</command> is asked through D-Bus to load
141 <filename>dbus-org.freedesktop.network1.service</filename>, it'll load
142 <filename>systemd-networkd.service</filename>. As another example, <filename>default.target</filename>
143 the default system target started at boot — is commonly symlinked (aliased) to either
144 <filename>multi-user.target</filename> or <filename>graphical.target</filename> to select what is started
145 by default. Alias names may be used in commands like <command>disable</command>,
146 <command>start</command>, <command>stop</command>, <command>status</command>, and similar, and in all
147 unit dependency directives, including <varname>Wants=</varname>, <varname>Requires=</varname>,
148 <varname>Before=</varname>, <varname>After=</varname>. Aliases cannot be used with the
149 <command>preset</command> command.</para>
150
151 <para>Aliases obey the following restrictions: a unit of a certain type (<literal>.service</literal>,
152 <literal>.socket</literal>, …) can only be aliased by a name with the same type suffix. A plain unit (not
153 a template or an instance), may only be aliased by a plain name. A template instance may only be aliased
154 by another template instance, and the instance part must be identical. A template may be aliased by
155 another template (in which case the alias applies to all instances of the template). As a special case, a
156 template instance (e.g. <literal>alias@inst.service</literal>) may be a symlink to different template
157 (e.g. <literal>template@inst.service</literal>). In that case, just this specific instance is aliased,
158 while other instances of the template (e.g. <literal>alias@foo.service</literal>,
159 <literal>alias@bar.service</literal>) are not aliased. Those rule preserve the requirement that the
160 instance (if any) is always uniquely defined for a given unit and all its aliases.</para>
161
162 <para>Unit files may specify aliases through the <varname>Alias=</varname> directive in the [Install]
163 section. When the unit is enabled, symlinks will be created for those names, and removed when the unit is
164 disabled. For example, <filename>reboot.target</filename> specifies
165 <varname>Alias=ctrl-alt-del.target</varname>, so when enabled, the symlink
166 <filename>/etc/systemd/systemd/ctrl-alt-del.service</filename> pointing to the
167 <filename>reboot.target</filename> file will be created, and when
168 <keycombo><keycap>Ctrl</keycap><keycap>Alt</keycap><keycap>Del</keycap></keycombo> is invoked,
169 <command>systemd</command> will look for the <filename>ctrl-alt-del.service</filename> and execute
170 <filename>reboot.service</filename>. <command>systemd</command> does not look at the [Install] section at
171 all during normal operation, so any directives in that section only have an effect through the symlinks
172 created during enablement.</para>
173
174 <para>Along with a unit file <filename>foo.service</filename>, the directory
175 <filename>foo.service.wants/</filename> may exist. All unit files symlinked from such a directory are
176 implicitly added as dependencies of type <varname>Wants=</varname> to the unit. Similar functionality
177 exists for <varname>Requires=</varname> type dependencies as well, the directory suffix is
178 <filename>.requires/</filename> in this case. This functionality is useful to hook units into the
179 start-up of other units, without having to modify their unit files. For details about the semantics of
180 <varname>Wants=</varname>, see below. The preferred way to create symlinks in the
181 <filename>.wants/</filename> or <filename>.requires/</filename> directory of a unit file is by embedding
182 the dependency in [Install] section of the target unit, and creating the symlink in the file system with
183 the <command>enable</command> or <command>preset</command> commands of
184 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para>
185
186 <para>Along with a unit file <filename>foo.service</filename>, a "drop-in" directory
187 <filename>foo.service.d/</filename> may exist. All files with the suffix <literal>.conf</literal> from this
188 directory will be parsed after the unit file itself is parsed. This is useful to alter or add configuration
189 settings for a unit, without having to modify unit files. Drop-in files must contain appropriate section
190 headers. For instantiated units, this logic will first look for the instance <literal>.d/</literal> subdirectory
191 (e.g. <literal>foo@bar.service.d/</literal>) and read its <literal>.conf</literal> files, followed by the template
192 <literal>.d/</literal> subdirectory (e.g. <literal>foo@.service.d/</literal>) and the <literal>.conf</literal>
193 files there. Moreover for units names containing dashes (<literal>-</literal>), the set of directories generated by
194 truncating the unit name after all dashes is searched too. Specifically, for a unit name
195 <filename>foo-bar-baz.service</filename> not only the regular drop-in directory
196 <filename>foo-bar-baz.service.d/</filename> is searched but also both <filename>foo-bar-.service.d/</filename> and
197 <filename>foo-.service.d/</filename>. This is useful for defining common drop-ins for a set of related units, whose
198 names begin with a common prefix. This scheme is particularly useful for mount, automount and slice units, whose
199 systematic naming structure is built around dashes as component separators. Note that equally named drop-in files
200 further down the prefix hierarchy override those further up,
201 i.e. <filename>foo-bar-.service.d/10-override.conf</filename> overrides
202 <filename>foo-.service.d/10-override.conf</filename>.</para>
203
204 <para>In cases of unit aliases (described above), dropins for the aliased name and all aliases are
205 loaded. In the example of <filename>default.target</filename> aliasing
206 <filename>graphical.target</filename>, <filename>default.target.d/</filename>,
207 <filename>default.target.wants/</filename>, <filename>default.target.requires/</filename>,
208 <filename>graphical.target.d/</filename>, <filename>graphical.target.wants/</filename>,
209 <filename>graphical.target.requires/</filename> would all be read. For templates, dropins for the
210 template, any template aliases, the template instance, and all alias instances are read. When just a
211 specific template instance is aliased, then the dropins for the target template, the target template
212 instance, and the alias template instance are read.</para>
213
214 <para>In addition to <filename>/etc/systemd/system</filename>, the drop-in <literal>.d/</literal>
215 directories for system services can be placed in <filename>/usr/lib/systemd/system</filename> or
216 <filename>/run/systemd/system</filename> directories. Drop-in files in <filename>/etc/</filename>
217 take precedence over those in <filename>/run/</filename> which in turn take precedence over those
218 in <filename>/usr/lib/</filename>. Drop-in files under any of these directories take precedence
219 over unit files wherever located. Multiple drop-in files with different names are applied in
220 lexicographic order, regardless of which of the directories they reside in.</para>
221
222 <para>Units also support a top-level drop-in with <filename><replaceable>type</replaceable>.d/</filename>,
223 where <replaceable>type</replaceable> may be e.g. <literal>service</literal> or <literal>socket</literal>,
224 that allows altering or adding to the settings of all corresponding unit files on the system.
225 The formatting and precedence of applying drop-in configurations follow what is defined above.
226 Configurations in <filename><replaceable>type</replaceable>.d/</filename> have the lowest precedence
227 compared to settings in the name specific override directories. So the contents of
228 <filename>foo-.service.d/10-override.conf</filename> would override
229 <filename>service.d/10-override.conf</filename>.</para>
230
231 <para>Note that while systemd offers a flexible dependency system
232 between units it is recommended to use this functionality only
233 sparingly and instead rely on techniques such as bus-based or
234 socket-based activation which make dependencies implicit,
235 resulting in a both simpler and more flexible system.</para>
236
237 <para>As mentioned above, a unit may be instantiated from a template file. This allows creation
238 of multiple units from a single configuration file. If systemd looks for a unit configuration
239 file, it will first search for the literal unit name in the file system. If that yields no
240 success and the unit name contains an <literal>@</literal> character, systemd will look for a
241 unit template that shares the same name but with the instance string (i.e. the part between the
242 <literal>@</literal> character and the suffix) removed. Example: if a service
243 <filename>getty@tty3.service</filename> is requested and no file by that name is found, systemd
244 will look for <filename>getty@.service</filename> and instantiate a service from that
245 configuration file if it is found.</para>
246
247 <para>To refer to the instance string from within the
248 configuration file you may use the special <literal>%i</literal>
249 specifier in many of the configuration options. See below for
250 details.</para>
251
252 <para>If a unit file is empty (i.e. has the file size 0) or is
253 symlinked to <filename>/dev/null</filename>, its configuration
254 will not be loaded and it appears with a load state of
255 <literal>masked</literal>, and cannot be activated. Use this as an
256 effective way to fully disable a unit, making it impossible to
257 start it even manually.</para>
258
259 <para>The unit file format is covered by the
260 <ulink url="https://systemd.io/PORTABILITY_AND_STABILITY/">Interface
261 Portability and Stability Promise</ulink>.</para>
262
263 </refsect1>
264
265 <refsect1>
266 <title>String Escaping for Inclusion in Unit Names</title>
267
268 <para>Sometimes it is useful to convert arbitrary strings into unit names. To facilitate this, a method of string
269 escaping is used, in order to map strings containing arbitrary byte values (except <constant>NUL</constant>) into
270 valid unit names and their restricted character set. A common special case are unit names that reflect paths to
271 objects in the file system hierarchy. Example: a device unit <filename>dev-sda.device</filename> refers to a device
272 with the device node <filename index="false">/dev/sda</filename> in the file system.</para>
273
274 <para>The escaping algorithm operates as follows: given a string, any <literal>/</literal> character is replaced by
275 <literal>-</literal>, and all other characters which are not ASCII alphanumerics or <literal>_</literal> are
276 replaced by C-style <literal>\x2d</literal> escapes. In addition, <literal>.</literal> is replaced with such a
277 C-style escape when it would appear as the first character in the escaped string.</para>
278
279 <para>When the input qualifies as absolute file system path, this algorithm is extended slightly: the path to the
280 root directory <literal>/</literal> is encoded as single dash <literal>-</literal>. In addition, any leading,
281 trailing or duplicate <literal>/</literal> characters are removed from the string before transformation. Example:
282 <filename index="false">/foo//bar/baz/</filename> becomes <literal>foo-bar-baz</literal>.</para>
283
284 <para>This escaping is fully reversible, as long as it is known whether the escaped string was a path (the
285 unescaping results are different for paths and non-path strings). The
286 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-escape</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> command may be
287 used to apply and reverse escaping on arbitrary strings. Use <command>systemd-escape --path</command> to escape
288 path strings, and <command>systemd-escape</command> without <option>--path</option> otherwise.</para>
289 </refsect1>
290
291 <refsect1>
292 <title>Automatic dependencies</title>
293
294 <refsect2>
295 <title>Implicit Dependencies</title>
296
297 <para>A number of unit dependencies are implicitly established, depending on unit type and
298 unit configuration. These implicit dependencies can make unit configuration file cleaner. For
299 the implicit dependencies in each unit type, please refer to section "Implicit Dependencies"
300 in respective man pages.</para>
301
302 <para>For example, service units with <varname>Type=dbus</varname> automatically acquire
303 dependencies of type <varname>Requires=</varname> and <varname>After=</varname> on
304 <filename>dbus.socket</filename>. See
305 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
306 for details.</para>
307 </refsect2>
308
309 <refsect2>
310 <title>Default Dependencies</title>
311
312 <para>Default dependencies are similar to implicit dependencies, but can be turned on and off
313 by setting <varname>DefaultDependencies=</varname> to <varname>yes</varname> (the default) and
314 <varname>no</varname>, while implicit dependencies are always in effect. See section "Default
315 Dependencies" in respective man pages for the effect of enabling
316 <varname>DefaultDependencies=</varname> in each unit types.</para>
317
318 <para>For example, target units will complement all configured dependencies of type
319 <varname>Wants=</varname> or <varname>Requires=</varname> with dependencies of type
320 <varname>After=</varname> unless <varname>DefaultDependencies=no</varname> is set in the
321 specified units. See
322 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.target</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
323 for details. Note that this behavior can be turned off by setting
324 <varname>DefaultDependencies=no</varname>.</para>
325 </refsect2>
326 </refsect1>
327
328 <refsect1>
329 <title>Unit File Load Path</title>
330
331 <para>Unit files are loaded from a set of paths determined during
332 compilation, described in the two tables below. Unit files found
333 in directories listed earlier override files with the same name in
334 directories lower in the list.</para>
335
336 <para>When the variable <varname>$SYSTEMD_UNIT_PATH</varname> is set,
337 the contents of this variable overrides the unit load path. If
338 <varname>$SYSTEMD_UNIT_PATH</varname> ends with an empty component
339 (<literal>:</literal>), the usual unit load path will be appended
340 to the contents of the variable.</para>
341
342 <table>
343 <title>
344 Load path when running in system mode (<option>--system</option>).
345 </title>
346
347 <tgroup cols='2'>
348 <colspec colname='path' />
349 <colspec colname='expl' />
350 <thead>
351 <row>
352 <entry>Path</entry>
353 <entry>Description</entry>
354 </row>
355 </thead>
356 <tbody>
357 <row>
358 <entry><filename>/etc/systemd/system.control</filename></entry>
359 <entry morerows="1">Persistent and transient configuration created using the dbus API</entry>
360 </row>
361 <row>
362 <entry><filename>/run/systemd/system.control</filename></entry>
363 </row>
364 <row>
365 <entry><filename>/run/systemd/transient</filename></entry>
366 <entry>Dynamic configuration for transient units</entry>
367 </row>
368 <row>
369 <entry><filename>/run/systemd/generator.early</filename></entry>
370 <entry>Generated units with high priority (see <replaceable>early-dir</replaceable> in <citerefentry
371 ><refentrytitle>systemd.generator</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>)</entry>
372 </row>
373 <row>
374 <entry><filename>/etc/systemd/system</filename></entry>
375 <entry>System units created by the administrator</entry>
376 </row>
377 <row>
378 <entry><filename>/run/systemd/system</filename></entry>
379 <entry>Runtime units</entry>
380 </row>
381 <row>
382 <entry><filename>/run/systemd/generator</filename></entry>
383 <entry>Generated units with medium priority (see <replaceable>normal-dir</replaceable> in <citerefentry
384 ><refentrytitle>systemd.generator</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>)</entry>
385 </row>
386 <row>
387 <entry><filename>/usr/local/lib/systemd/system</filename></entry>
388 <entry>System units installed by the administrator </entry>
389 </row>
390 <row>
391 <entry><filename>/usr/lib/systemd/system</filename></entry>
392 <entry>System units installed by the distribution package manager</entry>
393 </row>
394 <row>
395 <entry><filename>/run/systemd/generator.late</filename></entry>
396 <entry>Generated units with low priority (see <replaceable>late-dir</replaceable> in <citerefentry
397 ><refentrytitle>systemd.generator</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>)</entry>
398 </row>
399 </tbody>
400 </tgroup>
401 </table>
402
403 <table>
404 <title>
405 Load path when running in user mode (<option>--user</option>).
406 </title>
407
408 <tgroup cols='2'>
409 <colspec colname='path' />
410 <colspec colname='expl' />
411 <thead>
412 <row>
413 <entry>Path</entry>
414 <entry>Description</entry>
415 </row>
416 </thead>
417 <tbody>
418 <row>
419 <entry><filename>$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/systemd/user.control</filename> or <filename
420 >~/.config/systemd/user.control</filename></entry>
421 <entry morerows="1">Persistent and transient configuration created using the dbus API (<varname>$XDG_CONFIG_HOME</varname> is used if set, <filename>~/.config</filename> otherwise)</entry>
422 </row>
423 <row>
424 <entry><filename>$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/systemd/user.control</filename></entry>
425 </row>
426 <row>
427 <entry><filename>/run/systemd/transient</filename></entry>
428 <entry>Dynamic configuration for transient units</entry>
429 </row>
430 <row>
431 <entry><filename>/run/systemd/generator.early</filename></entry>
432 <entry>Generated units with high priority (see <replaceable>early-dir</replaceable> in <citerefentry
433 ><refentrytitle>systemd.generator</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>)</entry>
434 </row>
435 <row>
436 <entry><filename>$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/systemd/user</filename> or <filename>$HOME/.config/systemd/user</filename></entry>
437 <entry>User configuration (<varname>$XDG_CONFIG_HOME</varname> is used if set, <filename>~/.config</filename> otherwise)</entry>
438 </row>
439 <row>
440 <entry><filename>$XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/systemd/user</filename> or <filename>/etc/xdg/systemd/user</filename></entry>
441 <entry>Additional configuration directories as specified by the XDG base directory specification (<varname>$XDG_CONFIG_DIRS</varname> is used if set, <filename>/etc/xdg</filename> otherwise)</entry>
442 </row>
443 <row>
444 <entry><filename>/etc/systemd/user</filename></entry>
445 <entry>User units created by the administrator</entry>
446 </row>
447 <row>
448 <entry><filename>$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/systemd/user</filename></entry>
449 <entry>Runtime units (only used when $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR is set)</entry>
450 </row>
451 <row>
452 <entry><filename>/run/systemd/user</filename></entry>
453 <entry>Runtime units</entry>
454 </row>
455 <row>
456 <entry><filename>$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/systemd/generator</filename></entry>
457 <entry>Generated units with medium priority (see <replaceable>normal-dir</replaceable> in <citerefentry
458 ><refentrytitle>systemd.generator</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>)</entry>
459 </row>
460 <row>
461 <entry><filename>$XDG_DATA_HOME/systemd/user</filename> or <filename>$HOME/.local/share/systemd/user</filename></entry>
462 <entry>Units of packages that have been installed in the home directory (<varname>$XDG_DATA_HOME</varname> is used if set, <filename>~/.local/share</filename> otherwise)</entry>
463 </row>
464 <row>
465 <entry><filename>$XDG_DATA_DIRS/systemd/user</filename> or <filename>/usr/local/share/systemd/user</filename> and <filename>/usr/share/systemd/user</filename></entry>
466 <entry>Additional data directories as specified by the XDG base directory specification (<varname>$XDG_DATA_DIRS</varname> is used if set, <filename>/usr/local/share</filename> and <filename>/usr/share</filename> otherwise)</entry>
467 </row>
468 <row>
469 <entry><filename>$dir/systemd/user</filename> for each <varname index="false">$dir</varname> in <varname>$XDG_DATA_DIRS</varname></entry>
470 <entry>Additional locations for installed user units, one for each entry in <varname>$XDG_DATA_DIRS</varname></entry>
471 </row>
472 <row>
473 <entry><filename>/usr/local/lib/systemd/user</filename></entry>
474 <entry>User units installed by the administrator</entry>
475 </row>
476 <row>
477 <entry><filename>/usr/lib/systemd/user</filename></entry>
478 <entry>User units installed by the distribution package manager</entry>
479 </row>
480 <row>
481 <entry><filename>$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/systemd/generator.late</filename></entry>
482 <entry>Generated units with low priority (see <replaceable>late-dir</replaceable> in <citerefentry
483 ><refentrytitle>systemd.generator</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>)</entry>
484 </row>
485 </tbody>
486 </tgroup>
487 </table>
488
489 <para>The set of load paths for the user manager instance may be augmented or
490 changed using various environment variables. And environment variables may in
491 turn be set using environment generators, see
492 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.environment-generator</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
493 In particular, <varname>$XDG_DATA_HOME</varname> and
494 <varname>$XDG_DATA_DIRS</varname> may be easily set using
495 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-environment-d-generator</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
496 Thus, directories listed here are just the defaults. To see the actual list that
497 would be used based on compilation options and current environment use
498 <programlisting>systemd-analyze --user unit-paths</programlisting>
499 </para>
500
501 <para>Moreover, additional units might be loaded into systemd from
502 directories not on the unit load path by creating a symlink pointing to a
503 unit file in the directories. You can use <command>systemctl link</command>
504 for this operation. See
505 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
506 for its usage and precaution.
507 </para>
508 </refsect1>
509
510 <refsect1>
511 <title>Unit Garbage Collection</title>
512
513 <para>The system and service manager loads a unit's configuration automatically when a unit is referenced for the
514 first time. It will automatically unload the unit configuration and state again when the unit is not needed anymore
515 ("garbage collection"). A unit may be referenced through a number of different mechanisms:</para>
516
517 <orderedlist>
518 <listitem><para>Another loaded unit references it with a dependency such as <varname>After=</varname>,
519 <varname>Wants=</varname>, …</para></listitem>
520
521 <listitem><para>The unit is currently starting, running, reloading or stopping.</para></listitem>
522
523 <listitem><para>The unit is currently in the <constant>failed</constant> state. (But see below.)</para></listitem>
524
525 <listitem><para>A job for the unit is pending.</para></listitem>
526
527 <listitem><para>The unit is pinned by an active IPC client program.</para></listitem>
528
529 <listitem><para>The unit is a special "perpetual" unit that is always active and loaded. Examples for perpetual
530 units are the root mount unit <filename>-.mount</filename> or the scope unit <filename>init.scope</filename> that
531 the service manager itself lives in.</para></listitem>
532
533 <listitem><para>The unit has running processes associated with it.</para></listitem>
534 </orderedlist>
535
536 <para>The garbage collection logic may be altered with the <varname>CollectMode=</varname> option, which allows
537 configuration whether automatic unloading of units that are in <constant>failed</constant> state is permissible,
538 see below.</para>
539
540 <para>Note that when a unit's configuration and state is unloaded, all execution results, such as exit codes, exit
541 signals, resource consumption and other statistics are lost, except for what is stored in the log subsystem.</para>
542
543 <para>Use <command>systemctl daemon-reload</command> or an equivalent command to reload unit configuration while
544 the unit is already loaded. In this case all configuration settings are flushed out and replaced with the new
545 configuration (which however might not be in effect immediately), however all runtime state is
546 saved/restored.</para>
547 </refsect1>
548
549 <refsect1>
550 <title>[Unit] Section Options</title>
551
552 <para>The unit file may include a [Unit] section, which carries
553 generic information about the unit that is not dependent on the
554 type of unit:</para>
555
556 <variablelist class='unit-directives'>
557 <varlistentry>
558 <term><varname>Description=</varname></term>
559 <listitem><para>A human readable name for the unit. This is used by
560 <command>systemd</command> (and other UIs) as the label for the unit, so this string should
561 identify the unit rather than describe it, despite the name. <literal>Apache2 Web
562 Server</literal> is a good example. Bad examples are <literal>high-performance light-weight
563 HTTP server</literal> (too generic) or <literal>Apache2</literal> (too specific and
564 meaningless for people who do not know Apache). <command>systemd</command> will use this
565 string as a noun in status messages (<literal>Starting
566 <replaceable>description</replaceable>...</literal>, <literal>Started
567 <replaceable>description</replaceable>.</literal>, <literal>Reached target
568 <replaceable>description</replaceable>.</literal>, <literal>Failed to start
569 <replaceable>description</replaceable>.</literal>), so it should be capitalized, and should
570 not be a full sentence or a phrase with a continuous verb. Bad examples include
571 <literal>exiting the container</literal> or <literal>updating the database once per
572 day.</literal>.</para>
573 </listitem>
574 </varlistentry>
575
576 <varlistentry>
577 <term><varname>Documentation=</varname></term>
578 <listitem><para>A space-separated list of URIs referencing
579 documentation for this unit or its configuration. Accepted are
580 only URIs of the types <literal>http://</literal>,
581 <literal>https://</literal>, <literal>file:</literal>,
582 <literal>info:</literal>, <literal>man:</literal>. For more
583 information about the syntax of these URIs, see <citerefentry
584 project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>uri</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
585 The URIs should be listed in order of relevance, starting with
586 the most relevant. It is a good idea to first reference
587 documentation that explains what the unit's purpose is,
588 followed by how it is configured, followed by any other
589 related documentation. This option may be specified more than
590 once, in which case the specified list of URIs is merged. If
591 the empty string is assigned to this option, the list is reset
592 and all prior assignments will have no
593 effect.</para></listitem>
594 </varlistentry>
595
596 <varlistentry>
597 <term><varname>Wants=</varname></term>
598
599 <listitem><para>Configures (weak) requirement dependencies on other units. This option may be
600 specified more than once or multiple space-separated units may be specified in one option in which
601 case dependencies for all listed names will be created. Dependencies of this type may also be
602 configured outside of the unit configuration file by adding a symlink to a
603 <filename>.wants/</filename> directory accompanying the unit file. For details, see above.</para>
604
605 <para>Units listed in this option will be started if the configuring unit is. However, if the listed
606 units fail to start or cannot be added to the transaction, this has no impact on the validity of the
607 transaction as a whole, and this unit will still be started. This is the recommended way to hook
608 the start-up of one unit to the start-up of another unit.</para>
609
610 <para>Note that requirement dependencies do not influence the order in which services are started or
611 stopped. This has to be configured independently with the <varname>After=</varname> or
612 <varname>Before=</varname> options. If unit <filename>foo.service</filename> pulls in unit
613 <filename>bar.service</filename> as configured with <varname>Wants=</varname> and no ordering is
614 configured with <varname>After=</varname> or <varname>Before=</varname>, then both units will be
615 started simultaneously and without any delay between them if <filename>foo.service</filename> is
616 activated.</para></listitem>
617 </varlistentry>
618
619 <varlistentry>
620 <term><varname>Requires=</varname></term>
621
622 <listitem><para>Similar to <varname>Wants=</varname>, but declares a stronger requirement
623 dependency. Dependencies of this type may also be configured by adding a symlink to a
624 <filename>.requires/</filename> directory accompanying the unit file.</para>
625
626 <para>If this unit gets activated, the units listed will be activated as well. If one of
627 the other units fails to activate, and an ordering dependency <varname>After=</varname> on the
628 failing unit is set, this unit will not be started. Besides, with or without specifying
629 <varname>After=</varname>, this unit will be stopped if one of the other units is explicitly
630 stopped.</para>
631
632 <para>Often, it is a better choice to use <varname>Wants=</varname> instead of
633 <varname>Requires=</varname> in order to achieve a system that is more robust when dealing with
634 failing services.</para>
635
636 <para>Note that this dependency type does not imply that the other unit always has to be in active state when
637 this unit is running. Specifically: failing condition checks (such as <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname>,
638 <varname>ConditionPathIsSymbolicLink=</varname>, … — see below) do not cause the start job of a unit with a
639 <varname>Requires=</varname> dependency on it to fail. Also, some unit types may deactivate on their own (for
640 example, a service process may decide to exit cleanly, or a device may be unplugged by the user), which is not
641 propagated to units having a <varname>Requires=</varname> dependency. Use the <varname>BindsTo=</varname>
642 dependency type together with <varname>After=</varname> to ensure that a unit may never be in active state
643 without a specific other unit also in active state (see below).</para></listitem>
644 </varlistentry>
645
646 <varlistentry>
647 <term><varname>Requisite=</varname></term>
648
649 <listitem><para>Similar to <varname>Requires=</varname>. However, if the units listed here
650 are not started already, they will not be started and the starting of this unit will fail
651 immediately. <varname>Requisite=</varname> does not imply an ordering dependency, even if
652 both units are started in the same transaction. Hence this setting should usually be
653 combined with <varname>After=</varname>, to ensure this unit is not started before the other
654 unit.</para>
655
656 <para>When <varname>Requisite=b.service</varname> is used on
657 <filename>a.service</filename>, this dependency will show as
658 <varname>RequisiteOf=a.service</varname> in property listing of
659 <filename>b.service</filename>. <varname>RequisiteOf=</varname>
660 dependency cannot be specified directly.</para>
661 </listitem>
662 </varlistentry>
663
664 <varlistentry>
665 <term><varname>BindsTo=</varname></term>
666
667 <listitem><para>Configures requirement dependencies, very similar in style to
668 <varname>Requires=</varname>. However, this dependency type is stronger: in addition to the effect of
669 <varname>Requires=</varname> it declares that if the unit bound to is stopped, this unit will be stopped
670 too. This means a unit bound to another unit that suddenly enters inactive state will be stopped too.
671 Units can suddenly, unexpectedly enter inactive state for different reasons: the main process of a service unit
672 might terminate on its own choice, the backing device of a device unit might be unplugged or the mount point of
673 a mount unit might be unmounted without involvement of the system and service manager.</para>
674
675 <para>When used in conjunction with <varname>After=</varname> on the same unit the behaviour of
676 <varname>BindsTo=</varname> is even stronger. In this case, the unit bound to strictly has to be in active
677 state for this unit to also be in active state. This not only means a unit bound to another unit that suddenly
678 enters inactive state, but also one that is bound to another unit that gets skipped due to a failed condition
679 check (such as <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname>, <varname>ConditionPathIsSymbolicLink=</varname>, … —
680 see below) will be stopped, should it be running. Hence, in many cases it is best to combine
681 <varname>BindsTo=</varname> with <varname>After=</varname>.</para>
682
683 <para>When <varname>BindsTo=b.service</varname> is used on
684 <filename>a.service</filename>, this dependency will show as
685 <varname>BoundBy=a.service</varname> in property listing of
686 <filename>b.service</filename>. <varname>BoundBy=</varname>
687 dependency cannot be specified directly.</para>
688 </listitem>
689 </varlistentry>
690
691 <varlistentry>
692 <term><varname>PartOf=</varname></term>
693
694 <listitem><para>Configures dependencies similar to
695 <varname>Requires=</varname>, but limited to stopping and
696 restarting of units. When systemd stops or restarts the units
697 listed here, the action is propagated to this unit. Note that
698 this is a one-way dependency — changes to this unit do not
699 affect the listed units.</para>
700
701 <para>When <varname>PartOf=b.service</varname> is used on
702 <filename>a.service</filename>, this dependency will show as
703 <varname>ConsistsOf=a.service</varname> in property listing of
704 <filename>b.service</filename>. <varname>ConsistsOf=</varname>
705 dependency cannot be specified directly.</para>
706 </listitem>
707 </varlistentry>
708
709 <varlistentry>
710 <term><varname>Conflicts=</varname></term>
711
712 <listitem><para>A space-separated list of unit names. Configures negative requirement
713 dependencies. If a unit has a <varname>Conflicts=</varname> setting on another unit, starting the
714 former will stop the latter and vice versa.</para>
715
716 <para>Note that this setting does not imply an ordering dependency, similarly to the
717 <varname>Wants=</varname> and <varname>Requires=</varname> dependencies described above. This means
718 that to ensure that the conflicting unit is stopped before the other unit is started, an
719 <varname>After=</varname> or <varname>Before=</varname> dependency must be declared. It doesn't
720 matter which of the two ordering dependencies is used, because stop jobs are always ordered before
721 start jobs, see the discussion in <varname>Before=</varname>/<varname>After=</varname> below.</para>
722
723 <para>If unit A that conflicts with unit B is scheduled to
724 be started at the same time as B, the transaction will either
725 fail (in case both are required parts of the transaction) or be
726 modified to be fixed (in case one or both jobs are not a
727 required part of the transaction). In the latter case, the job
728 that is not required will be removed, or in case both are
729 not required, the unit that conflicts will be started and the
730 unit that is conflicted is stopped.</para></listitem>
731 </varlistentry>
732
733 <varlistentry>
734 <term><varname>Before=</varname></term>
735 <term><varname>After=</varname></term>
736
737 <listitem><para>These two settings expect a space-separated list of unit names. They may be specified
738 more than once, in which case dependencies for all listed names are created.</para>
739
740 <para>Those two settings configure ordering dependencies between units. If unit
741 <filename>foo.service</filename> contains the setting <option>Before=bar.service</option> and both
742 units are being started, <filename>bar.service</filename>'s start-up is delayed until
743 <filename>foo.service</filename> has finished starting up. <varname>After=</varname> is the inverse
744 of <varname>Before=</varname>, i.e. while <varname>Before=</varname> ensures that the configured unit
745 is started before the listed unit begins starting up, <varname>After=</varname> ensures the opposite,
746 that the listed unit is fully started up before the configured unit is started.</para>
747
748 <para>When two units with an ordering dependency between them are shut down, the inverse of the
749 start-up order is applied. I.e. if a unit is configured with <varname>After=</varname> on another
750 unit, the former is stopped before the latter if both are shut down. Given two units with any
751 ordering dependency between them, if one unit is shut down and the other is started up, the shutdown
752 is ordered before the start-up. It doesn't matter if the ordering dependency is
753 <varname>After=</varname> or <varname>Before=</varname>, in this case. It also doesn't matter which
754 of the two is shut down, as long as one is shut down and the other is started up; the shutdown is
755 ordered before the start-up in all cases. If two units have no ordering dependencies between them,
756 they are shut down or started up simultaneously, and no ordering takes place. It depends on the unit
757 type when precisely a unit has finished starting up. Most importantly, for service units start-up is
758 considered completed for the purpose of <varname>Before=</varname>/<varname>After=</varname> when all
759 its configured start-up commands have been invoked and they either failed or reported start-up
760 success. Note that this does includes <varname>ExecStartPost=</varname> (or
761 <varname>ExecStopPost=</varname> for the shutdown case).</para>
762
763 <para>Note that those settings are independent of and orthogonal to the requirement dependencies as
764 configured by <varname>Requires=</varname>, <varname>Wants=</varname>, <varname>Requisite=</varname>,
765 or <varname>BindsTo=</varname>. It is a common pattern to include a unit name in both the
766 <varname>After=</varname> and <varname>Wants=</varname> options, in which case the unit listed will
767 be started before the unit that is configured with these options.</para>
768
769 <para>Note that <varname>Before=</varname> dependencies on device units have no effect and are not
770 supported. Devices generally become available as a result of an external hotplug event, and systemd
771 creates the corresponding device unit without delay.</para></listitem>
772 </varlistentry>
773
774 <varlistentry>
775 <term><varname>OnFailure=</varname></term>
776
777 <listitem><para>A space-separated list of one or more units
778 that are activated when this unit enters the
779 <literal>failed</literal> state. A service unit using
780 <varname>Restart=</varname> enters the failed state only after
781 the start limits are reached.</para></listitem>
782 </varlistentry>
783
784 <varlistentry>
785 <term><varname>PropagatesReloadTo=</varname></term>
786 <term><varname>ReloadPropagatedFrom=</varname></term>
787
788 <listitem><para>A space-separated list of one or more units
789 where reload requests on this unit will be propagated to, or
790 reload requests on the other unit will be propagated to this
791 unit, respectively. Issuing a reload request on a unit will
792 automatically also enqueue a reload request on all units that
793 the reload request shall be propagated to via these two
794 settings.</para></listitem>
795 </varlistentry>
796
797 <varlistentry>
798 <term><varname>JoinsNamespaceOf=</varname></term>
799
800 <listitem><para>For units that start processes (such as service units), lists one or more other units
801 whose network and/or temporary file namespace to join. This only applies to unit types which support
802 the <varname>PrivateNetwork=</varname>, <varname>NetworkNamespacePath=</varname> and
803 <varname>PrivateTmp=</varname> directives (see
804 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
805 details). If a unit that has this setting set is started, its processes will see the same
806 <filename>/tmp/</filename>, <filename>/var/tmp/</filename> and network namespace as one listed unit
807 that is started. If multiple listed units are already started, it is not defined which namespace is
808 joined. Note that this setting only has an effect if
809 <varname>PrivateNetwork=</varname>/<varname>NetworkNamespacePath=</varname> and/or
810 <varname>PrivateTmp=</varname> is enabled for both the unit that joins the namespace and the unit
811 whose namespace is joined.</para></listitem>
812 </varlistentry>
813
814 <varlistentry>
815 <term><varname>RequiresMountsFor=</varname></term>
816
817 <listitem><para>Takes a space-separated list of absolute
818 paths. Automatically adds dependencies of type
819 <varname>Requires=</varname> and <varname>After=</varname> for
820 all mount units required to access the specified path.</para>
821
822 <para>Mount points marked with <option>noauto</option> are not
823 mounted automatically through <filename>local-fs.target</filename>,
824 but are still honored for the purposes of this option, i.e. they
825 will be pulled in by this unit.</para></listitem>
826 </varlistentry>
827
828 <varlistentry>
829 <term><varname>OnFailureJobMode=</varname></term>
830
831 <listitem><para>Takes a value of
832 <literal>fail</literal>,
833 <literal>replace</literal>,
834 <literal>replace-irreversibly</literal>,
835 <literal>isolate</literal>,
836 <literal>flush</literal>,
837 <literal>ignore-dependencies</literal> or
838 <literal>ignore-requirements</literal>. Defaults to
839 <literal>replace</literal>. Specifies how the units listed in
840 <varname>OnFailure=</varname> will be enqueued. See
841 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
842 <option>--job-mode=</option> option for details on the
843 possible values. If this is set to <literal>isolate</literal>,
844 only a single unit may be listed in
845 <varname>OnFailure=</varname>.</para></listitem>
846 </varlistentry>
847
848 <varlistentry>
849 <term><varname>IgnoreOnIsolate=</varname></term>
850
851 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. If <option>true</option>, this unit will not be stopped
852 when isolating another unit. Defaults to <option>false</option> for service, target, socket, timer,
853 and path units, and <option>true</option> for slice, scope, device, swap, mount, and automount
854 units.</para></listitem>
855 </varlistentry>
856
857 <varlistentry>
858 <term><varname>StopWhenUnneeded=</varname></term>
859
860 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. If
861 <option>true</option>, this unit will be stopped when it is no
862 longer used. Note that, in order to minimize the work to be
863 executed, systemd will not stop units by default unless they
864 are conflicting with other units, or the user explicitly
865 requested their shut down. If this option is set, a unit will
866 be automatically cleaned up if no other active unit requires
867 it. Defaults to <option>false</option>.</para></listitem>
868 </varlistentry>
869
870 <varlistentry>
871 <term><varname>RefuseManualStart=</varname></term>
872 <term><varname>RefuseManualStop=</varname></term>
873
874 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. If
875 <option>true</option>, this unit can only be activated or
876 deactivated indirectly. In this case, explicit start-up or
877 termination requested by the user is denied, however if it is
878 started or stopped as a dependency of another unit, start-up
879 or termination will succeed. This is mostly a safety feature
880 to ensure that the user does not accidentally activate units
881 that are not intended to be activated explicitly, and not
882 accidentally deactivate units that are not intended to be
883 deactivated. These options default to
884 <option>false</option>.</para></listitem>
885 </varlistentry>
886
887 <varlistentry>
888 <term><varname>AllowIsolate=</varname></term>
889
890 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. If
891 <option>true</option>, this unit may be used with the
892 <command>systemctl isolate</command> command. Otherwise, this
893 will be refused. It probably is a good idea to leave this
894 disabled except for target units that shall be used similar to
895 runlevels in SysV init systems, just as a precaution to avoid
896 unusable system states. This option defaults to
897 <option>false</option>.</para></listitem>
898 </varlistentry>
899
900 <varlistentry>
901 <term><varname>DefaultDependencies=</varname></term>
902
903 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. If
904 <option>yes</option>, (the default), a few default
905 dependencies will implicitly be created for the unit. The
906 actual dependencies created depend on the unit type. For
907 example, for service units, these dependencies ensure that the
908 service is started only after basic system initialization is
909 completed and is properly terminated on system shutdown. See
910 the respective man pages for details. Generally, only services
911 involved with early boot or late shutdown should set this
912 option to <option>no</option>. It is highly recommended to
913 leave this option enabled for the majority of common units. If
914 set to <option>no</option>, this option does not disable
915 all implicit dependencies, just non-essential
916 ones.</para></listitem>
917 </varlistentry>
918
919 <varlistentry>
920 <term><varname>CollectMode=</varname></term>
921
922 <listitem><para>Tweaks the "garbage collection" algorithm for this unit. Takes one of <option>inactive</option>
923 or <option>inactive-or-failed</option>. If set to <option>inactive</option> the unit will be unloaded if it is
924 in the <constant>inactive</constant> state and is not referenced by clients, jobs or other units — however it
925 is not unloaded if it is in the <constant>failed</constant> state. In <option>failed</option> mode, failed
926 units are not unloaded until the user invoked <command>systemctl reset-failed</command> on them to reset the
927 <constant>failed</constant> state, or an equivalent command. This behaviour is altered if this option is set to
928 <option>inactive-or-failed</option>: in this case the unit is unloaded even if the unit is in a
929 <constant>failed</constant> state, and thus an explicitly resetting of the <constant>failed</constant> state is
930 not necessary. Note that if this mode is used unit results (such as exit codes, exit signals, consumed
931 resources, …) are flushed out immediately after the unit completed, except for what is stored in the logging
932 subsystem. Defaults to <option>inactive</option>.</para>
933 </listitem>
934 </varlistentry>
935
936 <varlistentry>
937 <term><varname>FailureAction=</varname></term>
938 <term><varname>SuccessAction=</varname></term>
939
940 <listitem><para>Configure the action to take when the unit stops and enters a failed state or inactive state.
941 Takes one of <option>none</option>, <option>reboot</option>, <option>reboot-force</option>,
942 <option>reboot-immediate</option>, <option>poweroff</option>, <option>poweroff-force</option>,
943 <option>poweroff-immediate</option>, <option>exit</option>, and <option>exit-force</option>. In system mode,
944 all options are allowed. In user mode, only <option>none</option>, <option>exit</option>, and
945 <option>exit-force</option> are allowed. Both options default to <option>none</option>.</para>
946
947 <para>If <option>none</option> is set, no action will be triggered. <option>reboot</option> causes a reboot
948 following the normal shutdown procedure (i.e. equivalent to <command>systemctl reboot</command>).
949 <option>reboot-force</option> causes a forced reboot which will terminate all processes forcibly but should
950 cause no dirty file systems on reboot (i.e. equivalent to <command>systemctl reboot -f</command>) and
951 <option>reboot-immediate</option> causes immediate execution of the
952 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>reboot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry> system call, which
953 might result in data loss (i.e. equivalent to <command>systemctl reboot -ff</command>). Similarly,
954 <option>poweroff</option>, <option>poweroff-force</option>, <option>poweroff-immediate</option> have the effect
955 of powering down the system with similar semantics. <option>exit</option> causes the manager to exit following
956 the normal shutdown procedure, and <option>exit-force</option> causes it terminate without shutting down
957 services. When <option>exit</option> or <option>exit-force</option> is used by default the exit status of the
958 main process of the unit (if this applies) is returned from the service manager. However, this may be overridden
959 with <varname>FailureActionExitStatus=</varname>/<varname>SuccessActionExitStatus=</varname>, see
960 below.</para></listitem>
961 </varlistentry>
962
963 <varlistentry>
964 <term><varname>FailureActionExitStatus=</varname></term>
965 <term><varname>SuccessActionExitStatus=</varname></term>
966
967 <listitem><para>Controls the exit status to propagate back to an invoking container manager (in case of a
968 system service) or service manager (in case of a user manager) when the
969 <varname>FailureAction=</varname>/<varname>SuccessAction=</varname> are set to <option>exit</option> or
970 <option>exit-force</option> and the action is triggered. By default the exit status of the main process of the
971 triggering unit (if this applies) is propagated. Takes a value in the range 0255 or the empty string to
972 request default behaviour.</para></listitem>
973 </varlistentry>
974
975 <varlistentry>
976 <term><varname>JobTimeoutSec=</varname></term>
977 <term><varname>JobRunningTimeoutSec=</varname></term>
978
979 <listitem><para>When a job for this unit is queued, a timeout <varname>JobTimeoutSec=</varname> may be
980 configured. Similarly, <varname>JobRunningTimeoutSec=</varname> starts counting when the queued job is actually
981 started. If either time limit is reached, the job will be cancelled, the unit however will not change state or
982 even enter the <literal>failed</literal> mode. This value defaults to <literal>infinity</literal> (job timeouts
983 disabled), except for device units (<varname>JobRunningTimeoutSec=</varname> defaults to
984 <varname>DefaultTimeoutStartSec=</varname>). NB: this timeout is independent from any unit-specific timeout
985 (for example, the timeout set with <varname>TimeoutStartSec=</varname> in service units) as the job timeout has
986 no effect on the unit itself, only on the job that might be pending for it. Or in other words: unit-specific
987 timeouts are useful to abort unit state changes, and revert them. The job timeout set with this option however
988 is useful to abort only the job waiting for the unit state to change.</para>
989 </listitem>
990 </varlistentry>
991
992 <varlistentry>
993 <term><varname>JobTimeoutAction=</varname></term>
994 <term><varname>JobTimeoutRebootArgument=</varname></term>
995
996 <listitem><para><varname>JobTimeoutAction=</varname> optionally configures an additional action to take when
997 the timeout is hit, see description of <varname>JobTimeoutSec=</varname> and
998 <varname>JobRunningTimeoutSec=</varname> above. It takes the same values as
999 <varname>StartLimitAction=</varname>. Defaults to <option>none</option>.
1000 <varname>JobTimeoutRebootArgument=</varname> configures an optional reboot string to pass to the
1001 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>reboot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry> system call.
1002 </para></listitem>
1003 </varlistentry>
1004
1005 <varlistentry>
1006 <term><varname>StartLimitIntervalSec=<replaceable>interval</replaceable></varname></term>
1007 <term><varname>StartLimitBurst=<replaceable>burst</replaceable></varname></term>
1008
1009 <listitem><para>Configure unit start rate limiting. Units which are started more than
1010 <replaceable>burst</replaceable> times within an <replaceable>interval</replaceable> time interval are not
1011 permitted to start any more. Use <varname>StartLimitIntervalSec=</varname> to configure the checking interval
1012 (defaults to <varname>DefaultStartLimitIntervalSec=</varname> in manager configuration file, set it to 0 to
1013 disable any kind of rate limiting). Use <varname>StartLimitBurst=</varname> to configure how many starts per
1014 interval are allowed (defaults to <varname>DefaultStartLimitBurst=</varname> in manager configuration
1015 file). These configuration options are particularly useful in conjunction with the service setting
1016 <varname>Restart=</varname> (see
1017 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>); however,
1018 they apply to all kinds of starts (including manual), not just those triggered by the
1019 <varname>Restart=</varname> logic. Note that units which are configured for <varname>Restart=</varname> and
1020 which reach the start limit are not attempted to be restarted anymore; however, they may still be restarted
1021 manually at a later point, after the <replaceable>interval</replaceable> has passed. From this point on, the
1022 restart logic is activated again. Note that <command>systemctl reset-failed</command> will cause the restart
1023 rate counter for a service to be flushed, which is useful if the administrator wants to manually start a unit
1024 and the start limit interferes with that. Note that this rate-limiting is enforced after any unit condition
1025 checks are executed, and hence unit activations with failing conditions do not count towards this rate
1026 limit. This setting does not apply to slice, target, device, and scope units, since they are unit types whose
1027 activation may either never fail, or may succeed only a single time.</para>
1028
1029 <para>When a unit is unloaded due to the garbage collection logic (see above) its rate limit counters are
1030 flushed out too. This means that configuring start rate limiting for a unit that is not referenced continuously
1031 has no effect.</para></listitem>
1032 </varlistentry>
1033
1034 <varlistentry>
1035 <term><varname>StartLimitAction=</varname></term>
1036
1037 <listitem><para>Configure an additional action to take if the rate limit configured with
1038 <varname>StartLimitIntervalSec=</varname> and <varname>StartLimitBurst=</varname> is hit. Takes the same
1039 values as the <varname>FailureAction=</varname>/<varname>SuccessAction=</varname> settings. If
1040 <option>none</option> is set, hitting the rate limit will trigger no action except that
1041 the start will not be permitted. Defaults to <option>none</option>.</para></listitem>
1042 </varlistentry>
1043
1044 <varlistentry>
1045 <term><varname>RebootArgument=</varname></term>
1046 <listitem><para>Configure the optional argument for the
1047 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>reboot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry> system call if
1048 <varname>StartLimitAction=</varname> or <varname>FailureAction=</varname> is a reboot action. This
1049 works just like the optional argument to <command>systemctl reboot</command> command.</para></listitem>
1050 </varlistentry>
1051
1052 <varlistentry>
1053 <term><varname>SourcePath=</varname></term>
1054 <listitem><para>A path to a configuration file this unit has
1055 been generated from. This is primarily useful for
1056 implementation of generator tools that convert configuration
1057 from an external configuration file format into native unit
1058 files. This functionality should not be used in normal
1059 units.</para></listitem>
1060 </varlistentry>
1061 </variablelist>
1062
1063 <refsect2>
1064 <title>Conditions and Asserts</title>
1065
1066 <para>Unit files may also include a number of <varname index="false">Condition…=</varname> and <varname
1067 index="false">Assert…=</varname> settings. Before the unit is started, systemd will verify that the
1068 specified conditions and asserts are true. If not, the starting of the unit will be (mostly silently)
1069 skipped (in case of conditions), or aborted with an error message (in case of asserts). Failing
1070 conditions or asserts will not result in the unit being moved into the <literal>failed</literal>
1071 state. The conditions and asserts are checked at the time the queued start job is to be executed. The
1072 ordering dependencies are still respected, so other units are still pulled in and ordered as if this
1073 unit was successfully activated, and the conditions and asserts are executed the precise moment the
1074 unit would normally start and thus can validate system state after the units ordered before completed
1075 initialization. Use condition expressions for skipping units that do not apply to the local system, for
1076 example because the kernel or runtime environment doesn't require their functionality.
1077 </para>
1078
1079 <para>If multiple conditions are specified, the unit will be executed if all of them apply (i.e. a
1080 logical AND is applied). Condition checks can use a pipe symbol (<literal>|</literal>) after the equals
1081 sign (<literal>Condition…=|…</literal>), which causes the condition to become a
1082 <emphasis>triggering</emphasis> condition. If at least one triggering condition is defined for a unit,
1083 then the unit will be started if at least one of the triggering conditions of the unit applies and all
1084 of the regular (i.e. non-triggering) conditions apply. If you prefix an argument with the pipe symbol
1085 and an exclamation mark, the pipe symbol must be passed first, the exclamation second. If any of these
1086 options is assigned the empty string, the list of conditions is reset completely, all previous
1087 condition settings (of any kind) will have no effect.</para>
1088
1089 <para>The <varname>AssertArchitecture=</varname>, <varname>AssertVirtualization=</varname>, … options
1090 are similar to conditions but cause the start job to fail (instead of being skipped). The failed check
1091 is logged. Units with failed conditions are considered to be in a clean state and will be garbage
1092 collected if they are not referenced. This means that when queried, the condition failure may or may
1093 not show up in the state of the unit.</para>
1094
1095 <para>Note that neither assertion nor condition expressions result in unit state changes. Also note
1096 that both are checked at the time the job is to be executed, i.e. long after depending jobs and it
1097 itself were queued. Thus, neither condition nor assertion expressions are suitable for conditionalizing
1098 unit dependencies.</para>
1099
1100 <para>The <command>condition</command> verb of
1101 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-analyze</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> can
1102 be used to test condition and assert expressions.</para>
1103
1104 <para>Except for <varname>ConditionPathIsSymbolicLink=</varname>, all path checks follow symlinks.</para>
1105
1106 <variablelist class='unit-directives'>
1107 <varlistentry>
1108 <term><varname>ConditionArchitecture=</varname></term>
1109
1110 <listitem><para>Check whether the system is running on a specific architecture. Takes one of
1111 <literal>x86</literal>,
1112 <literal>x86-64</literal>,
1113 <literal>ppc</literal>,
1114 <literal>ppc-le</literal>,
1115 <literal>ppc64</literal>,
1116 <literal>ppc64-le</literal>,
1117 <literal>ia64</literal>,
1118 <literal>parisc</literal>,
1119 <literal>parisc64</literal>,
1120 <literal>s390</literal>,
1121 <literal>s390x</literal>,
1122 <literal>sparc</literal>,
1123 <literal>sparc64</literal>,
1124 <literal>mips</literal>,
1125 <literal>mips-le</literal>,
1126 <literal>mips64</literal>,
1127 <literal>mips64-le</literal>,
1128 <literal>alpha</literal>,
1129 <literal>arm</literal>,
1130 <literal>arm-be</literal>,
1131 <literal>arm64</literal>,
1132 <literal>arm64-be</literal>,
1133 <literal>sh</literal>,
1134 <literal>sh64</literal>,
1135 <literal>m68k</literal>,
1136 <literal>tilegx</literal>,
1137 <literal>cris</literal>,
1138 <literal>arc</literal>,
1139 <literal>arc-be</literal>, or
1140 <literal>native</literal>.</para>
1141
1142 <para>The architecture is determined from the information returned by
1143 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>uname</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry>
1144 and is thus subject to
1145 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>personality</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
1146 Note that a <varname>Personality=</varname> setting in the same unit file has no effect on this
1147 condition. A special architecture name <literal>native</literal> is mapped to the architecture the
1148 system manager itself is compiled for. The test may be negated by prepending an exclamation
1149 mark.</para>
1150 </listitem>
1151 </varlistentry>
1152
1153 <varlistentry>
1154 <term><varname>ConditionVirtualization=</varname></term>
1155
1156 <listitem><para>Check whether the system is executed in a virtualized environment and optionally
1157 test whether it is a specific implementation. Takes either boolean value to check if being executed
1158 in any virtualized environment, or one of
1159 <literal>vm</literal> and
1160 <literal>container</literal> to test against a generic type of virtualization solution, or one of
1161 <literal>qemu</literal>,
1162 <literal>kvm</literal>,
1163 <literal>zvm</literal>,
1164 <literal>vmware</literal>,
1165 <literal>microsoft</literal>,
1166 <literal>oracle</literal>,
1167 <literal>powervm</literal>,
1168 <literal>xen</literal>,
1169 <literal>bochs</literal>,
1170 <literal>uml</literal>,
1171 <literal>bhyve</literal>,
1172 <literal>qnx</literal>,
1173 <literal>openvz</literal>,
1174 <literal>lxc</literal>,
1175 <literal>lxc-libvirt</literal>,
1176 <literal>systemd-nspawn</literal>,
1177 <literal>docker</literal>,
1178 <literal>podman</literal>,
1179 <literal>rkt</literal>,
1180 <literal>wsl</literal>,
1181 <literal>proot</literal>,
1182 <literal>pouch</literal>,
1183 <literal>acrn</literal> to test
1184 against a specific implementation, or
1185 <literal>private-users</literal> to check whether we are running in a user namespace. See
1186 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-detect-virt</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
1187 for a full list of known virtualization technologies and their identifiers. If multiple
1188 virtualization technologies are nested, only the innermost is considered. The test may be negated
1189 by prepending an exclamation mark.</para>
1190 </listitem>
1191 </varlistentry>
1192
1193 <varlistentry>
1194 <term><varname>ConditionHost=</varname></term>
1195
1196 <listitem><para><varname>ConditionHost=</varname> may be used to match against the hostname or
1197 machine ID of the host. This either takes a hostname string (optionally with shell style globs)
1198 which is tested against the locally set hostname as returned by
1199 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>gethostname</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry>, or
1200 a machine ID formatted as string (see
1201 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machine-id</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>).
1202 The test may be negated by prepending an exclamation mark.</para>
1203 </listitem>
1204 </varlistentry>
1205
1206 <varlistentry>
1207 <term><varname>ConditionKernelCommandLine=</varname></term>
1208
1209 <listitem><para><varname>ConditionKernelCommandLine=</varname> may be used to check whether a
1210 specific kernel command line option is set (or if prefixed with the exclamation mark — unset). The
1211 argument must either be a single word, or an assignment (i.e. two words, separated by
1212 <literal>=</literal>). In the former case the kernel command line is searched for the word
1213 appearing as is, or as left hand side of an assignment. In the latter case, the exact assignment is
1214 looked for with right and left hand side matching. This operates on the kernel command line
1215 communicated to userspace via <filename>/proc/cmdline</filename>, except when the service manager
1216 is invoked as payload of a container manager, in which case the command line of <filename>PID
1217 1</filename> is used instead (i.e. <filename>/proc/1/cmdline</filename>).</para>
1218 </listitem>
1219 </varlistentry>
1220
1221 <varlistentry>
1222 <term><varname>ConditionKernelVersion=</varname></term>
1223
1224 <listitem><para><varname>ConditionKernelVersion=</varname> may be used to check whether the kernel
1225 version (as reported by <command>uname -r</command>) matches a certain expression (or if prefixed
1226 with the exclamation mark does not match it). The argument must be a list of (potentially quoted)
1227 expressions. For each of the expressions, if it starts with one of <literal>&lt;</literal>,
1228 <literal>&lt;=</literal>, <literal>=</literal>, <literal>!=</literal>, <literal>&gt;=</literal>,
1229 <literal>&gt;</literal> a relative version comparison is done, otherwise the specified string is
1230 matched with shell-style globs.</para>
1231
1232 <para>Note that using the kernel version string is an unreliable way to determine which features
1233 are supported by a kernel, because of the widespread practice of backporting drivers, features, and
1234 fixes from newer upstream kernels into older versions provided by distributions. Hence, this check
1235 is inherently unportable and should not be used for units which may be used on different
1236 distributions.</para>
1237 </listitem>
1238 </varlistentry>
1239
1240 <varlistentry>
1241 <term><varname>ConditionEnvironment=</varname></term>
1242
1243 <listitem><para><varname>ConditionEnvironment=</varname> may be used to check whether a specific
1244 environment variable is set (or if prefixed with the exclamation mark — unset) in the service
1245 manager's environment block.
1246
1247 The argument may be a single word, to check if the variable with this name is defined in the
1248 environment block, or an assignment
1249 (<literal><replaceable>name</replaceable>=<replaceable>value</replaceable></literal>), to check if
1250 the variable with this exact value is defined. Note that the environment block of the service
1251 manager itself is checked, i.e. not any variables defined with <varname>Environment=</varname> or
1252 <varname>EnvironmentFile=</varname>, as described above. This is particularly useful when the
1253 service manager runs inside a containerized environment or as per-user service manager, in order to
1254 check for variables passed in by the enclosing container manager or PAM.</para>
1255 </listitem>
1256 </varlistentry>
1257
1258 <varlistentry>
1259 <term><varname>ConditionSecurity=</varname></term>
1260
1261 <listitem><para><varname>ConditionSecurity=</varname> may be used to check whether the given
1262 security technology is enabled on the system. Currently, the recognized values are
1263 <literal>selinux</literal>, <literal>apparmor</literal>, <literal>tomoyo</literal>,
1264 <literal>ima</literal>, <literal>smack</literal>, <literal>audit</literal>,
1265 <literal>uefi-secureboot</literal> and <literal>tpm2</literal>. The test may be negated by prepending
1266 an exclamation mark.</para>
1267 </listitem>
1268 </varlistentry>
1269
1270 <varlistentry>
1271 <term><varname>ConditionCapability=</varname></term>
1272
1273 <listitem><para>Check whether the given capability exists in the capability bounding set of the
1274 service manager (i.e. this does not check whether capability is actually available in the permitted
1275 or effective sets, see
1276 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>capabilities</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>
1277 for details). Pass a capability name such as <literal>CAP_MKNOD</literal>, possibly prefixed with
1278 an exclamation mark to negate the check.</para>
1279 </listitem>
1280 </varlistentry>
1281
1282 <varlistentry>
1283 <term><varname>ConditionACPower=</varname></term>
1284
1285 <listitem><para>Check whether the system has AC power, or is exclusively battery powered at the
1286 time of activation of the unit. This takes a boolean argument. If set to <literal>true</literal>,
1287 the condition will hold only if at least one AC connector of the system is connected to a power
1288 source, or if no AC connectors are known. Conversely, if set to <literal>false</literal>, the
1289 condition will hold only if there is at least one AC connector known and all AC connectors are
1290 disconnected from a power source.</para>
1291 </listitem>
1292 </varlistentry>
1293
1294 <varlistentry>
1295 <term><varname>ConditionNeedsUpdate=</varname></term>
1296
1297 <listitem><para>Takes one of <filename>/var/</filename> or <filename>/etc/</filename> as argument,
1298 possibly prefixed with a <literal>!</literal> (to invert the condition). This condition may be
1299 used to conditionalize units on whether the specified directory requires an update because
1300 <filename>/usr/</filename>'s modification time is newer than the stamp file
1301 <filename>.updated</filename> in the specified directory. This is useful to implement offline
1302 updates of the vendor operating system resources in <filename>/usr/</filename> that require updating
1303 of <filename>/etc/</filename> or <filename>/var/</filename> on the next following boot. Units making
1304 use of this condition should order themselves before
1305 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-update-done.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1306 to make sure they run before the stamp file's modification time gets reset indicating a completed
1307 update.</para>
1308
1309 <para>If the <varname>systemd.condition-needs-update=</varname> option is specified on the kernel
1310 command line (taking a boolean), it will override the result of this condition check, taking
1311 precedence over any file modification time checks. If it is used
1312 <filename>systemd-update-done.service</filename> will not have immediate effect on any following
1313 <varname>ConditionNeedsUpdate=</varname> checks, until the system is rebooted where the kernel
1314 command line option is not specified anymore.</para>
1315 </listitem>
1316 </varlistentry>
1317
1318 <varlistentry>
1319 <term><varname>ConditionFirstBoot=</varname></term>
1320
1321 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. This condition may be used to conditionalize units on
1322 whether the system is booting up for the first time. This roughly means that <filename>/etc/</filename>
1323 is unpopulated (for details, see "First Boot Semantics" in
1324 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machine-id</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>).
1325 This may be used to populate <filename>/etc/</filename> on the first boot after factory reset, or
1326 when a new system instance boots up for the first time.</para>
1327
1328 <para>For robustness, units with <varname>ConditionFirstBoot=yes</varname> should order themselves
1329 before <filename>first-boot-complete.target</filename> and pull in this passive target with
1330 <varname>Wants=</varname>. This ensures that in a case of an aborted first boot, these units will
1331 be re-run during the next system startup.</para>
1332
1333 <para>If the <varname>systemd.condition-first-boot=</varname> option is specified on the kernel
1334 command line (taking a boolean), it will override the result of this condition check, taking
1335 precedence over <filename>/etc/machine-id</filename> existence checks.</para>
1336 </listitem>
1337 </varlistentry>
1338
1339 <varlistentry>
1340 <term><varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname></term>
1341
1342 <listitem><para>Check for the exists of a file. If the specified absolute path name does not exist,
1343 the condition will fail. If the absolute path name passed to
1344 <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> is prefixed with an exclamation mark
1345 (<literal>!</literal>), the test is negated, and the unit is only started if the path does not
1346 exist.</para>
1347 </listitem>
1348 </varlistentry>
1349
1350 <varlistentry>
1351 <term><varname>ConditionPathExistsGlob=</varname></term>
1352
1353 <listitem><para><varname>ConditionPathExistsGlob=</varname> is similar to
1354 <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname>, but checks for the existence of at least one file or
1355 directory matching the specified globbing pattern.</para>
1356 </listitem>
1357 </varlistentry>
1358
1359 <varlistentry>
1360 <term><varname>ConditionPathIsDirectory=</varname></term>
1361
1362 <listitem><para><varname>ConditionPathIsDirectory=</varname> is similar to
1363 <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> but verifies that a certain path exists and is a
1364 directory.</para>
1365 </listitem>
1366 </varlistentry>
1367
1368 <varlistentry>
1369 <term><varname>ConditionPathIsSymbolicLink=</varname></term>
1370
1371 <listitem><para><varname>ConditionPathIsSymbolicLink=</varname> is similar to
1372 <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> but verifies that a certain path exists and is a symbolic
1373 link.</para>
1374 </listitem>
1375 </varlistentry>
1376
1377 <varlistentry>
1378 <term><varname>ConditionPathIsMountPoint=</varname></term>
1379
1380 <listitem><para><varname>ConditionPathIsMountPoint=</varname> is similar to
1381 <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> but verifies that a certain path exists and is a mount
1382 point.</para>
1383 </listitem>
1384 </varlistentry>
1385
1386 <varlistentry>
1387 <term><varname>ConditionPathIsReadWrite=</varname></term>
1388
1389 <listitem><para><varname>ConditionPathIsReadWrite=</varname> is similar to
1390 <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> but verifies that the underlying file system is readable
1391 and writable (i.e. not mounted read-only).</para>
1392 </listitem>
1393 </varlistentry>
1394
1395 <varlistentry>
1396 <term><varname>ConditionPathIsEncrypted=</varname></term>
1397
1398 <listitem><para><varname>ConditionPathIsEncrypted=</varname> is similar to
1399 <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> but verifies that the underlying file system's backing
1400 block device is encrypted using dm-crypt/LUKS. Note that this check does not cover ext4
1401 per-directory encryption, and only detects block level encryption. Moreover, if the specified path
1402 resides on a file system on top of a loopback block device, only encryption above the loopback device is
1403 detected. It is not detected whether the file system backing the loopback block device is encrypted.</para>
1404 </listitem>
1405 </varlistentry>
1406
1407 <varlistentry>
1408 <term><varname>ConditionDirectoryNotEmpty=</varname></term>
1409
1410 <listitem><para><varname>ConditionDirectoryNotEmpty=</varname> is similar to
1411 <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> but verifies that a certain path exists and is a non-empty
1412 directory.</para>
1413 </listitem>
1414 </varlistentry>
1415
1416 <varlistentry>
1417 <term><varname>ConditionFileNotEmpty=</varname></term>
1418
1419 <listitem><para><varname>ConditionFileNotEmpty=</varname> is similar to
1420 <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> but verifies that a certain path exists and refers to a
1421 regular file with a non-zero size.</para>
1422 </listitem>
1423 </varlistentry>
1424
1425 <varlistentry>
1426 <term><varname>ConditionFileIsExecutable=</varname></term>
1427
1428 <listitem><para><varname>ConditionFileIsExecutable=</varname> is similar to
1429 <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> but verifies that a certain path exists, is a regular file,
1430 and marked executable.</para>
1431 </listitem>
1432 </varlistentry>
1433
1434 <varlistentry>
1435 <term><varname>ConditionUser=</varname></term>
1436
1437 <listitem><para><varname>ConditionUser=</varname> takes a numeric <literal>UID</literal>, a UNIX
1438 user name, or the special value <literal>@system</literal>. This condition may be used to check
1439 whether the service manager is running as the given user. The special value
1440 <literal>@system</literal> can be used to check if the user id is within the system user
1441 range. This option is not useful for system services, as the system manager exclusively runs as the
1442 root user, and thus the test result is constant.</para>
1443 </listitem>
1444 </varlistentry>
1445
1446 <varlistentry>
1447 <term><varname>ConditionGroup=</varname></term>
1448
1449 <listitem><para><varname>ConditionGroup=</varname> is similar to <varname>ConditionUser=</varname>
1450 but verifies that the service manager's real or effective group, or any of its auxiliary groups,
1451 match the specified group or GID. This setting does not support the special value
1452 <literal>@system</literal>.</para>
1453 </listitem>
1454 </varlistentry>
1455
1456 <varlistentry>
1457 <term><varname>ConditionControlGroupController=</varname></term>
1458
1459 <listitem><para>Check whether given cgroup controllers (eg. <literal>cpu</literal>) are available
1460 for use on the system or whether the legacy v1 cgroup or the modern v2 cgroup hierarchy is used.
1461 </para>
1462
1463 <para>Multiple controllers may be passed with a space separating them; in this case the condition
1464 will only pass if all listed controllers are available for use. Controllers unknown to systemd are
1465 ignored. Valid controllers are <literal>cpu</literal>, <literal>cpuacct</literal>,
1466 <literal>io</literal>, <literal>blkio</literal>, <literal>memory</literal>,
1467 <literal>devices</literal>, and <literal>pids</literal>. Even if available in the kernel, a
1468 particular controller may not be available if it was disabled on the kernel command line with
1469 <varname>cgroup_disable=controller</varname>.</para>
1470
1471 <para>Alternatively, two special strings <literal>v1</literal> and <literal>v2</literal> may be
1472 specified (without any controller names). <literal>v2</literal> will pass if the unified v2 cgroup
1473 hierachy is used, and <literal>v1</literal> will pass if the legacy v1 hierarchy or the hybrid
1474 hierarchy are used (see the discussion of <varname>systemd.unified_cgroup_hierarchy</varname> and
1475 <varname>systemd.legacy_systemd_cgroup_controller</varname> in
1476 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
1477 for more information).</para>
1478 </listitem>
1479 </varlistentry>
1480
1481 <varlistentry>
1482 <term><varname>ConditionMemory=</varname></term>
1483
1484 <listitem><para>Verify that the specified amount of system memory is available to the current
1485 system. Takes a memory size in bytes as argument, optionally prefixed with a comparison operator
1486 <literal>&lt;</literal>, <literal>&lt;=</literal>, <literal>=</literal>, <literal>!=</literal>,
1487 <literal>&gt;=</literal>, <literal>&gt;</literal>. On bare-metal systems compares the amount of
1488 physical memory in the system with the specified size, adhering to the specified comparison
1489 operator. In containers compares the amount of memory assigned to the container instead.</para>
1490 </listitem>
1491 </varlistentry>
1492
1493 <varlistentry>
1494 <term><varname>ConditionCPUs=</varname></term>
1495
1496 <listitem><para>Verify that the specified number of CPUs is available to the current system. Takes
1497 a number of CPUs as argument, optionally prefixed with a comparison operator
1498 <literal>&lt;</literal>, <literal>&lt;=</literal>, <literal>=</literal>, <literal>!=</literal>,
1499 <literal>&gt;=</literal>, <literal>&gt;</literal>. Compares the number of CPUs in the CPU affinity
1500 mask configured of the service manager itself with the specified number, adhering to the specified
1501 comparison operator. On physical systems the number of CPUs in the affinity mask of the service
1502 manager usually matches the number of physical CPUs, but in special and virtual environments might
1503 differ. In particular, in containers the affinity mask usually matches the number of CPUs assigned
1504 to the container and not the physically available ones.</para></listitem>
1505 </varlistentry>
1506
1507 <varlistentry>
1508 <term><varname>ConditionCPUFeature=</varname></term>
1509
1510 <listitem><para>Verify that a given CPU feature is available via the <literal>CPUID</literal>
1511 instruction. This condition only does something on i386 and x86-64 processors. On other
1512 processors it is assumed that the CPU does not support the given feature. It checks the leaves
1513 <literal>1</literal>, <literal>7</literal>, <literal>0x80000001</literal>, and
1514 <literal>0x80000007</literal>. Valid values are:
1515 <literal>fpu</literal>,
1516 <literal>vme</literal>,
1517 <literal>de</literal>,
1518 <literal>pse</literal>,
1519 <literal>tsc</literal>,
1520 <literal>msr</literal>,
1521 <literal>pae</literal>,
1522 <literal>mce</literal>,
1523 <literal>cx8</literal>,
1524 <literal>apic</literal>,
1525 <literal>sep</literal>,
1526 <literal>mtrr</literal>,
1527 <literal>pge</literal>,
1528 <literal>mca</literal>,
1529 <literal>cmov</literal>,
1530 <literal>pat</literal>,
1531 <literal>pse36</literal>,
1532 <literal>clflush</literal>,
1533 <literal>mmx</literal>,
1534 <literal>fxsr</literal>,
1535 <literal>sse</literal>,
1536 <literal>sse2</literal>,
1537 <literal>ht</literal>,
1538 <literal>pni</literal>,
1539 <literal>pclmul</literal>,
1540 <literal>monitor</literal>,
1541 <literal>ssse3</literal>,
1542 <literal>fma3</literal>,
1543 <literal>cx16</literal>,
1544 <literal>sse4_1</literal>,
1545 <literal>sse4_2</literal>,
1546 <literal>movbe</literal>,
1547 <literal>popcnt</literal>,
1548 <literal>aes</literal>,
1549 <literal>xsave</literal>,
1550 <literal>osxsave</literal>,
1551 <literal>avx</literal>,
1552 <literal>f16c</literal>,
1553 <literal>rdrand</literal>,
1554 <literal>bmi1</literal>,
1555 <literal>avx2</literal>,
1556 <literal>bmi2</literal>,
1557 <literal>rdseed</literal>,
1558 <literal>adx</literal>,
1559 <literal>sha_ni</literal>,
1560 <literal>syscall</literal>,
1561 <literal>rdtscp</literal>,
1562 <literal>lm</literal>,
1563 <literal>lahf_lm</literal>,
1564 <literal>abm</literal>,
1565 <literal>constant_tsc</literal>.</para>
1566 </listitem>
1567 </varlistentry>
1568
1569 <varlistentry>
1570 <term><varname>AssertArchitecture=</varname></term>
1571 <term><varname>AssertVirtualization=</varname></term>
1572 <term><varname>AssertHost=</varname></term>
1573 <term><varname>AssertKernelCommandLine=</varname></term>
1574 <term><varname>AssertKernelVersion=</varname></term>
1575 <term><varname>AssertEnvironment=</varname></term>
1576 <term><varname>AssertSecurity=</varname></term>
1577 <term><varname>AssertCapability=</varname></term>
1578 <term><varname>AssertACPower=</varname></term>
1579 <term><varname>AssertNeedsUpdate=</varname></term>
1580 <term><varname>AssertFirstBoot=</varname></term>
1581 <term><varname>AssertPathExists=</varname></term>
1582 <term><varname>AssertPathExistsGlob=</varname></term>
1583 <term><varname>AssertPathIsDirectory=</varname></term>
1584 <term><varname>AssertPathIsSymbolicLink=</varname></term>
1585 <term><varname>AssertPathIsMountPoint=</varname></term>
1586 <term><varname>AssertPathIsReadWrite=</varname></term>
1587 <term><varname>AssertPathIsEncrypted=</varname></term>
1588 <term><varname>AssertDirectoryNotEmpty=</varname></term>
1589 <term><varname>AssertFileNotEmpty=</varname></term>
1590 <term><varname>AssertFileIsExecutable=</varname></term>
1591 <term><varname>AssertUser=</varname></term>
1592 <term><varname>AssertGroup=</varname></term>
1593 <term><varname>AssertControlGroupController=</varname></term>
1594 <term><varname>AssertMemory=</varname></term>
1595 <term><varname>AssertCPUs=</varname></term>
1596
1597 <listitem><para>Similar to the <varname>ConditionArchitecture=</varname>,
1598 <varname>ConditionVirtualization=</varname>, …, condition settings described above, these settings
1599 add assertion checks to the start-up of the unit. However, unlike the conditions settings, any
1600 assertion setting that is not met results in failure of the start job (which means this is logged
1601 loudly). Note that hitting a configured assertion does not cause the unit to enter the
1602 <literal>failed</literal> state (or in fact result in any state change of the unit), it affects
1603 only the job queued for it. Use assertion expressions for units that cannot operate when specific
1604 requirements are not met, and when this is something the administrator or user should look
1605 into.</para>
1606 </listitem>
1607 </varlistentry>
1608 </variablelist>
1609 </refsect2>
1610 </refsect1>
1611
1612 <refsect1>
1613 <title>Mapping of unit properties to their inverses</title>
1614
1615 <para>Unit settings that create a relationship with a second unit usually show up
1616 in properties of both units, for example in <command>systemctl show</command>
1617 output. In some cases the name of the property is the same as the name of the
1618 configuration setting, but not always. This table lists the properties
1619 that are shown on two units which are connected through some dependency, and shows
1620 which property on "source" unit corresponds to which property on the "target" unit.
1621 </para>
1622
1623 <table>
1624 <title>
1625 "Forward" and "reverse" unit properties
1626 </title>
1627
1628 <tgroup cols='4'>
1629 <colspec colname='forward' />
1630 <colspec colname='reverse' />
1631 <colspec colname='fuse' />
1632 <colspec colname='ruse' />
1633 <thead>
1634 <row>
1635 <entry>"Forward" property</entry>
1636 <entry>"Reverse" property</entry>
1637 <entry namest='fuse' nameend='ruse' valign='middle'>Where used</entry>
1638 </row>
1639 </thead>
1640 <tbody>
1641 <row>
1642 <entry><varname>Before=</varname></entry>
1643 <entry><varname>After=</varname></entry>
1644 <entry morerows='1' namest='fuse' nameend='ruse' valign='middle'>[Unit] section</entry>
1645 </row>
1646 <row>
1647 <entry><varname>After=</varname></entry>
1648 <entry><varname>Before=</varname></entry>
1649 </row>
1650 <row>
1651 <entry><varname>Requires=</varname></entry>
1652 <entry><varname>RequiredBy=</varname></entry>
1653 <entry>[Unit] section</entry>
1654 <entry>[Install] section</entry>
1655 </row>
1656 <row>
1657 <entry><varname>Wants=</varname></entry>
1658 <entry><varname>WantedBy=</varname></entry>
1659 <entry>[Unit] section</entry>
1660 <entry>[Install] section</entry>
1661 </row>
1662 <row>
1663 <entry><varname>PartOf=</varname></entry>
1664 <entry><varname>ConsistsOf=</varname></entry>
1665 <entry>[Unit] section</entry>
1666 <entry>an automatic property</entry>
1667 </row>
1668 <row>
1669 <entry><varname>BindsTo=</varname></entry>
1670 <entry><varname>BoundBy=</varname></entry>
1671 <entry>[Unit] section</entry>
1672 <entry>an automatic property</entry>
1673 </row>
1674 <row>
1675 <entry><varname>Requisite=</varname></entry>
1676 <entry><varname>RequisiteOf=</varname></entry>
1677 <entry>[Unit] section</entry>
1678 <entry>an automatic property</entry>
1679 </row>
1680 <row>
1681 <entry><varname>Triggers=</varname></entry>
1682 <entry><varname>TriggeredBy=</varname></entry>
1683 <entry namest='fuse' nameend='ruse' valign='middle'>Automatic properties, see notes below</entry>
1684 </row>
1685 <row>
1686 <entry><varname>Conflicts=</varname></entry>
1687 <entry><varname>ConflictedBy=</varname></entry>
1688 <entry>[Unit] section</entry>
1689 <entry>an automatic property</entry>
1690 </row>
1691 <row>
1692 <entry><varname>PropagatesReloadTo=</varname></entry>
1693 <entry><varname>ReloadPropagatedFrom=</varname></entry>
1694 <entry morerows='1' namest='fuse' nameend='ruse' valign='middle'>[Unit] section</entry>
1695 </row>
1696 <row>
1697 <entry><varname>ReloadPropagatedFrom=</varname></entry>
1698 <entry><varname>PropagatesReloadTo=</varname></entry>
1699 </row>
1700 <row>
1701 <entry><varname>Following=</varname></entry>
1702 <entry>n/a</entry>
1703 <entry>An automatic property</entry>
1704 </row>
1705 </tbody>
1706 </tgroup>
1707 </table>
1708
1709 <para>Note: <varname>WantedBy=</varname> and <varname>RequiredBy=</varname> are
1710 used in the [Install] section to create symlinks in <filename>.wants/</filename>
1711 and <filename>.requires/</filename> directories. They cannot be used directly as a
1712 unit configuration setting.</para>
1713
1714 <para>Note: <varname>ConsistsOf=</varname>, <varname>BoundBy=</varname>,
1715 <varname>RequisiteOf=</varname>, <varname>ConflictedBy=</varname> are created
1716 implicitly along with their reverses and cannot be specified directly.</para>
1717
1718 <para>Note: <varname>Triggers=</varname> is created implicitly between a socket,
1719 path unit, or an automount unit, and the unit they activate. By default a unit
1720 with the same name is triggered, but this can be overridden using
1721 <varname>Sockets=</varname>, <varname>Service=</varname>, and <varname>Unit=</varname>
1722 settings. See
1723 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1724 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.socket</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1725 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.path</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1726 and
1727 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.automount</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
1728 for details. <varname>TriggeredBy=</varname> is created implicitly on the
1729 triggered unit.</para>
1730
1731 <para>Note: <varname>Following=</varname> is used to group device aliases and points to the
1732 "primary" device unit that systemd is using to track device state, usually corresponding to a
1733 sysfs path. It does not show up in the "target" unit.</para>
1734 </refsect1>
1735
1736 <refsect1>
1737 <title>[Install] Section Options</title>
1738
1739 <para>Unit files may include an [Install] section, which carries installation information for
1740 the unit. This section is not interpreted by
1741 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> during runtime; it is
1742 used by the <command>enable</command> and <command>disable</command> commands of the
1743 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> tool during
1744 installation of a unit.</para>
1745
1746 <variablelist class='unit-directives'>
1747 <varlistentry>
1748 <term><varname>Alias=</varname></term>
1749
1750 <listitem><para>A space-separated list of additional names this unit shall be installed under. The names listed
1751 here must have the same suffix (i.e. type) as the unit filename. This option may be specified more than once,
1752 in which case all listed names are used. At installation time, <command>systemctl enable</command> will create
1753 symlinks from these names to the unit filename. Note that not all unit types support such alias names, and this
1754 setting is not supported for them. Specifically, mount, slice, swap, and automount units do not support
1755 aliasing.</para></listitem>
1756 </varlistentry>
1757
1758 <varlistentry>
1759 <term><varname>WantedBy=</varname></term>
1760 <term><varname>RequiredBy=</varname></term>
1761
1762 <listitem><para>This option may be used more than once, or a
1763 space-separated list of unit names may be given. A symbolic
1764 link is created in the <filename>.wants/</filename> or
1765 <filename>.requires/</filename> directory of each of the
1766 listed units when this unit is installed by <command>systemctl
1767 enable</command>. This has the effect that a dependency of
1768 type <varname>Wants=</varname> or <varname>Requires=</varname>
1769 is added from the listed unit to the current unit. The primary
1770 result is that the current unit will be started when the
1771 listed unit is started. See the description of
1772 <varname>Wants=</varname> and <varname>Requires=</varname> in
1773 the [Unit] section for details.</para>
1774
1775 <para><command>WantedBy=foo.service</command> in a service
1776 <filename>bar.service</filename> is mostly equivalent to
1777 <command>Alias=foo.service.wants/bar.service</command> in the
1778 same file. In case of template units, <command>systemctl
1779 enable</command> must be called with an instance name, and
1780 this instance will be added to the
1781 <filename>.wants/</filename> or
1782 <filename>.requires/</filename> list of the listed unit. E.g.
1783 <command>WantedBy=getty.target</command> in a service
1784 <filename>getty@.service</filename> will result in
1785 <command>systemctl enable getty@tty2.service</command>
1786 creating a
1787 <filename>getty.target.wants/getty@tty2.service</filename>
1788 link to <filename>getty@.service</filename>.
1789 </para></listitem>
1790 </varlistentry>
1791
1792 <varlistentry>
1793 <term><varname>Also=</varname></term>
1794
1795 <listitem><para>Additional units to install/deinstall when
1796 this unit is installed/deinstalled. If the user requests
1797 installation/deinstallation of a unit with this option
1798 configured, <command>systemctl enable</command> and
1799 <command>systemctl disable</command> will automatically
1800 install/uninstall units listed in this option as well.</para>
1801
1802 <para>This option may be used more than once, or a
1803 space-separated list of unit names may be
1804 given.</para></listitem>
1805 </varlistentry>
1806
1807 <varlistentry>
1808 <term><varname>DefaultInstance=</varname></term>
1809
1810 <listitem><para>In template unit files, this specifies for
1811 which instance the unit shall be enabled if the template is
1812 enabled without any explicitly set instance. This option has
1813 no effect in non-template unit files. The specified string
1814 must be usable as instance identifier.</para></listitem>
1815 </varlistentry>
1816 </variablelist>
1817
1818 <para>The following specifiers are interpreted in the Install section:
1819 %a, %b, %B, %g, %G, %H, %i, %j, %l, %m, %n, %N, %o, %p, %u, %U, %v, %w, %W, %%.
1820 For their meaning see the next section.</para>
1821 </refsect1>
1822
1823 <refsect1>
1824 <title>Specifiers</title>
1825
1826 <para>Many settings resolve specifiers which may be used to write
1827 generic unit files referring to runtime or unit parameters that
1828 are replaced when the unit files are loaded. Specifiers must be known
1829 and resolvable for the setting to be valid. The following
1830 specifiers are understood:</para>
1831
1832 <table class='specifiers'>
1833 <title>Specifiers available in unit files</title>
1834 <tgroup cols='3' align='left' colsep='1' rowsep='1'>
1835 <colspec colname="spec" />
1836 <colspec colname="mean" />
1837 <colspec colname="detail" />
1838 <thead>
1839 <row>
1840 <entry>Specifier</entry>
1841 <entry>Meaning</entry>
1842 <entry>Details</entry>
1843 </row>
1844 </thead>
1845 <tbody>
1846 <row>
1847 <!-- We do not use the common definition from standard-specifiers.xml here since it includes a
1848 reference onto our own man page, which would make the rendered version self-referential. -->
1849 <entry><literal>%a</literal></entry>
1850 <entry>Architecture</entry>
1851 <entry>A short string identifying the architecture of the local system. A string such as <constant>x86</constant>, <constant>x86-64</constant> or <constant>arm64</constant>. See the architectures defined for <varname>ConditionArchitecture=</varname> above for a full list.</entry>
1852 </row>
1853 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="b"/>
1854 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="B"/>
1855 <row>
1856 <entry><literal>%C</literal></entry>
1857 <entry>Cache directory root</entry>
1858 <entry>This is either <filename>/var/cache</filename> (for the system manager) or the path <literal>$XDG_CACHE_HOME</literal> resolves to (for user managers).</entry>
1859 </row>
1860 <row>
1861 <entry><literal>%E</literal></entry>
1862 <entry>Configuration directory root</entry>
1863 <entry>This is either <filename>/etc/</filename> (for the system manager) or the path <literal>$XDG_CONFIG_HOME</literal> resolves to (for user managers).</entry>
1864 </row>
1865 <row>
1866 <entry><literal>%f</literal></entry>
1867 <entry>Unescaped filename</entry>
1868 <entry>This is either the unescaped instance name (if applicable) with <filename>/</filename> prepended (if applicable), or the unescaped prefix name prepended with <filename>/</filename>. This implements unescaping according to the rules for escaping absolute file system paths discussed above.</entry>
1869 </row>
1870 <row>
1871 <entry><literal>%g</literal></entry>
1872 <entry>User group</entry>
1873 <entry>This is the name of the group running the service manager instance. In case of the system manager this resolves to <literal>root</literal>.</entry>
1874 </row>
1875 <row>
1876 <entry><literal>%G</literal></entry>
1877 <entry>User GID</entry>
1878 <entry>This is the numeric GID of the user running the service manager instance. In case of the system manager this resolves to <literal>0</literal>.</entry>
1879 </row>
1880 <row>
1881 <entry><literal>%h</literal></entry>
1882 <entry>User home directory</entry>
1883 <entry>This is the home directory of the <emphasis>user running the service manager instance</emphasis>. In case of the system manager this resolves to <literal>/root</literal>.
1884
1885 Note that this setting is <emphasis>not</emphasis> influenced by the <varname>User=</varname> setting configurable in the [Service] section of the service unit.</entry>
1886 </row>
1887 <row>
1888 <!-- We do not use the common definition from standard-specifiers.xml here since we want a
1889 slightly more verbose explanation here, referring to the reload cycle. -->
1890 <entry><literal>%H</literal></entry>
1891 <entry>Host name</entry>
1892 <entry>The hostname of the running system at the point in time the unit configuration is loaded.</entry>
1893 </row>
1894 <row>
1895 <entry><literal>%i</literal></entry>
1896 <entry>Instance name</entry>
1897 <entry>For instantiated units this is the string between the first <literal>@</literal> character and the type suffix. Empty for non-instantiated units.</entry>
1898 </row>
1899 <row>
1900 <entry><literal>%I</literal></entry>
1901 <entry>Unescaped instance name</entry>
1902 <entry>Same as <literal>%i</literal>, but with escaping undone.</entry>
1903 </row>
1904 <row>
1905 <entry><literal>%j</literal></entry>
1906 <entry>Final component of the prefix</entry>
1907 <entry>This is the string between the last <literal>-</literal> and the end of the prefix name. If there is no <literal>-</literal>, this is the same as <literal>%p</literal>.</entry>
1908 </row>
1909 <row>
1910 <entry><literal>%J</literal></entry>
1911 <entry>Unescaped final component of the prefix</entry>
1912 <entry>Same as <literal>%j</literal>, but with escaping undone.</entry>
1913 </row>
1914 <row>
1915 <entry><literal>%l</literal></entry>
1916 <entry>Short host name</entry>
1917 <entry>The hostname of the running system at the point in time the unit configuration is loaded, truncated at the first dot to remove any domain component.</entry>
1918 </row>
1919 <row>
1920 <entry><literal>%L</literal></entry>
1921 <entry>Log directory root</entry>
1922 <entry>This is either <filename>/var/log</filename> (for the system manager) or the path <literal>$XDG_CONFIG_HOME</literal> resolves to with <filename index="false">/log</filename> appended (for user managers).</entry>
1923 </row>
1924 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="m"/>
1925 <row>
1926 <entry><literal>%n</literal></entry>
1927 <entry>Full unit name</entry>
1928 <entry></entry>
1929 </row>
1930 <row>
1931 <entry><literal>%N</literal></entry>
1932 <entry>Full unit name</entry>
1933 <entry>Same as <literal>%n</literal>, but with the type suffix removed.</entry>
1934 </row>
1935 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="o"/>
1936 <row>
1937 <entry><literal>%p</literal></entry>
1938 <entry>Prefix name</entry>
1939 <entry>For instantiated units, this refers to the string before the first <literal>@</literal> character of the unit name. For non-instantiated units, same as <literal>%N</literal>.</entry>
1940 </row>
1941 <row>
1942 <entry><literal>%P</literal></entry>
1943 <entry>Unescaped prefix name</entry>
1944 <entry>Same as <literal>%p</literal>, but with escaping undone.</entry>
1945 </row>
1946 <row>
1947 <entry><literal>%s</literal></entry>
1948 <entry>User shell</entry>
1949 <entry>This is the shell of the user running the service manager instance. In case of the system manager this resolves to <literal>/bin/sh</literal>.</entry>
1950 </row>
1951 <row>
1952 <entry><literal>%S</literal></entry>
1953 <entry>State directory root</entry>
1954 <entry>This is either <filename>/var/lib</filename> (for the system manager) or the path <literal>$XDG_CONFIG_HOME</literal> resolves to (for user managers).</entry>
1955 </row>
1956 <row>
1957 <entry><literal>%t</literal></entry>
1958 <entry>Runtime directory root</entry>
1959 <entry>This is either <filename>/run/</filename> (for the system manager) or the path <literal>$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR</literal> resolves to (for user managers).</entry>
1960 </row>
1961 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="T"/>
1962 <row>
1963 <entry><literal>%u</literal></entry>
1964 <entry>User name</entry>
1965 <entry>This is the name of the <emphasis>user running the service manager instance</emphasis>. In case of the system manager this resolves to <literal>root</literal>.
1966
1967 Note that this setting is <emphasis>not</emphasis> influenced by the <varname>User=</varname> setting configurable in the [Service] section of the service unit.</entry>
1968 </row>
1969 <row>
1970 <entry><literal>%U</literal></entry>
1971 <entry>User UID</entry>
1972 <entry>This is the numeric UID of the <emphasis>user running the service manager instance</emphasis>. In case of the system manager this resolves to <literal>0</literal>.
1973
1974 Note that this setting is <emphasis>not</emphasis> influenced by the <varname>User=</varname> setting configurable in the [Service] section of the service unit.</entry>
1975 </row>
1976 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="v"/>
1977 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="V"/>
1978 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="w"/>
1979 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="W"/>
1980 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="percent"/>
1981 </tbody>
1982 </tgroup>
1983 </table>
1984 </refsect1>
1985
1986 <refsect1>
1987 <title>Examples</title>
1988
1989 <example>
1990 <title>Allowing units to be enabled</title>
1991
1992 <para>The following snippet (highlighted) allows a unit (e.g.
1993 <filename>foo.service</filename>) to be enabled via
1994 <command>systemctl enable</command>:</para>
1995
1996 <programlisting>[Unit]
1997 Description=Foo
1998
1999 [Service]
2000 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/foo-daemon
2001
2002 <emphasis>[Install]</emphasis>
2003 <emphasis>WantedBy=multi-user.target</emphasis></programlisting>
2004
2005 <para>After running <command>systemctl enable</command>, a
2006 symlink
2007 <filename index="false">/etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/foo.service</filename>
2008 linking to the actual unit will be created. It tells systemd to
2009 pull in the unit when starting
2010 <filename>multi-user.target</filename>. The inverse
2011 <command>systemctl disable</command> will remove that symlink
2012 again.</para>
2013 </example>
2014
2015 <example>
2016 <title>Overriding vendor settings</title>
2017
2018 <para>There are two methods of overriding vendor settings in
2019 unit files: copying the unit file from
2020 <filename>/usr/lib/systemd/system</filename> to
2021 <filename>/etc/systemd/system</filename> and modifying the
2022 chosen settings. Alternatively, one can create a directory named
2023 <filename><replaceable>unit</replaceable>.d/</filename> within
2024 <filename>/etc/systemd/system</filename> and place a drop-in
2025 file <filename><replaceable>name</replaceable>.conf</filename>
2026 there that only changes the specific settings one is interested
2027 in. Note that multiple such drop-in files are read if
2028 present, processed in lexicographic order of their filename.</para>
2029
2030 <para>The advantage of the first method is that one easily
2031 overrides the complete unit, the vendor unit is not parsed at
2032 all anymore. It has the disadvantage that improvements to the
2033 unit file by the vendor are not automatically incorporated on
2034 updates.</para>
2035
2036 <para>The advantage of the second method is that one only
2037 overrides the settings one specifically wants, where updates to
2038 the unit by the vendor automatically apply. This has the
2039 disadvantage that some future updates by the vendor might be
2040 incompatible with the local changes.</para>
2041
2042 <para>This also applies for user instances of systemd, but with
2043 different locations for the unit files. See the section on unit
2044 load paths for further details.</para>
2045
2046 <para>Suppose there is a vendor-supplied unit
2047 <filename>/usr/lib/systemd/system/httpd.service</filename> with
2048 the following contents:</para>
2049
2050 <programlisting>[Unit]
2051 Description=Some HTTP server
2052 After=remote-fs.target sqldb.service
2053 Requires=sqldb.service
2054 AssertPathExists=/srv/webserver
2055
2056 [Service]
2057 Type=notify
2058 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/some-fancy-httpd-server
2059 Nice=5
2060
2061 [Install]
2062 WantedBy=multi-user.target</programlisting>
2063
2064 <para>Now one wants to change some settings as an administrator:
2065 firstly, in the local setup, <filename>/srv/webserver</filename>
2066 might not exist, because the HTTP server is configured to use
2067 <filename>/srv/www</filename> instead. Secondly, the local
2068 configuration makes the HTTP server also depend on a memory
2069 cache service, <filename>memcached.service</filename>, that
2070 should be pulled in (<varname>Requires=</varname>) and also be
2071 ordered appropriately (<varname>After=</varname>). Thirdly, in
2072 order to harden the service a bit more, the administrator would
2073 like to set the <varname>PrivateTmp=</varname> setting (see
2074 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
2075 for details). And lastly, the administrator would like to reset
2076 the niceness of the service to its default value of 0.</para>
2077
2078 <para>The first possibility is to copy the unit file to
2079 <filename>/etc/systemd/system/httpd.service</filename> and
2080 change the chosen settings:</para>
2081
2082 <programlisting>[Unit]
2083 Description=Some HTTP server
2084 After=remote-fs.target sqldb.service <emphasis>memcached.service</emphasis>
2085 Requires=sqldb.service <emphasis>memcached.service</emphasis>
2086 AssertPathExists=<emphasis>/srv/www</emphasis>
2087
2088 [Service]
2089 Type=notify
2090 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/some-fancy-httpd-server
2091 <emphasis>Nice=0</emphasis>
2092 <emphasis>PrivateTmp=yes</emphasis>
2093
2094 [Install]
2095 WantedBy=multi-user.target</programlisting>
2096
2097 <para>Alternatively, the administrator could create a drop-in
2098 file
2099 <filename>/etc/systemd/system/httpd.service.d/local.conf</filename>
2100 with the following contents:</para>
2101
2102 <programlisting>[Unit]
2103 After=memcached.service
2104 Requires=memcached.service
2105 # Reset all assertions and then re-add the condition we want
2106 AssertPathExists=
2107 AssertPathExists=/srv/www
2108
2109 [Service]
2110 Nice=0
2111 PrivateTmp=yes</programlisting>
2112
2113 <para>Note that for drop-in files, if one wants to remove
2114 entries from a setting that is parsed as a list (and is not a
2115 dependency), such as <varname>AssertPathExists=</varname> (or
2116 e.g. <varname>ExecStart=</varname> in service units), one needs
2117 to first clear the list before re-adding all entries except the
2118 one that is to be removed. Dependencies (<varname>After=</varname>, etc.)
2119 cannot be reset to an empty list, so dependencies can only be
2120 added in drop-ins. If you want to remove dependencies, you have
2121 to override the entire unit.</para>
2122
2123 </example>
2124 </refsect1>
2125
2126 <refsect1>
2127 <title>See Also</title>
2128 <para>
2129 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2130 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2131 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-system.conf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2132 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.special</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2133 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2134 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.socket</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2135 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.device</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2136 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.mount</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2137 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.automount</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2138 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.swap</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2139 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.target</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2140 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.path</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2141 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2142 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.scope</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2143 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.slice</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2144 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.time</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2145 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-analyze</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2146 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>capabilities</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2147 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.directives</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
2148 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>uname</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
2149 </para>
2150 </refsect1>
2151
2152 </refentry>