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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 <!--
5 SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later
6
7 Copyright © 2010 Brandon Philips
8 -->
9 <refentry id="tmpfiles.d"
10 xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
11
12 <refentryinfo>
13 <title>tmpfiles.d</title>
14 <productname>systemd</productname>
15 </refentryinfo>
16
17 <refmeta>
18 <refentrytitle>tmpfiles.d</refentrytitle>
19 <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
20 </refmeta>
21
22 <refnamediv>
23 <refname>tmpfiles.d</refname>
24 <refpurpose>Configuration for creation, deletion, and cleaning of files and directories</refpurpose>
25 </refnamediv>
26
27 <refsynopsisdiv>
28 <para><simplelist>
29 <member><filename>/etc/tmpfiles.d/*.conf</filename></member>
30 <member><filename>/run/tmpfiles.d/*.conf</filename></member>
31 <member><filename>/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/*.conf</filename></member>
32 </simplelist></para>
33
34 <para><simplelist>
35 <member><filename>~/.config/user-tmpfiles.d/*.conf</filename></member>
36 <member><filename>$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/user-tmpfiles.d/*.conf</filename></member>
37 <member><filename>~/.local/share/user-tmpfiles.d/*.conf</filename></member>
38 <member><filename index='false'></filename></member>
39 <member><filename>/usr/share/user-tmpfiles.d/*.conf</filename></member>
40 </simplelist></para>
41
42 <programlisting>#Type Path Mode User Group Age Argument
43 f /file/to/create mode user group - content
44 f+ /file/to/create-or-truncate mode user group - content
45 w /file/to/write-to - - - - content
46 w+ /file/to/append-to - - - - content
47 d /directory/to/create-and-clean-up mode user group cleanup-age -
48 D /directory/to/create-and-remove mode user group cleanup-age -
49 e /directory/to/clean-up mode user group cleanup-age -
50 v /subvolume-or-directory/to/create mode user group cleanup-age -
51 q /subvolume-or-directory/to/create mode user group cleanup-age -
52 Q /subvolume-or-directory/to/create mode user group cleanup-age -
53 p /fifo/to/create mode user group - -
54 p+ /fifo/to/[re]create mode user group - -
55 L /symlink/to/create - - - - symlink/target/path
56 L+ /symlink/to/[re]create - - - - symlink/target/path
57 c /dev/char-device-to-create mode user group - major:minor
58 c+ /dev/char-device-to-[re]create mode user group - major:minor
59 b /dev/block-device-to-create mode user group - major:minor
60 b+ /dev/block-device-to-[re]create mode user group - major:minor
61 C /target/to/create - - - cleanup-age /source/to/copy
62 C+ /target/to/create - - - cleanup-age /source/to/copy
63 x /path-or-glob/to/ignore/recursively - - - cleanup-age -
64 X /path-or-glob/to/ignore - - - cleanup-age -
65 r /path-or-glob/to/remove - - - - -
66 R /path-or-glob/to/remove/recursively - - - - -
67 z /path-or-glob/to/adjust/mode mode user group - -
68 Z /path-or-glob/to/adjust/mode/recursively mode user group - -
69 t /path-or-glob/to/set/xattrs - - - - xattrs
70 T /path-or-glob/to/set/xattrs/recursively - - - - xattrs
71 h /path-or-glob/to/set/attrs - - - - file attrs
72 H /path-or-glob/to/set/attrs/recursively - - - - file attrs
73 a /path-or-glob/to/set/acls - - - - POSIX ACLs
74 a+ /path-or-glob/to/append/acls - - - - POSIX ACLs
75 A /path-or-glob/to/set/acls/recursively - - - - POSIX ACLs
76 A+ /path-or-glob/to/append/acls/recursively - - - - POSIX ACLs
77
78 </programlisting>
79 </refsynopsisdiv>
80
81 <refsect1>
82 <title>Description</title>
83
84 <para><filename>tmpfiles.d</filename> configuration files provide a generic mechanism to define the
85 <emphasis>creation</emphasis> of regular files, directories, pipes, and device nodes, adjustments to
86 their <emphasis>access mode, ownership, attributes, quota assignments, and contents</emphasis>, and
87 finally their time-based <emphasis>removal</emphasis>. It is mostly commonly used for volatile and
88 temporary files and directories (such as those located under <filename>/run/</filename>,
89 <filename>/tmp/</filename>, <filename>/var/tmp/</filename>, the API file systems such as
90 <filename>/sys/</filename> or <filename>/proc/</filename>, as well as some other directories below
91 <filename>/var/</filename>).</para>
92
93 <para><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-tmpfiles</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
94 uses this configuration to create volatile files and directories during boot and to do periodic cleanup
95 afterwards. See
96 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-tmpfiles</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
97 the description of <filename>systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service</filename>,
98 <filename>systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service</filename>, and associated units.</para>
99
100 <para>System daemons frequently require private runtime directories below <filename>/run/</filename> to
101 store communication sockets and similar. For these, it is better to use
102 <varname>RuntimeDirectory=</varname> in their unit files (see
103 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
104 details), if the flexibility provided by <filename>tmpfiles.d</filename> is not required. The advantages
105 are that the configuration required by the unit is centralized in one place, and that the lifetime of the
106 directory is tied to the lifetime of the service itself. Similarly, <varname>StateDirectory=</varname>,
107 <varname>CacheDirectory=</varname>, <varname>LogsDirectory=</varname>, and
108 <varname>ConfigurationDirectory=</varname> should be used to create directories under
109 <filename>/var/lib/</filename>, <filename>/var/cache/</filename>, <filename>/var/log/</filename>, and
110 <filename>/etc/</filename>. <filename>tmpfiles.d</filename> should be used for files whose lifetime is
111 independent of any service or requires more complicated configuration.</para>
112 </refsect1>
113
114 <refsect1>
115 <title>Configuration Directories and Precedence</title>
116
117 <para>Each configuration file shall be named in the style of
118 <filename><replaceable>package</replaceable>.conf</filename> or
119 <filename><replaceable>package</replaceable>-<replaceable>part</replaceable>.conf</filename>.
120 The second variant should be used when it is desirable to make it
121 easy to override just this part of configuration.</para>
122
123 <para>Files in <filename>/etc/tmpfiles.d</filename> override files with the same name in
124 <filename>/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d</filename> and <filename>/run/tmpfiles.d</filename>. Files in
125 <filename>/run/tmpfiles.d</filename> override files with the same name in
126 <filename>/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d</filename>. Packages should install their configuration files in
127 <filename>/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d</filename>. Files in <filename>/etc/tmpfiles.d</filename> are reserved for
128 the local administrator, who may use this logic to override the configuration files installed by vendor
129 packages. All configuration files are sorted by their filename in lexicographic order, regardless of
130 which of the directories they reside in. If multiple files specify the same path, the entry in the file
131 with the lexicographically earliest name will be applied (note that lines suppressed due to the
132 <literal>!</literal> are filtered before application, meaning that if an early line carries the
133 exclamation mark and is suppressed because of that, a later line matching in path will be applied). All
134 other conflicting entries will be logged as errors. When two lines are prefix path and suffix path of
135 each other, then the prefix line is always created first, the suffix later (and if removal applies to the
136 line, the order is reversed: the suffix is removed first, the prefix later). Lines that take globs are
137 applied after those accepting no globs. If multiple operations shall be applied on the same file (such as
138 ACL, xattr, file attribute adjustments), these are always done in the same fixed order. Except for those
139 cases, the files/directories are processed in the order they are listed.</para>
140
141 <para>If the administrator wants to disable a configuration file
142 supplied by the vendor, the recommended way is to place a symlink
143 to <filename>/dev/null</filename> in
144 <filename>/etc/tmpfiles.d/</filename> bearing the same filename.
145 </para>
146 </refsect1>
147
148 <refsect1>
149 <title>Configuration File Format</title>
150
151 <para>The configuration format is one line per path, containing type, path, mode, ownership, age, and
152 argument fields. The lines are separated by newlines, the fields by whitespace:</para>
153
154 <programlisting>#Type Path Mode User Group Age Argument…
155 d /run/user 0755 root root 10d -
156 L /tmp/foobar - - - - /dev/null</programlisting>
157
158 <para>Fields may contain C-style escapes. With the exception of the seventh field (the "argument") all
159 fields may be enclosed in quotes. Note that any whitespace found in the line after the beginning of the
160 argument field will be considered part of the argument field. To begin the argument field with a
161 whitespace character, use C-style escapes (e.g. <literal>\x20</literal>).</para>
162
163 <refsect2>
164 <title>Type</title>
165
166 <para>The type consists of a single letter and optionally one or more modifier characters: a plus sign
167 (<literal>+</literal>), exclamation mark (<literal>!</literal>), minus sign (<literal>-</literal>),
168 equals sign (<literal>=</literal>), tilde character (<literal>~</literal>) and/or caret
169 (<literal>^</literal>).</para>
170
171 <para>The following line types are understood:</para>
172
173 <variablelist>
174 <varlistentry>
175 <term><varname>f</varname></term>
176 <term><varname>f+</varname></term>
177 <listitem><para><varname>f</varname> will create a file if it does not exist yet. If the argument
178 parameter is given and the file did not exist yet, it will be written to the file.
179 <varname>f+</varname> will create or truncate the file. If the argument parameter is given, it will
180 be written to the file. Does not follow symlinks.</para></listitem>
181 </varlistentry>
182
183 <varlistentry>
184 <term><varname>w</varname></term>
185 <term><varname>w+</varname></term>
186 <listitem><para>Write the argument parameter to a file, if the file exists.
187 If suffixed with <varname>+</varname>, the line will be appended to the file.
188 If your configuration writes multiple lines to the same file, use <varname>w+</varname>.
189 Lines of this type accept shell-style globs in place of normal path names.
190 The argument parameter will be written without a trailing newline.
191 C-style backslash escapes are interpreted. Follows symlinks.</para></listitem>
192 </varlistentry>
193
194 <varlistentry>
195 <term><varname>d</varname></term>
196 <listitem><para>Create a directory. The mode and ownership will be adjusted if specified. Contents
197 of this directory are subject to time-based cleanup if the age argument is specified.
198 </para></listitem>
199 </varlistentry>
200
201 <varlistentry>
202 <term><varname>D</varname></term>
203 <listitem><para>Similar to <varname>d</varname>, but in addition the contents of the directory will
204 be removed when <option>--remove</option> is used.</para></listitem>
205 </varlistentry>
206
207 <varlistentry>
208 <term><varname>e</varname></term>
209 <listitem><para>Adjust the mode and ownership of existing directories and remove their contents
210 based on age. Lines of this type accept shell-style globs in place of normal path names. Contents
211 of the directories are subject to time-based cleanup if the age argument is specified. If the age
212 argument is <literal>0</literal>, contents will be unconditionally deleted every time
213 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-tmpfiles</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
214 <option>--clean</option> is run.</para>
215
216 <para>For this entry to be useful, at least one of the mode, user, group, or age arguments must be
217 specified, since otherwise this entry has no effect. As an exception, an entry with no effect may
218 be useful when combined with <varname>!</varname>, see the examples.</para>
219
220 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v230"/></listitem>
221 </varlistentry>
222
223 <varlistentry>
224 <term><varname>v</varname></term>
225 <listitem><para>Create a subvolume if the path does not exist yet, the file system supports
226 subvolumes (btrfs), and the system itself is installed into a subvolume (specifically: the root
227 directory <filename>/</filename> is itself a subvolume). Otherwise, create a normal directory, in
228 the same way as <varname>d</varname>.</para>
229
230 <para>A subvolume created with this line type is not assigned to any higher-level quota group. For
231 that, use <varname>q</varname> or <varname>Q</varname>, which allow creating simple quota group
232 hierarchies, see below.</para>
233
234 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v219"/></listitem>
235 </varlistentry>
236
237 <varlistentry>
238 <term><varname>q</varname></term>
239 <listitem><para>Create a subvolume or directory the same as <varname>v</varname>, but assign the
240 subvolume to the same higher-level quota groups as the parent. This ensures that higher-level
241 limits and accounting applied to the parent subvolume also include the specified subvolume. On
242 non-btrfs file systems, this line type is identical to <varname>d</varname>.</para>
243
244 <para>If the subvolume already exists, no change to the quota hierarchy is made, regardless of whether the
245 subvolume is already attached to a quota group or not. Also see <varname>Q</varname> below. See
246 <citerefentry project='url'><refentrytitle url='https://btrfs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/btrfs-qgroup.html'>btrfs-qgroup</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
247 for details about the btrfs quota group concept.</para>
248
249 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v228"/></listitem>
250 </varlistentry>
251
252 <varlistentry>
253 <term><varname>Q</varname></term>
254 <listitem><para>Create the subvolume or directory the same as <varname>v</varname>, but assign the
255 new subvolume to a new leaf quota group. Instead of copying the higher-level quota group
256 assignments from the parent as is done with <varname>q</varname>, the lowest quota group of the
257 parent subvolume is determined that is not the leaf quota group. Then, an "intermediary" quota
258 group is inserted that is one level below this level, and shares the same ID part as the specified
259 subvolume. If no higher-level quota group exists for the parent subvolume, a new quota group at
260 level 255 sharing the same ID as the specified subvolume is inserted instead. This new intermediary
261 quota group is then assigned to the parent subvolume's higher-level quota groups, and the specified
262 subvolume's leaf quota group is assigned to it.</para>
263
264 <para>Effectively, this has a similar effect as <varname>q</varname>, however introduces a new higher-level
265 quota group for the specified subvolume that may be used to enforce limits and accounting to the specified
266 subvolume and children subvolume created within it. Thus, by creating subvolumes only via
267 <varname>q</varname> and <varname>Q</varname>, a concept of "subtree quotas" is implemented. Each subvolume
268 for which <varname>Q</varname> is set will get a "subtree" quota group created, and all child subvolumes
269 created within it will be assigned to it. Each subvolume for which <varname>q</varname> is set will not get
270 such a "subtree" quota group, but it is ensured that they are added to the same "subtree" quota group as
271 their immediate parents.</para>
272
273 <para>It is recommended to use <varname>Q</varname> for subvolumes that typically contain further subvolumes,
274 and where it is desirable to have accounting and quota limits on all child subvolumes together. Examples for
275 <varname>Q</varname> are typically <filename>/home/</filename> or <filename>/var/lib/machines/</filename>. In
276 contrast, <varname>q</varname> should be used for subvolumes that either usually do not include further
277 subvolumes or where no accounting and quota limits are needed that apply to all child subvolumes
278 together. Examples for <varname>q</varname> are typically <filename>/var/</filename> or
279 <filename>/var/tmp/</filename>. </para>
280
281 <para>As with <varname>q</varname>, <varname>Q</varname> has no effect on the quota group hierarchy if the
282 subvolume already exists, regardless of whether the subvolume already belong to a quota group or not.
283 </para>
284
285 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v228"/></listitem>
286 </varlistentry>
287
288 <varlistentry>
289 <term><varname>p</varname></term>
290 <term><varname>p+</varname></term>
291 <listitem><para>Create a named pipe (FIFO) if it does not
292 exist yet. If suffixed with <varname>+</varname> and a file
293 already exists where the pipe is to be created, it will be
294 removed and be replaced by the pipe.</para></listitem>
295 </varlistentry>
296
297 <varlistentry>
298 <term><varname>L</varname></term>
299 <term><varname>L+</varname></term>
300 <listitem><para>Create a symlink if it does not exist
301 yet. If suffixed with <varname>+</varname> and a file or
302 directory already exists where the symlink is to be created,
303 it will be removed and be replaced by the symlink. If the
304 argument is omitted, symlinks to files with the same name
305 residing in the directory
306 <filename>/usr/share/factory/</filename> are created. Note
307 that permissions and ownership on symlinks are ignored.
308 </para></listitem>
309 </varlistentry>
310
311 <varlistentry>
312 <term><varname>c</varname></term>
313 <term><varname>c+</varname></term>
314 <listitem><para>Create a character device node if it does
315 not exist yet. If suffixed with <varname>+</varname> and a
316 file already exists where the device node is to be created,
317 it will be removed and be replaced by the device node. It is
318 recommended to suffix this entry with an exclamation mark to
319 only create static device nodes at boot, as udev will not
320 manage static device nodes that are created at runtime.
321 </para></listitem>
322 </varlistentry>
323
324 <varlistentry>
325 <term><varname>b</varname></term>
326 <term><varname>b+</varname></term>
327 <listitem><para>Create a block device node if it does not
328 exist yet. If suffixed with <varname>+</varname> and a file
329 already exists where the device node is to be created, it
330 will be removed and be replaced by the device node. It is
331 recommended to suffix this entry with an exclamation mark to
332 only create static device nodes at boot, as udev will not
333 manage static device nodes that are created at runtime.
334 </para></listitem>
335 </varlistentry>
336
337 <varlistentry>
338 <term><varname>C</varname></term>
339 <term><varname>C+</varname></term>
340 <listitem><para>Recursively copy a file or directory, if the destination files or directories do
341 not exist yet or the destination directory is empty. Note that this command will not descend into
342 subdirectories if the destination directory already exists and is not empty, unless the action is
343 suffixed with <varname>+</varname>. Instead, the entire copy operation is skipped. If the argument
344 is omitted, files from the source directory <filename>/usr/share/factory/</filename> with the same
345 name are copied. Does not follow symlinks. Contents of the directories are subject to time-based
346 cleanup if the age argument is specified.
347 </para>
348
349 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v214"/></listitem>
350 </varlistentry>
351
352 <varlistentry>
353 <term><varname>x</varname></term>
354 <listitem><para>Ignore a path during cleaning. Use this type
355 to exclude paths from clean-up as controlled with the Age
356 parameter. Note that lines of this type do not influence the
357 effect of <varname>r</varname> or <varname>R</varname>
358 lines. Lines of this type accept shell-style globs in place
359 of normal path names. </para></listitem>
360 </varlistentry>
361
362 <varlistentry>
363 <term><varname>X</varname></term>
364 <listitem><para>Ignore a path during cleaning. Use this type
365 to exclude paths from clean-up as controlled with the Age
366 parameter. Unlike <varname>x</varname>, this parameter will
367 not exclude the content if path is a directory, but only
368 directory itself. Note that lines of this type do not
369 influence the effect of <varname>r</varname> or
370 <varname>R</varname> lines. Lines of this type accept
371 shell-style globs in place of normal path names.
372 </para>
373
374 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v198"/></listitem>
375 </varlistentry>
376
377 <varlistentry>
378 <term><varname>r</varname></term>
379 <listitem><para>Remove a file or directory if it exists.
380 This may not be used to remove non-empty directories, use
381 <varname>R</varname> for that. Lines of this type accept
382 shell-style globs in place of normal path
383 names. Does not follow symlinks.</para></listitem>
384 </varlistentry>
385
386 <varlistentry>
387 <term><varname>R</varname></term>
388 <listitem><para>Recursively remove a path and all its
389 subdirectories (if it is a directory). Lines of this type
390 accept shell-style globs in place of normal path
391 names. Does not follow symlinks.</para></listitem>
392 </varlistentry>
393
394 <varlistentry>
395 <term><varname>z</varname></term>
396 <listitem><para>Adjust the access mode, user and group ownership, and restore the SELinux security
397 context of a file or directory, if it exists. Lines of this type accept shell-style globs in place
398 of normal path names. Does not follow symlinks.</para></listitem>
399 </varlistentry>
400
401 <varlistentry>
402 <term><varname>Z</varname></term>
403 <listitem><para>Recursively set the access mode, user and group ownership, and restore the SELinux
404 security context of a file or directory if it exists, as well as of its subdirectories and the
405 files contained therein (if applicable). Lines of this type accept shell-style globs in place of
406 normal path names. Does not follow symlinks.</para></listitem>
407 </varlistentry>
408
409 <varlistentry>
410 <term><varname>t</varname></term>
411 <listitem><para>Set extended attributes, see <citerefentry
412 project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>attr</refentrytitle>
413 <manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> for details. The argument field should take one or more
414 assignment expressions in the form
415 <replaceable>namespace</replaceable>.<replaceable>attribute</replaceable>=<replaceable>value</replaceable>,
416 for examples see below. Lines of this type accept shell-style globs in place of normal path
417 names. This can be useful for setting SMACK labels. Does not follow symlinks.</para>
418
419 <para>Please note that extended attributes settable with this line type are a different concept
420 from the Linux file attributes settable with <varname>h</varname>/<varname>H</varname>, see
421 below.</para>
422
423 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v218"/></listitem>
424 </varlistentry>
425
426 <varlistentry>
427 <term><varname>T</varname></term>
428 <listitem><para>Same as <varname>t</varname>, but operates recursively.</para>
429
430 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v219"/></listitem>
431 </varlistentry>
432
433 <varlistentry>
434 <term><varname>h</varname></term>
435 <listitem><para>Set Linux file/directory attributes. Lines of this type accept shell-style globs in
436 place of normal path names.</para>
437
438 <para>The format of the argument field is <varname>[+-=][aAcCdDeijPsStTu]</varname>. The prefix
439 <varname>+</varname> (the default one) causes the attributes to be added; <varname>-</varname>
440 causes the attributes to be removed; <varname>=</varname> causes the attributes to be set exactly
441 as the following letters. The letters <literal>aAcCdDeijPsStTu</literal> select the new attributes
442 for the files, see <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>chattr</refentrytitle>
443 <manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> for further information.
444 </para>
445
446 <para>Passing only <varname>=</varname> as argument resets all the file attributes listed above. It
447 has to be pointed out that the <varname>=</varname> prefix limits itself to the attributes
448 corresponding to the letters listed here. All other attributes will be left untouched. Does not
449 follow symlinks.</para>
450
451 <para>Please note that the Linux file attributes settable with this line type are a different
452 concept from the extended attributes settable with <varname>t</varname>/<varname>T</varname>,
453 see above.</para></listitem>
454 </varlistentry>
455
456 <varlistentry>
457 <term><varname>H</varname></term>
458 <listitem><para>Sames as <varname>h</varname>, but operates recursively.</para>
459
460 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v220"/></listitem>
461 </varlistentry>
462
463 <varlistentry>
464 <term><varname>a</varname></term>
465 <term><varname>a+</varname></term>
466 <listitem><para>Set POSIX ACLs (access control lists), see
467 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>acl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
468 Additionally, if 'X' is used, the execute bit is set only if the file is a directory or already has
469 execute permission for some user, as mentioned in
470 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>setfacl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
471 If suffixed with <varname>+</varname>, the specified entries will be added to the existing set.
472 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-tmpfiles</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
473 will automatically add the required base entries for user and group based on the access mode of the
474 file, unless base entries already exist or are explicitly specified. The mask will be added if not
475 specified explicitly or already present. Lines of this type accept shell-style globs in place of
476 normal path names. This can be useful for allowing additional access to certain files. Does not
477 follow symlinks.</para>
478
479 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v219"/></listitem>
480 </varlistentry>
481
482 <varlistentry>
483 <term><varname>A</varname></term>
484 <term><varname>A+</varname></term>
485 <listitem><para>Same as <varname>a</varname> and
486 <varname>a+</varname>, but recursive. Does not follow
487 symlinks.</para>
488
489 <xi:include href="version-info.xml" xpointer="v219"/></listitem>
490 </varlistentry>
491 </variablelist>
492 </refsect2>
493
494 <refsect2>
495 <title>Type Modifiers</title>
496
497 <para>If the exclamation mark (<literal>!</literal>) is used, this line is only safe to execute during
498 boot, and can break a running system. Lines without the exclamation mark are presumed to be safe to
499 execute at any time, e.g. on package upgrades.
500 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-tmpfiles</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
501 will take lines with an exclamation mark only into consideration, if the <option>--boot</option> option
502 is given.</para>
503
504 <para>For example:
505 <programlisting># Make sure these are created by default so that nobody else can
506 d /tmp/.X11-unix 1777 root root 10d
507
508 # Unlink the X11 lock files
509 r! /tmp/.X[0-9]*-lock</programlisting>
510 The second line in contrast to the first one would break a
511 running system, and will only be executed with
512 <option>--boot</option>.</para>
513
514 <para>If the minus sign (<literal>-</literal>) is used, this line failing to run successfully during
515 create (and only create) will not cause the execution of <command>systemd-tmpfiles</command> to return
516 an error.</para>
517
518 <para>For example:
519 <programlisting># Modify sysfs but don't fail if we are in a container with a read-only /proc
520 w- /proc/sys/vm/swappiness - - - - 10</programlisting></para>
521
522 <para>If the equals sign (<literal>=</literal>) is used, the file types of existing objects in the specified path
523 are checked, and removed if they do not match. This includes any implicitly created parent directories (which can
524 be either directories or directory symlinks). For example, if there is a FIFO in place of one of the parent path
525 components it will be replaced with a directory.</para>
526
527 <para>If the tilde character (<literal>~</literal>) is used, the argument (i.e. 6th) column is <ulink
528 url="https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4648.html">Base64 decoded</ulink> before use. This modifier is
529 only supported on line types that can write file contents, i.e. <varname>f</varname>,
530 <varname>f+</varname>, <varname>w</varname>, <varname>+</varname>. This is useful for writing arbitrary
531 binary data (including newlines and NUL bytes) to files. Note that if this switch is used, the argument
532 is not subject to specifier expansion, neither before nor after Base64 decoding.</para>
533
534 <para>If the caret character (<literal>^</literal>) is used, the argument (i.e. 6th) column takes a
535 service credential name to read the argument data from. See <ulink
536 url="https://systemd.io/CREDENTIALS">System and Service Credentials</ulink> for details about the
537 credentials concept. This modifier is only supported on line types that can write file contents,
538 i.e. <varname>f</varname>, <varname>f+</varname>, <varname>w</varname>, <varname>w+</varname>. This is
539 useful for writing arbitrary files with contents sourced from elsewhere, including from VM or container
540 managers further up. If the specified credential is not set for the <command>systemd-tmpfiles</command>
541 service, the line is silently skipped. If <literal>^</literal> and <literal>~</literal> are combined
542 Base64 decoding is applied to the credential contents.</para>
543
544 <para>Note that for all line types that result in creation of any kind of file node
545 (i.e. <varname>f</varname>/<varname>F</varname>,
546 <varname>d</varname>/<varname>D</varname>/<varname>v</varname>/<varname>q</varname>/<varname>Q</varname>,
547 <varname>p</varname>, <varname>L</varname>, <varname>c</varname>/<varname>b</varname> and <varname>C</varname>)
548 leading directories are implicitly created if needed, owned by root with an access mode of 0755. In order to
549 create them with different modes or ownership make sure to add appropriate <varname>d</varname> lines.</para>
550 </refsect2>
551
552 <refsect2>
553 <title>Path</title>
554
555 <para>The file system path specification supports simple
556 specifier expansion, see below. The path (after expansion) must be
557 absolute.</para>
558 </refsect2>
559
560 <refsect2>
561 <title>Mode</title>
562
563 <para>The file access mode to use when creating this file or directory. If omitted or when set to
564 <literal>-</literal>, the default is used: 0755 for directories, 0644 for all other file objects. For
565 <varname>z</varname>, <varname>Z</varname> lines, if omitted or when set to <literal>-</literal>, the
566 file access mode will not be modified. This parameter is ignored for <varname>x</varname>,
567 <varname>r</varname>, <varname>R</varname>, <varname>L</varname>, <varname>t</varname>, and
568 <varname>a</varname> lines.</para>
569
570 <para>Optionally, if prefixed with <literal>~</literal>, the access mode is masked based on the already
571 set access bits for existing file or directories: if the existing file has all executable bits unset,
572 all executable bits are removed from the new access mode, too. Similarly, if all read bits are removed
573 from the old access mode, they will be removed from the new access mode too, and if all write bits are
574 removed, they will be removed from the new access mode too. In addition, the sticky/SUID/SGID bit is
575 removed unless applied to a directory. This functionality is particularly useful in conjunction with
576 <varname>Z</varname>.</para>
577
578 <para>By default the access mode of listed inodes is set to the specified mode regardless if it is
579 created anew, or already existed. Optionally, if prefixed with <literal>:</literal>, the configured
580 access mode is only applied when creating new inodes, and if the inode the line refers to
581 already exists, its access mode is left in place unmodified.</para>
582 </refsect2>
583
584 <refsect2>
585 <title>User, Group</title>
586
587 <para>The user and group to use for this file or directory. This may either be a numeric ID or a
588 user/group name. If omitted or when set to <literal>-</literal>, the user and group of the user who
589 invokes
590 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-tmpfiles</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry> is
591 used. For <varname>z</varname> and <varname>Z</varname> lines, when omitted or when set to
592 <literal>-</literal>, the file ownership will not be modified. These parameters are ignored for
593 <varname>x</varname>, <varname>r</varname>, <varname>R</varname>, <varname>L</varname>,
594 <varname>t</varname>, and <varname>a</varname> lines.</para>
595
596 <para>This field should generally only reference system users/groups, i.e. users/groups that are
597 guaranteed to be resolvable during early boot. If this field references users/groups that only become
598 resolveable during later boot (i.e. after NIS, LDAP or a similar networked directory service become
599 available), execution of the operations declared by the line will likely fail. Also see <ulink
600 url="https://systemd.io/UIDS-GIDS/#notes-on-resolvability-of-user-and-group-names">Notes on
601 Resolvability of User and Group Names</ulink> for more information on requirements on system user/group
602 definitions.</para>
603
604 <para>By default the ownership of listed inodes is set to the specified user/group regardless if it is
605 created anew, or already existed. Optionally, if prefixed with <literal>:</literal>, the configured
606 user/group information is only applied when creating new inodes, and if the inode the line refers to
607 already exists, its user/group is left in place unmodified.</para>
608 </refsect2>
609
610 <refsect2>
611 <title>Age</title>
612
613 <para>The date field, when set, is used to decide what files to
614 delete when cleaning. If a file or directory is older than the
615 current time minus the age field, it is deleted. The field
616 format is a series of integers each followed by one of the
617 following suffixes for the respective time units:
618 <constant>s</constant>,
619 <constant>m</constant> or <constant>min</constant>,
620 <constant>h</constant>,
621 <constant>d</constant>,
622 <constant>w</constant>,
623 <constant>ms</constant>, and
624 <constant>us</constant>,
625 meaning seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks,
626 milliseconds, and microseconds, respectively. Full names of the time units can
627 be used too.
628 </para>
629
630 <para>If multiple integers and units are specified, the time
631 values are summed. If an integer is given without a unit,
632 <constant>s</constant> is assumed.
633 </para>
634
635 <para>When the age is set to zero, the files are cleaned
636 unconditionally.</para>
637
638 <para>The age field only applies to lines starting with
639 <varname>d</varname>, <varname>D</varname>, <varname>e</varname>,
640 <varname>v</varname>, <varname>q</varname>,
641 <varname>Q</varname>, <varname>C</varname>, <varname>x</varname>
642 and <varname>X</varname>. If omitted or set to
643 <literal>-</literal>, no automatic clean-up is done.</para>
644
645 <para>If the age field starts with a tilde character <literal>~</literal>, clean-up is only applied to
646 files and directories one level inside the directory specified, but not the files and directories
647 immediately inside it.</para>
648
649 <para>The age of a file system entry is determined from its last
650 modification timestamp (mtime), its last access timestamp (atime),
651 and (except for directories) its last status change timestamp
652 (ctime). By default, any of these three (or two) values will
653 prevent cleanup if it is more recent than the current time minus
654 the age field. To restrict the deletion based on particular type
655 of file timestamps, the age-by argument can be used.</para>
656
657 <para>The age-by argument overrides the timestamp types to be used for the age check. It can be
658 specified by prefixing the age argument with a sequence of characters to specify the timestamp types
659 and a colon (<literal>:</literal>):
660 <literal><replaceable>age-by</replaceable>...:<replaceable>cleanup-age</replaceable></literal>. The
661 argument can consist of <constant>a</constant> (<constant>A</constant> for directories),
662 <constant>b</constant> (<constant>B</constant> for directories), <constant>c</constant>
663 (<constant>C</constant> for directories), or <constant>m</constant> (<constant>M</constant> for
664 directories). Those respectively indicate access, creation, last status change, and last modification
665 time of a file system entry. The lower-case letter signifies that the given timestamp type should be
666 considered for files, while the upper-case letter signifies that the given timestamp type should be
667 considered for directories. See <citerefentry
668 project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>statx</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry> file
669 timestamp fields for more details about timestamp types.</para>
670
671 <para>If not specified, the age-by field defaults to <constant>abcmABM</constant>, i.e. by default all
672 file timestamps are taken into consideration, with the exception of the last status change timestamp
673 (ctime) for directories. This is because the aging logic itself will alter the ctime whenever it
674 deletes a file inside it. To ensure that running the aging logic does not feed back into the next
675 iteration of itself, ctime for directories is ignored by default.</para>
676
677 <para>For example:<programlisting>
678 # Files created and modified, and directories accessed more than
679 # an hour ago in "/tmp/foo/bar", are subject to time-based cleanup.
680 d /tmp/foo/bar - - - bmA:1h -</programlisting></para>
681
682 <para>Note that while the aging algorithm is run an exclusive BSD file lock (see <citerefentry
683 project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>flock</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry>) is
684 taken on each directory/file the algorithm decides to remove. If the aging algorithm finds a lock
685 (shared or exclusive) is already taken on some directory/file, it (and everything below it) is skipped.
686 Applications may use this to temporarily exclude certain directory subtrees from the aging algorithm:
687 the applications can take a BSD file lock themselves, and as long as they keep it aging of the
688 directory/file and everything below it is disabled.</para>
689
690 <para>This behavior can be used to ensure guaranteed cleanup of files or directories whose lifetime
691 should be aligned with the process that created them by having that process create them in a location
692 monitored by <command>systemd-tmpfiles</command> with an age of <literal>0</literal>, and having the
693 process immediately lock the directory or file before using it. Because the BSD lock is process
694 specific, the file is guaranteed to be unlocked as soon as the process exits, meaning that even if the
695 process crashes, those files and directories will be unlocked and cleaned up by
696 <command>systemd-tmpfiles</command>.</para>
697 </refsect2>
698
699 <refsect2>
700 <title>Argument</title>
701
702 <para>For <varname>L</varname> lines determines the destination path of the symlink. For <varname>c</varname> and
703 <varname>b</varname>, determines the major/minor of the device node, with major and minor formatted as integers,
704 separated by <literal>:</literal>, e.g. <literal>1:3</literal>. For <varname>f</varname>, <varname>F</varname>,
705 and <varname>w</varname>, the argument may be used to specify a short string that is written to the file,
706 suffixed by a newline. For <varname>C</varname>, specifies the source file or directory. For <varname>t</varname>
707 and <varname>T</varname>, determines extended attributes to be set. For <varname>a</varname> and
708 <varname>A</varname>, determines ACL attributes to be set. For <varname>h</varname> and <varname>H</varname>,
709 determines the file attributes to set. Ignored for all other lines.</para>
710
711 <para>This field can contain specifiers, see below.</para>
712 </refsect2>
713 </refsect1>
714
715 <refsect1>
716 <title>Specifiers</title>
717
718 <para>Specifiers can be used in the "path" and "argument" fields.
719 An unknown or unresolvable specifier is treated as invalid configuration.
720 The following expansions are understood:</para>
721 <table class='specifiers'>
722 <title>Specifiers available</title>
723 <tgroup cols='3' align='left' colsep='1' rowsep='1'>
724 <colspec colname="spec" />
725 <colspec colname="mean" />
726 <colspec colname="detail" />
727 <thead>
728 <row>
729 <entry>Specifier</entry>
730 <entry>Meaning</entry>
731 <entry>Details</entry>
732 </row>
733 </thead>
734 <tbody>
735 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="a"/>
736 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="A"/>
737 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="b"/>
738 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="B"/>
739 <row>
740 <entry><literal>%C</literal></entry>
741 <entry>System or user cache directory</entry>
742 <entry>In <option>--user</option> mode, this is the same as <varname>$XDG_CACHE_HOME</varname>, and <filename>/var/cache</filename> otherwise.</entry>
743 </row>
744 <row>
745 <entry><literal>%g</literal></entry>
746 <entry>User group</entry>
747 <entry>This is the name of the group running the command. In case of the system instance this resolves to <literal>root</literal>.</entry>
748 </row>
749 <row>
750 <entry><literal>%G</literal></entry>
751 <entry>User GID</entry>
752 <entry>This is the numeric GID of the group running the command. In case of the system instance this resolves to <constant>0</constant>.</entry>
753 </row>
754 <row>
755 <entry><literal>%h</literal></entry>
756 <entry>User home directory</entry>
757 <entry>This is the home directory of the user running the command. In case of the system instance this resolves to <literal>/root</literal>.</entry>
758 </row>
759 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="H"/>
760 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="l"/>
761 <row>
762 <entry><literal>%L</literal></entry>
763 <entry>System or user log directory</entry>
764 <entry>In <option>--user</option> mode, this is the same as <varname>$XDG_STATE_HOME</varname> with <filename index="false">/log</filename> appended, and <filename>/var/log</filename> otherwise.</entry>
765 </row>
766 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="m"/>
767 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="M"/>
768 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="o"/>
769 <row>
770 <entry><literal>%S</literal></entry>
771 <entry>System or user state directory</entry>
772 <entry>In <option>--user</option> mode, this is the same as <varname>$XDG_STATE_HOME</varname>, and <filename>/var/lib</filename> otherwise.</entry>
773 </row>
774 <row>
775 <entry><literal>%t</literal></entry>
776 <entry>System or user runtime directory</entry>
777 <entry>In <option>--user</option> mode, this is the same <varname>$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR</varname>, and <filename>/run/</filename> otherwise.</entry>
778 </row>
779 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="T"/>
780 <row>
781 <entry><literal>%u</literal></entry>
782 <entry>User name</entry>
783 <entry>This is the name of the user running the command. In case of the system instance this resolves to <literal>root</literal>.</entry>
784 </row>
785 <row>
786 <entry><literal>%U</literal></entry>
787 <entry>User UID</entry>
788 <entry>This is the numeric UID of the user running the command. In case of the system instance this resolves to <constant>0</constant>.</entry>
789 </row>
790 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="v"/>
791 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="V"/>
792 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="w"/>
793 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="W"/>
794 <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="percent"/>
795 </tbody>
796 </tgroup>
797 </table>
798 </refsect1>
799
800 <refsect1>
801 <title>Examples</title>
802 <example>
803 <title>Create directories with specific mode and ownership</title>
804 <para>
805 <citerefentry project='die-net'><refentrytitle>screen</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
806 needs two directories created at boot with specific modes and ownership:</para>
807
808 <programlisting># /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/screen.conf
809 d /run/screens 1777 root screen 10d
810 d /run/uscreens 0755 root screen 10d12h
811 </programlisting>
812
813 <para>Contents of <filename>/run/screens</filename> and /run/uscreens will
814 be cleaned up after 10 and 10½ days, respectively.</para>
815 </example>
816
817 <example>
818 <title>Create a directory with a SMACK attribute</title>
819 <programlisting>D /run/cups - - - -
820 t /run/cups - - - - security.SMACK64=printing user.attr-with-spaces="foo bar"
821 </programlisting>
822
823 <para>The directory will be owned by root and have default mode. Its contents are
824 not subject to time-based cleanup, but will be obliterated when
825 <command>systemd-tmpfiles --remove</command> runs.</para>
826 </example>
827
828 <example>
829 <title>Create a directory and prevent its contents from cleanup</title>
830 <para>
831 <citerefentry project='die-net'><refentrytitle>abrt</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
832 needs a directory created at boot with specific mode and ownership and its content
833 should be preserved from the automatic cleanup applied to the contents of
834 <filename>/var/tmp</filename>:</para>
835
836 <programlisting># /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/tmp.conf
837 d /var/tmp 1777 root root 30d
838 </programlisting>
839
840 <programlisting># /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/abrt.conf
841 d /var/tmp/abrt 0755 abrt abrt -
842 </programlisting>
843 </example>
844
845 <example>
846 <title>Apply clean up during boot and based on time</title>
847
848 <programlisting># /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/dnf.conf
849 r! /var/cache/dnf/*/*/download_lock.pid
850 r! /var/cache/dnf/*/*/metadata_lock.pid
851 r! /var/lib/dnf/rpmdb_lock.pid
852 e /var/cache/dnf/ - - - 30d
853 </programlisting>
854
855 <para>The lock files will be removed during boot. Any files and directories in
856 <filename>/var/cache/dnf/</filename> will be removed after they have not been
857 accessed in 30 days.</para>
858 </example>
859
860 <example>
861 <title>Empty the contents of a cache directory on boot</title>
862
863 <programlisting># /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/krb5rcache.conf
864 e! /var/cache/krb5rcache - - - 0
865 </programlisting>
866
867 <para>Any files and subdirectories in <filename>/var/cache/krb5rcache/</filename>
868 will be removed on boot. The directory will not be created.
869 </para>
870 </example>
871
872 <example>
873 <title>Provision SSH public key access for root user via Credentials in QEMU</title>
874
875 <programlisting>-smbios type=11,value=io.systemd.credential.binary:tmpfiles.extra=$(echo "f~ /root/.ssh/authorized_keys 700 root root - $(ssh-add -L | base64 -w 0)" | base64 -w 0)
876 </programlisting>
877
878 <para>By passing this line to QEMU, the public key of the current user will be encoded in base64, added
879 to a tmpfiles.d line that tells <command>systemd-tmpfiles</command> to decode it into
880 <filename>/root/.ssh/authorized_keys</filename>, encode that line itself in base64 and pass it as a
881 Credential that will be picked up by systemd from SMBIOS on boot.
882 </para>
883 </example>
884 </refsect1>
885
886 <refsect1>
887 <title><filename>/run/</filename> and <filename>/var/run/</filename></title>
888 <para><filename>/var/run/</filename> is a deprecated symlink to <filename>/run/</filename>, and
889 applications should use the latter. <command>systemd-tmpfiles</command> will warn if
890 <filename>/var/run/</filename> is used.</para>
891 </refsect1>
892
893 <refsect1>
894 <title>See Also</title>
895 <para>
896 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
897 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-tmpfiles</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
898 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-delta</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
899 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
900 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>attr</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
901 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>getfattr</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
902 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>setfattr</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
903 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>setfacl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
904 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>getfacl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
905 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>chattr</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
906 <citerefentry project='url'><refentrytitle url='https://btrfs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/btrfs-subvolume.html'>btrfs-subvolume</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
907 <citerefentry project='url'><refentrytitle url='https://btrfs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/btrfs-qgroup.html'>btrfs-qgroup</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
908 </para>
909 </refsect1>
910
911 </refentry>