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c129bd5d 1<?xml version='1.0'?> <!--*- Mode: nxml; nxml-child-indent: 2; indent-tabs-mode: nil -*-->
d1ab0ca0 2<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
798d3a52 3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd" [
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4<!ENTITY % entities SYSTEM "custom-entities.ent" >
5%entities;
6]>
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7
8<!--
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9 SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1+
10
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11 This file is part of systemd.
12
13 Copyright 2010 Lennart Poettering
14
15 systemd is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
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16 under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
17 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
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18 (at your option) any later version.
19
20 systemd is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
21 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
22 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
5430f7f2 23 Lesser General Public License for more details.
d1ab0ca0 24
5430f7f2 25 You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
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26 along with systemd; If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
27-->
28
29<refentry id="systemd.unit">
30
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31 <refentryinfo>
32 <title>systemd.unit</title>
33 <productname>systemd</productname>
34
35 <authorgroup>
36 <author>
37 <contrib>Developer</contrib>
38 <firstname>Lennart</firstname>
39 <surname>Poettering</surname>
40 <email>lennart@poettering.net</email>
41 </author>
42 </authorgroup>
43 </refentryinfo>
44
45 <refmeta>
46 <refentrytitle>systemd.unit</refentrytitle>
47 <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
48 </refmeta>
49
50 <refnamediv>
51 <refname>systemd.unit</refname>
52 <refpurpose>Unit configuration</refpurpose>
53 </refnamediv>
54
55 <refsynopsisdiv>
56 <para><filename><replaceable>service</replaceable>.service</filename>,
57 <filename><replaceable>socket</replaceable>.socket</filename>,
58 <filename><replaceable>device</replaceable>.device</filename>,
59 <filename><replaceable>mount</replaceable>.mount</filename>,
60 <filename><replaceable>automount</replaceable>.automount</filename>,
61 <filename><replaceable>swap</replaceable>.swap</filename>,
62 <filename><replaceable>target</replaceable>.target</filename>,
63 <filename><replaceable>path</replaceable>.path</filename>,
64 <filename><replaceable>timer</replaceable>.timer</filename>,
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65 <filename><replaceable>slice</replaceable>.slice</filename>,
66 <filename><replaceable>scope</replaceable>.scope</filename></para>
67
12b42c76 68 <para><literallayout><filename>/etc/systemd/system/*</filename>
13219b7f 69<filename>/run/systemd/system/*</filename>
12b42c76 70<filename>/usr/lib/systemd/system/*</filename>
f6e1bd2c 71<filename>…</filename>
798d3a52 72 </literallayout></para>
13219b7f 73
f6e1bd2c 74 <para><literallayout><filename>~/.config/systemd/user/*</filename>
12b42c76 75<filename>/etc/systemd/user/*</filename>
aa08982d 76<filename>$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/systemd/user/*</filename>
13219b7f 77<filename>/run/systemd/user/*</filename>
f6e1bd2c 78<filename>~/.local/share/systemd/user/*</filename>
12b42c76 79<filename>/usr/lib/systemd/user/*</filename>
f6e1bd2c 80<filename>…</filename>
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81 </literallayout></para>
82 </refsynopsisdiv>
83
84 <refsect1>
85 <title>Description</title>
86
87 <para>A unit configuration file encodes information about a
88 service, a socket, a device, a mount point, an automount point, a
89 swap file or partition, a start-up target, a watched file system
90 path, a timer controlled and supervised by
91 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
36b4a7ba 92 a resource management slice or
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93 a group of externally created processes. The syntax is inspired by
94 <ulink
95 url="http://standards.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/latest/">XDG
96 Desktop Entry Specification</ulink> <filename>.desktop</filename>
97 files, which are in turn inspired by Microsoft Windows
98 <filename>.ini</filename> files.</para>
99
100 <para>This man page lists the common configuration options of all
101 the unit types. These options need to be configured in the [Unit]
102 or [Install] sections of the unit files.</para>
103
104 <para>In addition to the generic [Unit] and [Install] sections
105 described here, each unit may have a type-specific section, e.g.
106 [Service] for a service unit. See the respective man pages for
107 more information:
108 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
109 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.socket</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
110 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.device</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
111 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.mount</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
112 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.automount</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
113 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.swap</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
114 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.target</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
115 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.path</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
116 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
36b4a7ba 117 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.slice</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
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118 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.scope</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
119 </para>
120
121 <para>Various settings are allowed to be specified more than once,
122 in which case the interpretation depends on the setting. Often,
123 multiple settings form a list, and setting to an empty value
124 "resets", which means that previous assignments are ignored. When
125 this is allowed, it is mentioned in the description of the
126 setting. Note that using multiple assignments to the same value
127 makes the unit file incompatible with parsers for the XDG
128 <filename>.desktop</filename> file format.</para>
129
130 <para>Unit files are loaded from a set of paths determined during
131 compilation, described in the next section.</para>
132
133 <para>Unit files may contain additional options on top of those
134 listed here. If systemd encounters an unknown option, it will
135 write a warning log message but continue loading the unit. If an
136 option or section name is prefixed with <option>X-</option>, it is
137 ignored completely by systemd. Options within an ignored section
138 do not need the prefix. Applications may use this to include
139 additional information in the unit files.</para>
140
141 <para>Boolean arguments used in unit files can be written in
142 various formats. For positive settings the strings
143 <option>1</option>, <option>yes</option>, <option>true</option>
144 and <option>on</option> are equivalent. For negative settings, the
145 strings <option>0</option>, <option>no</option>,
146 <option>false</option> and <option>off</option> are
147 equivalent.</para>
148
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149 <para>Time span values encoded in unit files can be written in various formats. A stand-alone
150 number specifies a time in seconds. If suffixed with a time unit, the unit is honored. A
151 concatenation of multiple values with units is supported, in which case the values are added
152 up. Example: <literal>50</literal> refers to 50 seconds; <literal>2min 200ms</literal> refers to
153 2 minutes and 200 milliseconds, i.e. 120200 ms. The following time units are understood:
154 <literal>s</literal>, <literal>min</literal>, <literal>h</literal>, <literal>d</literal>,
d923e42e 155 <literal>w</literal>, <literal>ms</literal>, <literal>us</literal>. For details see
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156 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.time</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para>
157
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158 <para>Empty lines and lines starting with <literal>#</literal> or <literal>;</literal> are
159 ignored. This may be used for commenting. Lines ending in a backslash are concatenated with the
160 following line while reading and the backslash is replaced by a space character. This may be
161 used to wrap long lines.</para>
162
163 <para>Units can be aliased (have an alternative name), by creating a symlink from the new name
164 to the existing name in one of the unit search paths. For example,
165 <filename>systemd-networkd.service</filename> has the alias
166 <filename>dbus-org.freedesktop.network1.service</filename>, created during installation as the
167 symlink <filename>/usr/lib/systemd/system/dbus-org.freedesktop.network1.service</filename>. In
168 addition, unit files may specify aliases through the <varname>Alias=</varname> directive in the
169 [Install] section; those aliases are only effective when the unit is enabled. When the unit is
170 enabled, symlinks will be created for those names, and removed when the unit is disabled. For
171 example, <filename>reboot.target</filename> specifies
172 <varname>Alias=ctrl-alt-del.target</varname>, so when enabled it will be invoked whenever
173 CTRL+ALT+DEL is pressed. Alias names may be used in commands like <command>enable</command>,
174 <command>disable</command>, <command>start</command>, <command>stop</command>,
175 <command>status</command>, …, and in unit dependency directives <varname>Wants=</varname>,
176 <varname>Requires=</varname>, <varname>Before=</varname>, <varname>After=</varname>, …, with the
177 limitation that aliases specified through <varname>Alias=</varname> are only effective when the
178 unit is enabled. Aliases cannot be used with the <command>preset</command> command.</para>
179
180 <para>Along with a unit file <filename>foo.service</filename>, the directory
181 <filename>foo.service.wants/</filename> may exist. All unit files symlinked from such a
182 directory are implicitly added as dependencies of type <varname>Wants=</varname> to the unit.
183 This is useful to hook units into the start-up of other units, without having to modify their
184 unit files. For details about the semantics of <varname>Wants=</varname>, see below. The
185 preferred way to create symlinks in the <filename>.wants/</filename> directory of a unit file is
186 with the <command>enable</command> command of the
798d3a52 187 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
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188 tool which reads information from the [Install] section of unit files (see below). A similar
189 functionality exists for <varname>Requires=</varname> type dependencies as well, the directory
190 suffix is <filename>.requires/</filename> in this case.</para>
798d3a52 191
be73bb48 192 <para>Along with a unit file <filename>foo.service</filename>, a "drop-in" directory
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193 <filename>foo.service.d/</filename> may exist. All files with the suffix
194 <literal>.conf</literal> from this directory will be parsed after the file itself is
195 parsed. This is useful to alter or add configuration settings for a unit, without having to
196 modify unit files. Each drop-in file must have appropriate section headers. Note that for
197 instantiated units, this logic will first look for the instance <literal>.d/</literal>
198 subdirectory and read its <literal>.conf</literal> files, followed by the template
caa45f5b 199 <literal>.d/</literal> subdirectory and the <literal>.conf</literal> files there.</para>
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200
201 <para>In addition to <filename>/etc/systemd/system</filename>, the drop-in <literal>.d</literal>
202 directories for system services can be placed in <filename>/usr/lib/systemd/system</filename> or
203 <filename>/run/systemd/system</filename> directories. Drop-in files in <filename>/etc</filename>
204 take precedence over those in <filename>/run</filename> which in turn take precedence over those
205 in <filename>/usr/lib</filename>. Drop-in files under any of these directories take precedence
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206 over unit files wherever located. Multiple drop-in files with different names are applied in
207 lexicographic order, regardless of which of the directories they reside in.</para>
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208
209 <!-- Note that we do not document .include here, as we consider it mostly obsolete, and want
210 people to use .d/ drop-ins instead. -->
798d3a52 211
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212 <para>Note that while systemd offers a flexible dependency system
213 between units it is recommended to use this functionality only
214 sparingly and instead rely on techniques such as bus-based or
215 socket-based activation which make dependencies implicit,
216 resulting in a both simpler and more flexible system.</para>
217
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218 <para>Optionally, units may be instantiated from a
219 template file at runtime. This allows creation of
220 multiple units from a single configuration file. If
221 systemd looks for a unit configuration file, it will
222 first search for the literal unit name in the
223 file system. If that yields no success and the unit
224 name contains an <literal>@</literal> character, systemd will look for a
225 unit template that shares the same name but with the
226 instance string (i.e. the part between the <literal>@</literal> character
227 and the suffix) removed. Example: if a service
228 <filename>getty@tty3.service</filename> is requested
229 and no file by that name is found, systemd will look
230 for <filename>getty@.service</filename> and
231 instantiate a service from that configuration file if
232 it is found.</para>
233
234 <para>To refer to the instance string from within the
235 configuration file you may use the special <literal>%i</literal>
236 specifier in many of the configuration options. See below for
237 details.</para>
238
239 <para>If a unit file is empty (i.e. has the file size 0) or is
240 symlinked to <filename>/dev/null</filename>, its configuration
241 will not be loaded and it appears with a load state of
242 <literal>masked</literal>, and cannot be activated. Use this as an
243 effective way to fully disable a unit, making it impossible to
244 start it even manually.</para>
245
246 <para>The unit file format is covered by the
247 <ulink
28a0ad81 248 url="https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/InterfaceStabilityPromise">Interface
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249 Stability Promise</ulink>.</para>
250
251 </refsect1>
252
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253 <refsect1>
254 <title>String Escaping for Inclusion in Unit Names</title>
255
256 <para>Sometimes it is useful to convert arbitrary strings into unit names. To facilitate this, a method of string
257 escaping is used, in order to map strings containing arbitrary byte values (except NUL) into valid unit names and
258 their restricted character set. A common special case are unit names that reflect paths to objects in the file
259 system hierarchy. Example: a device unit <filename>dev-sda.device</filename> refers to a device with the device
260 node <filename noindex='true'>/dev/sda</filename> in the file system.</para>
261
262 <para>The escaping algorithm operates as follows: given a string, any <literal>/</literal> character is replaced by
263 <literal>-</literal>, and all other characters which are not ASCII alphanumerics or <literal>_</literal> are
264 replaced by C-style <literal>\x2d</literal> escapes. In addition, <literal>.</literal> is replaced with such a
265 C-style escape when it would appear as the first character in the escaped string.</para>
266
267 <para>When the input qualifies as absolute file system path, this algorithm is extended slightly: the path to the
268 root directory <literal>/</literal> is encoded as single dash <literal>-</literal>. In addition, any leading,
269 trailing or duplicate <literal>/</literal> characters are removed from the string before transformation. Example:
270 <filename>/foo//bar/baz/</filename> becomes <literal>foo-bar-baz</literal>.</para>
271
272 <para>This escaping is fully reversible, as long as it is known whether the escaped string was a path (the
273 unescaping results are different for paths and non-path strings). The
274 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-escape</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> command may be
275 used to apply and reverse escaping on arbitrary strings. Use <command>systemd-escape --path</command> to escape
276 path strings, and <command>systemd-escape</command> without <option>--path</option> otherwise.</para>
277 </refsect1>
278
c129bd5d 279 <refsect1>
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280 <title>Implicit Dependencies</title>
281
282 <para>A number of unit dependencies are implicitly established,
283 depending on unit type and unit configuration. These implicit
284 dependencies can make unit configuration file cleaner. For the
285 implicit dependencies in each unit type, please refer to
286 section "Implicit Dependencies" in respective man pages.</para>
287
288 <para>For example, service units with <varname>Type=dbus</varname>
289 automatically acquire dependencies of type <varname>Requires=</varname>
290 and <varname>After=</varname> on <filename>dbus.socket</filename>. See
291 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
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292 for details.</para>
293 </refsect1>
294
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295 <refsect1>
296 <title>Default Dependencies</title>
297
298 <para>Default dependencies are similar to implicit dependencies,
299 but can be turned on and off by setting
300 <varname>DefaultDependencies=</varname> to <varname>yes</varname>
301 (the default) and <varname>no</varname>, while implicit dependencies
302 are always in effect. See section "Default Dependencies" in respective
303 man pages for the effect of enabling
304 <varname>DefaultDependencies=</varname> in each unit types.</para>
305
306 <para>For example, target units will complement all configured
dcfaecc7 307 dependencies of type <varname>Wants=</varname> or
45f09f93 308 <varname>Requires=</varname> with dependencies of type
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309 <varname>After=</varname> unless <varname>DefaultDependencies=no</varname>
310 is set in the specified units. See
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311 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.target</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
312 for details. Note that this behavior can be turned off by setting
313 <varname>DefaultDependencies=no</varname>.</para>
314 </refsect1>
315
798d3a52 316 <refsect1>
f757855e 317 <title>Unit File Load Path</title>
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318
319 <para>Unit files are loaded from a set of paths determined during
320 compilation, described in the two tables below. Unit files found
321 in directories listed earlier override files with the same name in
322 directories lower in the list.</para>
323
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324 <para>When the variable <varname>$SYSTEMD_UNIT_PATH</varname> is set,
325 the contents of this variable overrides the unit load path. If
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326 <varname>$SYSTEMD_UNIT_PATH</varname> ends with an empty component
327 (<literal>:</literal>), the usual unit load path will be appended
328 to the contents of the variable.</para>
329
330 <table>
331 <title>
332 Load path when running in system mode (<option>--system</option>).
333 </title>
334
335 <tgroup cols='2'>
336 <colspec colname='path' />
337 <colspec colname='expl' />
338 <thead>
339 <row>
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340 <entry>Path</entry>
341 <entry>Description</entry>
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342 </row>
343 </thead>
344 <tbody>
345 <row>
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346 <entry><filename>/etc/systemd/system</filename></entry>
347 <entry>Local configuration</entry>
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348 </row>
349 <row>
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350 <entry><filename>/run/systemd/system</filename></entry>
351 <entry>Runtime units</entry>
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352 </row>
353 <row>
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354 <entry><filename>/usr/lib/systemd/system</filename></entry>
355 <entry>Units of installed packages</entry>
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356 </row>
357 </tbody>
358 </tgroup>
359 </table>
360
361 <table>
362 <title>
363 Load path when running in user mode (<option>--user</option>).
364 </title>
365
366 <tgroup cols='2'>
367 <colspec colname='path' />
368 <colspec colname='expl' />
369 <thead>
370 <row>
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371 <entry>Path</entry>
372 <entry>Description</entry>
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373 </row>
374 </thead>
375 <tbody>
376 <row>
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377 <entry><filename>$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/systemd/user</filename></entry>
378 <entry>User configuration (only used when $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set)</entry>
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379 </row>
380 <row>
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381 <entry><filename>$HOME/.config/systemd/user</filename></entry>
382 <entry>User configuration (only used when $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is not set)</entry>
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383 </row>
384 <row>
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385 <entry><filename>/etc/systemd/user</filename></entry>
386 <entry>Local configuration</entry>
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387 </row>
388 <row>
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389 <entry><filename>$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/systemd/user</filename></entry>
390 <entry>Runtime units (only used when $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR is set)</entry>
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391 </row>
392 <row>
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393 <entry><filename>/run/systemd/user</filename></entry>
394 <entry>Runtime units</entry>
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395 </row>
396 <row>
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397 <entry><filename>$XDG_DATA_HOME/systemd/user</filename></entry>
398 <entry>Units of packages that have been installed in the home directory (only used when $XDG_DATA_HOME is set)</entry>
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399 </row>
400 <row>
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401 <entry><filename>$HOME/.local/share/systemd/user</filename></entry>
402 <entry>Units of packages that have been installed in the home directory (only used when $XDG_DATA_HOME is not set)</entry>
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403 </row>
404 <row>
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405 <entry><filename>/usr/lib/systemd/user</filename></entry>
406 <entry>Units of packages that have been installed system-wide</entry>
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407 </row>
408 </tbody>
409 </tgroup>
410 </table>
411
412 <para>Additional units might be loaded into systemd ("linked")
413 from directories not on the unit load path. See the
414 <command>link</command> command for
415 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
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416 Also, some units are dynamically created via a
417 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.generator</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
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418 </para>
419 </refsect1>
420
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421 <refsect1>
422 <title>Unit Garbage Collection</title>
423
424 <para>The system and service manager loads a unit's configuration automatically when a unit is referenced for the
425 first time. It will automatically unload the unit configuration and state again when the unit is not needed anymore
426 ("garbage collection"). A unit may be referenced through a number of different mechanisms:</para>
427
428 <orderedlist>
429 <listitem><para>Another loaded unit references it with a dependency such as <varname>After=</varname>,
430 <varname>Wants=</varname>, …</para></listitem>
431
432 <listitem><para>The unit is currently starting, running, reloading or stopping.</para></listitem>
433
434 <listitem><para>The unit is currently in the <constant>failed</constant> state. (But see below.)</para></listitem>
435
436 <listitem><para>A job for the unit is pending.</para></listitem>
437
438 <listitem><para>The unit is pinned by an active IPC client program.</para></listitem>
439
440 <listitem><para>The unit is a special "perpetual" unit that is always active and loaded. Examples for perpetual
441 units are the root mount unit <filename>-.mount</filename> or the scope unit <filename>init.scope</filename> that
442 the service manager itself lives in.</para></listitem>
443
444 <listitem><para>The unit has running processes associated with it.</para></listitem>
445 </orderedlist>
446
447 <para>The garbage collection logic may be altered with the <varname>CollectMode=</varname> option, which allows
448 configuration whether automatic unloading of units that are in <constant>failed</constant> state is permissible,
449 see below.</para>
450
451 <para>Note that when a unit's configuration and state is unloaded, all execution results, such as exit codes, exit
452 signals, resource consumption and other statistics are lost, except for what is stored in the log subsystem.</para>
453
454 <para>Use <command>systemctl daemon-reload</command> or an equivalent command to reload unit configuration while
455 the unit is already loaded. In this case all configuration settings are flushed out and replaced with the new
456 configuration (which however might not be in effect immediately), however all runtime state is
457 saved/restored.</para>
458 </refsect1>
459
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460 <refsect1>
461 <title>[Unit] Section Options</title>
462
a8eaaee7 463 <para>The unit file may include a [Unit] section, which carries
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464 generic information about the unit that is not dependent on the
465 type of unit:</para>
466
467 <variablelist class='unit-directives'>
468
469 <varlistentry>
470 <term><varname>Description=</varname></term>
471 <listitem><para>A free-form string describing the unit. This
472 is intended for use in UIs to show descriptive information
473 along with the unit name. The description should contain a
474 name that means something to the end user. <literal>Apache2
475 Web Server</literal> is a good example. Bad examples are
476 <literal>high-performance light-weight HTTP server</literal>
477 (too generic) or <literal>Apache2</literal> (too specific and
478 meaningless for people who do not know
479 Apache).</para></listitem>
480 </varlistentry>
481
482 <varlistentry>
483 <term><varname>Documentation=</varname></term>
484 <listitem><para>A space-separated list of URIs referencing
485 documentation for this unit or its configuration. Accepted are
486 only URIs of the types <literal>http://</literal>,
487 <literal>https://</literal>, <literal>file:</literal>,
488 <literal>info:</literal>, <literal>man:</literal>. For more
489 information about the syntax of these URIs, see <citerefentry
490 project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>uri</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
491 The URIs should be listed in order of relevance, starting with
492 the most relevant. It is a good idea to first reference
493 documentation that explains what the unit's purpose is,
494 followed by how it is configured, followed by any other
495 related documentation. This option may be specified more than
496 once, in which case the specified list of URIs is merged. If
497 the empty string is assigned to this option, the list is reset
498 and all prior assignments will have no
499 effect.</para></listitem>
500 </varlistentry>
501
502 <varlistentry>
503 <term><varname>Requires=</varname></term>
504
62d3ca24 505 <listitem><para>Configures requirement dependencies on other units. If this unit gets activated, the units
a195dd8e 506 listed here will be activated as well. If one of the other units fails to activate, and an ordering dependency
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507 <varname>After=</varname> on the failing unit is set, this unit will not be started. Besides, with or without
508 specifying <varname>After=</varname>, this unit will be deactivated if one of the other units get deactivated.
509 This option may be specified more than once or multiple space-separated units may be
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510 specified in one option in which case requirement dependencies for all listed names will be created. Note that
511 requirement dependencies do not influence the order in which services are started or stopped. This has to be
512 configured independently with the <varname>After=</varname> or <varname>Before=</varname> options. If a unit
513 <filename>foo.service</filename> requires a unit <filename>bar.service</filename> as configured with
514 <varname>Requires=</varname> and no ordering is configured with <varname>After=</varname> or
515 <varname>Before=</varname>, then both units will be started simultaneously and without any delay between them
516 if <filename>foo.service</filename> is activated. Often, it is a better choice to use <varname>Wants=</varname>
517 instead of <varname>Requires=</varname> in order to achieve a system that is more robust when dealing with
518 failing services.</para>
519
520 <para>Note that this dependency type does not imply that the other unit always has to be in active state when
521 this unit is running. Specifically: failing condition checks (such as <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname>,
6b5bb2f9 522 <varname>ConditionPathIsSymbolicLink=</varname>, … — see below) do not cause the start job of a unit with a
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523 <varname>Requires=</varname> dependency on it to fail. Also, some unit types may deactivate on their own (for
524 example, a service process may decide to exit cleanly, or a device may be unplugged by the user), which is not
525 propagated to units having a <varname>Requires=</varname> dependency. Use the <varname>BindsTo=</varname>
526 dependency type together with <varname>After=</varname> to ensure that a unit may never be in active state
527 without a specific other unit also in active state (see below).</para>
528
529 <para>Note that dependencies of this type may also be configured outside of the unit configuration file by
530 adding a symlink to a <filename>.requires/</filename> directory accompanying the unit file. For details, see
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531 above.</para></listitem>
532 </varlistentry>
533
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534 <varlistentry>
535 <term><varname>Requisite=</varname></term>
798d3a52 536
f32b43bd 537 <listitem><para>Similar to <varname>Requires=</varname>.
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538 However, if the units listed here are not started already,
539 they will not be started and the transaction will fail
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540 immediately.</para>
541
542 <para>When <varname>Requisite=b.service</varname> is used on
543 <filename>a.service</filename>, this dependency will show as
544 <varname>RequisiteOf=a.service</varname> in property listing of
545 <filename>b.service</filename>. <varname>RequisiteOf=</varname>
546 dependency cannot be specified directly.</para>
547 </listitem>
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548 </varlistentry>
549
550 <varlistentry>
551 <term><varname>Wants=</varname></term>
552
553 <listitem><para>A weaker version of
554 <varname>Requires=</varname>. Units listed in this option will
555 be started if the configuring unit is. However, if the listed
556 units fail to start or cannot be added to the transaction,
557 this has no impact on the validity of the transaction as a
558 whole. This is the recommended way to hook start-up of one
559 unit to the start-up of another unit.</para>
560
561 <para>Note that dependencies of this type may also be
562 configured outside of the unit configuration file by adding
563 symlinks to a <filename>.wants/</filename> directory
564 accompanying the unit file. For details, see
565 above.</para></listitem>
566 </varlistentry>
567
568 <varlistentry>
569 <term><varname>BindsTo=</varname></term>
570
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571 <listitem><para>Configures requirement dependencies, very similar in style to
572 <varname>Requires=</varname>. However, this dependency type is stronger: in addition to the effect of
573 <varname>Requires=</varname> it declares that if the unit bound to is stopped, this unit will be stopped
574 too. This means a unit bound to another unit that suddenly enters inactive state will be stopped too.
575 Units can suddenly, unexpectedly enter inactive state for different reasons: the main process of a service unit
576 might terminate on its own choice, the backing device of a device unit might be unplugged or the mount point of
577 a mount unit might be unmounted without involvement of the system and service manager.</para>
578
579 <para>When used in conjunction with <varname>After=</varname> on the same unit the behaviour of
580 <varname>BindsTo=</varname> is even stronger. In this case, the unit bound to strictly has to be in active
581 state for this unit to also be in active state. This not only means a unit bound to another unit that suddenly
582 enters inactive state, but also one that is bound to another unit that gets skipped due to a failed condition
583 check (such as <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname>, <varname>ConditionPathIsSymbolicLink=</varname>, … —
584 see below) will be stopped, should it be running. Hence, in many cases it is best to combine
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585 <varname>BindsTo=</varname> with <varname>After=</varname>.</para>
586
587 <para>When <varname>BindsTo=b.service</varname> is used on
588 <filename>a.service</filename>, this dependency will show as
589 <varname>BoundBy=a.service</varname> in property listing of
590 <filename>b.service</filename>. <varname>BoundBy=</varname>
591 dependency cannot be specified directly.</para>
592 </listitem>
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593 </varlistentry>
594
595 <varlistentry>
596 <term><varname>PartOf=</varname></term>
597
598 <listitem><para>Configures dependencies similar to
599 <varname>Requires=</varname>, but limited to stopping and
600 restarting of units. When systemd stops or restarts the units
601 listed here, the action is propagated to this unit. Note that
602 this is a one-way dependency — changes to this unit do not
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603 affect the listed units.</para>
604
605 <para>When <varname>PartOf=b.service</varname> is used on
606 <filename>a.service</filename>, this dependency will show as
607 <varname>ConsistsOf=a.service</varname> in property listing of
608 <filename>b.service</filename>. <varname>ConsistsOf=</varname>
609 dependency cannot be specified directly.</para>
610 </listitem>
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611 </varlistentry>
612
613 <varlistentry>
614 <term><varname>Conflicts=</varname></term>
615
616 <listitem><para>A space-separated list of unit names.
617 Configures negative requirement dependencies. If a unit has a
618 <varname>Conflicts=</varname> setting on another unit,
619 starting the former will stop the latter and vice versa. Note
620 that this setting is independent of and orthogonal to the
621 <varname>After=</varname> and <varname>Before=</varname>
622 ordering dependencies.</para>
623
624 <para>If a unit A that conflicts with a unit B is scheduled to
625 be started at the same time as B, the transaction will either
626 fail (in case both are required part of the transaction) or be
627 modified to be fixed (in case one or both jobs are not a
628 required part of the transaction). In the latter case, the job
629 that is not the required will be removed, or in case both are
630 not required, the unit that conflicts will be started and the
631 unit that is conflicted is stopped.</para></listitem>
632 </varlistentry>
633
634 <varlistentry>
635 <term><varname>Before=</varname></term>
636 <term><varname>After=</varname></term>
637
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638 <listitem><para>These two settings expect a space-separated list of unit names. They configure ordering
639 dependencies between units. If a unit <filename>foo.service</filename> contains a setting
640 <option>Before=bar.service</option> and both units are being started, <filename>bar.service</filename>'s
641 start-up is delayed until <filename>foo.service</filename> has finished starting up. Note that this setting is
642 independent of and orthogonal to the requirement dependencies as configured by <varname>Requires=</varname>,
643 <varname>Wants=</varname> or <varname>BindsTo=</varname>. It is a common pattern to include a unit name in both
644 the <varname>After=</varname> and <varname>Requires=</varname> options, in which case the unit listed will be
645 started before the unit that is configured with these options. This option may be specified more than once, in
646 which case ordering dependencies for all listed names are created. <varname>After=</varname> is the inverse of
647 <varname>Before=</varname>, i.e. while <varname>After=</varname> ensures that the configured unit is started
648 after the listed unit finished starting up, <varname>Before=</varname> ensures the opposite, that the
649 configured unit is fully started up before the listed unit is started. Note that when two units with an
650 ordering dependency between them are shut down, the inverse of the start-up order is applied. i.e. if a unit is
651 configured with <varname>After=</varname> on another unit, the former is stopped before the latter if both are
652 shut down. Given two units with any ordering dependency between them, if one unit is shut down and the other is
653 started up, the shutdown is ordered before the start-up. It doesn't matter if the ordering dependency is
654 <varname>After=</varname> or <varname>Before=</varname>, in this case. It also doesn't matter which of the two
655 is shut down, as long as one is shut down and the other is started up. The shutdown is ordered before the
656 start-up in all cases. If two units have no ordering dependencies between them, they are shut down or started
657 up simultaneously, and no ordering takes place. It depends on the unit type when precisely a unit has finished
658 starting up. Most importantly, for service units start-up is considered completed for the purpose of
659 <varname>Before=</varname>/<varname>After=</varname> when all its configured start-up commands have been
660 invoked and they either failed or reported start-up success.</para></listitem>
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661 </varlistentry>
662
663 <varlistentry>
664 <term><varname>OnFailure=</varname></term>
665
666 <listitem><para>A space-separated list of one or more units
667 that are activated when this unit enters the
668 <literal>failed</literal> state.</para></listitem>
669 </varlistentry>
670
671 <varlistentry>
672 <term><varname>PropagatesReloadTo=</varname></term>
673 <term><varname>ReloadPropagatedFrom=</varname></term>
674
675 <listitem><para>A space-separated list of one or more units
676 where reload requests on this unit will be propagated to, or
677 reload requests on the other unit will be propagated to this
678 unit, respectively. Issuing a reload request on a unit will
679 automatically also enqueue a reload request on all units that
680 the reload request shall be propagated to via these two
681 settings.</para></listitem>
682 </varlistentry>
683
684 <varlistentry>
685 <term><varname>JoinsNamespaceOf=</varname></term>
686
687 <listitem><para>For units that start processes (such as
688 service units), lists one or more other units whose network
689 and/or temporary file namespace to join. This only applies to
690 unit types which support the
691 <varname>PrivateNetwork=</varname> and
692 <varname>PrivateTmp=</varname> directives (see
693 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
694 for details). If a unit that has this setting set is started,
695 its processes will see the same <filename>/tmp</filename>,
80f524a4 696 <filename>/var/tmp</filename> and network namespace as one
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697 listed unit that is started. If multiple listed units are
698 already started, it is not defined which namespace is joined.
699 Note that this setting only has an effect if
700 <varname>PrivateNetwork=</varname> and/or
701 <varname>PrivateTmp=</varname> is enabled for both the unit
702 that joins the namespace and the unit whose namespace is
703 joined.</para></listitem>
704 </varlistentry>
705
706 <varlistentry>
707 <term><varname>RequiresMountsFor=</varname></term>
708
709 <listitem><para>Takes a space-separated list of absolute
710 paths. Automatically adds dependencies of type
711 <varname>Requires=</varname> and <varname>After=</varname> for
712 all mount units required to access the specified path.</para>
713
714 <para>Mount points marked with <option>noauto</option> are not
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715 mounted automatically through <filename>local-fs.target</filename>,
716 but are still honored for the purposes of this option, i.e. they
717 will be pulled in by this unit.</para></listitem>
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718 </varlistentry>
719
720 <varlistentry>
721 <term><varname>OnFailureJobMode=</varname></term>
722
723 <listitem><para>Takes a value of
724 <literal>fail</literal>,
725 <literal>replace</literal>,
726 <literal>replace-irreversibly</literal>,
727 <literal>isolate</literal>,
728 <literal>flush</literal>,
729 <literal>ignore-dependencies</literal> or
730 <literal>ignore-requirements</literal>. Defaults to
731 <literal>replace</literal>. Specifies how the units listed in
732 <varname>OnFailure=</varname> will be enqueued. See
733 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
734 <option>--job-mode=</option> option for details on the
735 possible values. If this is set to <literal>isolate</literal>,
736 only a single unit may be listed in
737 <varname>OnFailure=</varname>..</para></listitem>
738 </varlistentry>
739
740 <varlistentry>
741 <term><varname>IgnoreOnIsolate=</varname></term>
742
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743 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. If <option>true</option>, this unit
744 will not be stopped when isolating another unit. Defaults to
745 <option>false</option> for service, target, socket, busname, timer, and path
746 units, and <option>true</option> for slice, scope, device, swap, mount, and
747 automount units.</para></listitem>
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748 </varlistentry>
749
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750 <varlistentry>
751 <term><varname>StopWhenUnneeded=</varname></term>
752
753 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. If
754 <option>true</option>, this unit will be stopped when it is no
b938cb90 755 longer used. Note that, in order to minimize the work to be
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756 executed, systemd will not stop units by default unless they
757 are conflicting with other units, or the user explicitly
758 requested their shut down. If this option is set, a unit will
759 be automatically cleaned up if no other active unit requires
760 it. Defaults to <option>false</option>.</para></listitem>
761 </varlistentry>
762
763 <varlistentry>
764 <term><varname>RefuseManualStart=</varname></term>
765 <term><varname>RefuseManualStop=</varname></term>
766
767 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. If
768 <option>true</option>, this unit can only be activated or
769 deactivated indirectly. In this case, explicit start-up or
770 termination requested by the user is denied, however if it is
771 started or stopped as a dependency of another unit, start-up
772 or termination will succeed. This is mostly a safety feature
773 to ensure that the user does not accidentally activate units
774 that are not intended to be activated explicitly, and not
775 accidentally deactivate units that are not intended to be
776 deactivated. These options default to
777 <option>false</option>.</para></listitem>
778 </varlistentry>
779
780 <varlistentry>
781 <term><varname>AllowIsolate=</varname></term>
782
783 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. If
784 <option>true</option>, this unit may be used with the
785 <command>systemctl isolate</command> command. Otherwise, this
786 will be refused. It probably is a good idea to leave this
787 disabled except for target units that shall be used similar to
788 runlevels in SysV init systems, just as a precaution to avoid
789 unusable system states. This option defaults to
790 <option>false</option>.</para></listitem>
791 </varlistentry>
792
793 <varlistentry>
794 <term><varname>DefaultDependencies=</varname></term>
795
796 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. If
797 <option>true</option>, (the default), a few default
798 dependencies will implicitly be created for the unit. The
799 actual dependencies created depend on the unit type. For
800 example, for service units, these dependencies ensure that the
801 service is started only after basic system initialization is
802 completed and is properly terminated on system shutdown. See
803 the respective man pages for details. Generally, only services
804 involved with early boot or late shutdown should set this
805 option to <option>false</option>. It is highly recommended to
806 leave this option enabled for the majority of common units. If
807 set to <option>false</option>, this option does not disable
808 all implicit dependencies, just non-essential
809 ones.</para></listitem>
810 </varlistentry>
811
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812 <varlistentry>
813 <term><varname>CollectMode=</varname></term>
814
815 <listitem><para>Tweaks the "garbage collection" algorithm for this unit. Takes one of <option>inactive</option>
816 or <option>inactive-or-failed</option>. If set to <option>inactive</option> the unit will be unloaded if it is
817 in the <constant>inactive</constant> state and is not referenced by clients, jobs or other units — however it
818 is not unloaded if it is in the <constant>failed</constant> state. In <option>failed</option> mode, failed
819 units are not unloaded until the user invoked <command>systemctl reset-failed</command> on them to reset the
820 <constant>failed</constant> state, or an equivalent command. This behaviour is altered if this option is set to
821 <option>inactive-or-failed</option>: in this case the unit is unloaded even if the unit is in a
822 <constant>failed</constant> state, and thus an explicitly resetting of the <constant>failed</constant> state is
823 not necessary. Note that if this mode is used unit results (such as exit codes, exit signals, consumed
824 resources, …) are flushed out immediately after the unit completed, except for what is stored in the logging
825 subsystem. Defaults to <option>inactive</option>.</para>
826 </listitem>
827 </varlistentry>
828
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829 <varlistentry>
830 <term><varname>JobTimeoutSec=</varname></term>
a2df3ea4 831 <term><varname>JobRunningTimeoutSec=</varname></term>
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832 <term><varname>JobTimeoutAction=</varname></term>
833 <term><varname>JobTimeoutRebootArgument=</varname></term>
834
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835 <listitem><para>When a job for this unit is queued, a time-out <varname>JobTimeoutSec=</varname> may be
836 configured. Similarly, <varname>JobRunningTimeoutSec=</varname> starts counting when the queued job is actually
837 started. If either time limit is reached, the job will be cancelled, the unit however will not change state or
838 even enter the <literal>failed</literal> mode. This value defaults to <literal>infinity</literal> (job timeouts
839 disabled), except for device units (<varname>JobRunningTimeoutSec=</varname> defaults to
840 <varname>DefaultTimeoutStartSec=</varname>). NB: this timeout is independent from any unit-specific timeout
841 (for example, the timeout set with <varname>TimeoutStartSec=</varname> in service units) as the job timeout has
842 no effect on the unit itself, only on the job that might be pending for it. Or in other words: unit-specific
843 timeouts are useful to abort unit state changes, and revert them. The job timeout set with this option however
844 is useful to abort only the job waiting for the unit state to change.</para>
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846 <para><varname>JobTimeoutAction=</varname> optionally configures an additional action to take when the time-out
847 is hit. It takes the same values as <varname>StartLimitAction=</varname>. Defaults to <option>none</option>.
848 <varname>JobTimeoutRebootArgument=</varname> configures an optional reboot string to pass to the
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849 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>reboot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry>
850 system call.</para></listitem>
851 </varlistentry>
852
6bf0f408 853 <varlistentry>
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854 <term><varname>StartLimitIntervalSec=<replaceable>interval</replaceable></varname></term>
855 <term><varname>StartLimitBurst=<replaceable>burst</replaceable></varname></term>
6bf0f408 856
fc5ffacd 857 <listitem><para>Configure unit start rate limiting. Units which are started more than
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858 <replaceable>burst</replaceable> times within an <replaceable>interval</replaceable> time interval are not
859 permitted to start any more. Use <varname>StartLimitIntervalSec=</varname> to configure the checking interval
860 (defaults to <varname>DefaultStartLimitIntervalSec=</varname> in manager configuration file, set it to 0 to
861 disable any kind of rate limiting). Use <varname>StartLimitBurst=</varname> to configure how many starts per
862 interval are allowed (defaults to <varname>DefaultStartLimitBurst=</varname> in manager configuration
863 file). These configuration options are particularly useful in conjunction with the service setting
864 <varname>Restart=</varname> (see
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865 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>); however,
866 they apply to all kinds of starts (including manual), not just those triggered by the
867 <varname>Restart=</varname> logic. Note that units which are configured for <varname>Restart=</varname> and
868 which reach the start limit are not attempted to be restarted anymore; however, they may still be restarted
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869 manually at a later point, after the <replaceable>interval</replaceable> has passed. From this point on, the
870 restart logic is activated again. Note that <command>systemctl reset-failed</command> will cause the restart
871 rate counter for a service to be flushed, which is useful if the administrator wants to manually start a unit
872 and the start limit interferes with that. Note that this rate-limiting is enforced after any unit condition
873 checks are executed, and hence unit activations with failing conditions do not count towards this rate
874 limit. This setting does not apply to slice, target, device, and scope units, since they are unit types whose
875 activation may either never fail, or may succeed only a single time.</para>
876
877 <para>When a unit is unloaded due to the garbage collection logic (see above) its rate limit counters are
878 flushed out too. This means that configuring start rate limiting for a unit that is not referenced continously
879 has no effect.</para></listitem>
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880 </varlistentry>
881
882 <varlistentry>
883 <term><varname>StartLimitAction=</varname></term>
884
885 <listitem><para>Configure the action to take if the rate limit configured with
f0367da7 886 <varname>StartLimitIntervalSec=</varname> and <varname>StartLimitBurst=</varname> is hit. Takes one of
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887 <option>none</option>, <option>reboot</option>, <option>reboot-force</option>,
888 <option>reboot-immediate</option>, <option>poweroff</option>, <option>poweroff-force</option> or
889 <option>poweroff-immediate</option>. If <option>none</option> is set, hitting the rate limit will trigger no
890 action besides that the start will not be permitted. <option>reboot</option> causes a reboot following the
891 normal shutdown procedure (i.e. equivalent to <command>systemctl reboot</command>).
892 <option>reboot-force</option> causes a forced reboot which will terminate all processes forcibly but should
893 cause no dirty file systems on reboot (i.e. equivalent to <command>systemctl reboot -f</command>) and
894 <option>reboot-immediate</option> causes immediate execution of the
895 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>reboot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry> system call, which
896 might result in data loss. Similarly, <option>poweroff</option>, <option>poweroff-force</option>,
897 <option>poweroff-immediate</option> have the effect of powering down the system with similar
898 semantics. Defaults to <option>none</option>.</para></listitem>
899 </varlistentry>
900
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901 <varlistentry>
902 <term><varname>FailureAction=</varname></term>
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903 <term><varname>SuccessAction=</varname></term>
904 <listitem><para>Configure the action to take when the unit stops and enters a failed state or inactive
905 state. Takes the same values as the setting <varname>StartLimitAction=</varname> setting and executes the same
906 actions (see
907 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>). Both options
908 default to <option>none</option>.</para></listitem>
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909 </varlistentry>
910
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911 <varlistentry>
912 <term><varname>RebootArgument=</varname></term>
913 <listitem><para>Configure the optional argument for the
914 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>reboot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry> system call if
53c35a76 915 <varname>StartLimitAction=</varname> or <varname>FailureAction=</varname> is a reboot action. This
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916 works just like the optional argument to <command>systemctl reboot</command> command.</para></listitem>
917 </varlistentry>
918
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919 <varlistentry>
920 <term><varname>ConditionArchitecture=</varname></term>
921 <term><varname>ConditionVirtualization=</varname></term>
922 <term><varname>ConditionHost=</varname></term>
923 <term><varname>ConditionKernelCommandLine=</varname></term>
924 <term><varname>ConditionSecurity=</varname></term>
925 <term><varname>ConditionCapability=</varname></term>
926 <term><varname>ConditionACPower=</varname></term>
927 <term><varname>ConditionNeedsUpdate=</varname></term>
928 <term><varname>ConditionFirstBoot=</varname></term>
929 <term><varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname></term>
930 <term><varname>ConditionPathExistsGlob=</varname></term>
931 <term><varname>ConditionPathIsDirectory=</varname></term>
932 <term><varname>ConditionPathIsSymbolicLink=</varname></term>
933 <term><varname>ConditionPathIsMountPoint=</varname></term>
934 <term><varname>ConditionPathIsReadWrite=</varname></term>
935 <term><varname>ConditionDirectoryNotEmpty=</varname></term>
936 <term><varname>ConditionFileNotEmpty=</varname></term>
937 <term><varname>ConditionFileIsExecutable=</varname></term>
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938 <term><varname>ConditionUser=</varname></term>
939 <term><varname>ConditionGroup=</varname></term>
798d3a52 940
7ca41557 941 <!-- We do not document ConditionNull=
b938cb90 942 here, as it is not particularly
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943 useful and probably just
944 confusing. -->
945
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946 <listitem><para>Before starting a unit, verify that the specified condition is true. If it is not true, the
947 starting of the unit will be (mostly silently) skipped, however all ordering dependencies of it are still
948 respected. A failing condition will not result in the unit being moved into a failure state. The condition is
949 checked at the time the queued start job is to be executed. Use condition expressions in order to silently skip
950 units that do not apply to the local running system, for example because the kernel or runtime environment
951 doesn't require its functionality. Use the various <varname>AssertArchitecture=</varname>,
952 <varname>AssertVirtualization=</varname>, … options for a similar mechanism that puts the unit in a failure
953 state and logs about the failed check (see below).</para>
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954
955 <para><varname>ConditionArchitecture=</varname> may be used to
956 check whether the system is running on a specific
957 architecture. Takes one of
958 <varname>x86</varname>,
959 <varname>x86-64</varname>,
960 <varname>ppc</varname>,
961 <varname>ppc-le</varname>,
962 <varname>ppc64</varname>,
963 <varname>ppc64-le</varname>,
964 <varname>ia64</varname>,
965 <varname>parisc</varname>,
966 <varname>parisc64</varname>,
967 <varname>s390</varname>,
968 <varname>s390x</varname>,
969 <varname>sparc</varname>,
970 <varname>sparc64</varname>,
971 <varname>mips</varname>,
972 <varname>mips-le</varname>,
973 <varname>mips64</varname>,
974 <varname>mips64-le</varname>,
975 <varname>alpha</varname>,
976 <varname>arm</varname>,
977 <varname>arm-be</varname>,
978 <varname>arm64</varname>,
979 <varname>arm64-be</varname>,
980 <varname>sh</varname>,
981 <varname>sh64</varname>,
215a2db4 982 <varname>m68k</varname>,
798d3a52 983 <varname>tilegx</varname>,
27b09f1f
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984 <varname>cris</varname>,
985 <varname>arc</varname>,
986 <varname>arc-be</varname> to test
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987 against a specific architecture. The architecture is
988 determined from the information returned by
3ba3a79d 989 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>uname</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry>
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990 and is thus subject to
991 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>personality</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
992 Note that a <varname>Personality=</varname> setting in the
993 same unit file has no effect on this condition. A special
994 architecture name <varname>native</varname> is mapped to the
995 architecture the system manager itself is compiled for. The
996 test may be negated by prepending an exclamation mark.</para>
997
998 <para><varname>ConditionVirtualization=</varname> may be used
999 to check whether the system is executed in a virtualized
1000 environment and optionally test whether it is a specific
1001 implementation. Takes either boolean value to check if being
1002 executed in any virtualized environment, or one of
1003 <varname>vm</varname> and
1004 <varname>container</varname> to test against a generic type of
1005 virtualization solution, or one of
1006 <varname>qemu</varname>,
1007 <varname>kvm</varname>,
1008 <varname>zvm</varname>,
1009 <varname>vmware</varname>,
1010 <varname>microsoft</varname>,
1011 <varname>oracle</varname>,
1012 <varname>xen</varname>,
1013 <varname>bochs</varname>,
1014 <varname>uml</varname>,
1015 <varname>openvz</varname>,
1016 <varname>lxc</varname>,
1017 <varname>lxc-libvirt</varname>,
1018 <varname>systemd-nspawn</varname>,
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1019 <varname>docker</varname>,
1020 <varname>rkt</varname> to test
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1021 against a specific implementation, or
1022 <varname>private-users</varname> to check whether we are running in a user namespace. See
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1023 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-detect-virt</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
1024 for a full list of known virtualization technologies and their
1025 identifiers. If multiple virtualization technologies are
1026 nested, only the innermost is considered. The test may be
1027 negated by prepending an exclamation mark.</para>
1028
1029 <para><varname>ConditionHost=</varname> may be used to match
1030 against the hostname or machine ID of the host. This either
1031 takes a hostname string (optionally with shell style globs)
1032 which is tested against the locally set hostname as returned
1033 by
1034 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>gethostname</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1035 or a machine ID formatted as string (see
1036 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machine-id</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>).
1037 The test may be negated by prepending an exclamation
1038 mark.</para>
1039
1040 <para><varname>ConditionKernelCommandLine=</varname> may be
1041 used to check whether a specific kernel command line option is
1042 set (or if prefixed with the exclamation mark unset). The
1043 argument must either be a single word, or an assignment (i.e.
1044 two words, separated <literal>=</literal>). In the former case
1045 the kernel command line is searched for the word appearing as
1046 is, or as left hand side of an assignment. In the latter case,
1047 the exact assignment is looked for with right and left hand
1048 side matching.</para>
1049
1050 <para><varname>ConditionSecurity=</varname> may be used to
1051 check whether the given security module is enabled on the
b8e1d4d1 1052 system. Currently, the recognized values are
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1053 <varname>selinux</varname>,
1054 <varname>apparmor</varname>,
ed440f6b 1055 <varname>tomoyo</varname>,
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1056 <varname>ima</varname>,
1057 <varname>smack</varname> and
1058 <varname>audit</varname>. The test may be negated by
1059 prepending an exclamation mark.</para>
1060
1061 <para><varname>ConditionCapability=</varname> may be used to
1062 check whether the given capability exists in the capability
1063 bounding set of the service manager (i.e. this does not check
1064 whether capability is actually available in the permitted or
1065 effective sets, see
1066 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>capabilities</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>
1067 for details). Pass a capability name such as
1068 <literal>CAP_MKNOD</literal>, possibly prefixed with an
1069 exclamation mark to negate the check.</para>
1070
1071 <para><varname>ConditionACPower=</varname> may be used to
1072 check whether the system has AC power, or is exclusively
1073 battery powered at the time of activation of the unit. This
1074 takes a boolean argument. If set to <varname>true</varname>,
1075 the condition will hold only if at least one AC connector of
1076 the system is connected to a power source, or if no AC
1077 connectors are known. Conversely, if set to
1078 <varname>false</varname>, the condition will hold only if
1079 there is at least one AC connector known and all AC connectors
1080 are disconnected from a power source.</para>
1081
1082 <para><varname>ConditionNeedsUpdate=</varname> takes one of
1083 <filename>/var</filename> or <filename>/etc</filename> as
1084 argument, possibly prefixed with a <literal>!</literal> (for
1085 inverting the condition). This condition may be used to
1086 conditionalize units on whether the specified directory
1087 requires an update because <filename>/usr</filename>'s
1088 modification time is newer than the stamp file
1089 <filename>.updated</filename> in the specified directory. This
1090 is useful to implement offline updates of the vendor operating
1091 system resources in <filename>/usr</filename> that require
1092 updating of <filename>/etc</filename> or
1093 <filename>/var</filename> on the next following boot. Units
1094 making use of this condition should order themselves before
1095 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-update-done.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
7f3fdb7f 1096 to make sure they run before the stamp file's modification
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1097 time gets reset indicating a completed update.</para>
1098
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1099 <para><varname>ConditionFirstBoot=</varname> takes a boolean argument. This condition may be used to
1100 conditionalize units on whether the system is booting up with an unpopulated <filename>/etc</filename>
1101 directory (specifically: an <filename>/etc</filename> with no <filename>/etc/machine-id</filename>). This may
1102 be used to populate <filename>/etc</filename> on the first boot after factory reset, or when a new system
1103 instance boots up for the first time.</para>
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1104
1105 <para>With <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> a file
1106 existence condition is checked before a unit is started. If
1107 the specified absolute path name does not exist, the condition
1108 will fail. If the absolute path name passed to
1109 <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> is prefixed with an
1110 exclamation mark (<literal>!</literal>), the test is negated,
1111 and the unit is only started if the path does not
1112 exist.</para>
1113
1114 <para><varname>ConditionPathExistsGlob=</varname> is similar
1115 to <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname>, but checks for the
1116 existence of at least one file or directory matching the
1117 specified globbing pattern.</para>
1118
1119 <para><varname>ConditionPathIsDirectory=</varname> is similar
1120 to <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> but verifies
1121 whether a certain path exists and is a directory.</para>
1122
1123 <para><varname>ConditionPathIsSymbolicLink=</varname> is
1124 similar to <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> but
1125 verifies whether a certain path exists and is a symbolic
1126 link.</para>
1127
1128 <para><varname>ConditionPathIsMountPoint=</varname> is similar
1129 to <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> but verifies
1130 whether a certain path exists and is a mount point.</para>
1131
1132 <para><varname>ConditionPathIsReadWrite=</varname> is similar
1133 to <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> but verifies
1134 whether the underlying file system is readable and writable
1135 (i.e. not mounted read-only).</para>
1136
1137 <para><varname>ConditionDirectoryNotEmpty=</varname> is
1138 similar to <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> but
1139 verifies whether a certain path exists and is a non-empty
1140 directory.</para>
1141
1142 <para><varname>ConditionFileNotEmpty=</varname> is similar to
1143 <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> but verifies whether a
1144 certain path exists and refers to a regular file with a
1145 non-zero size.</para>
1146
1147 <para><varname>ConditionFileIsExecutable=</varname> is similar
1148 to <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> but verifies
1149 whether a certain path exists, is a regular file and marked
1150 executable.</para>
1151
c465a29f 1152 <para><varname>ConditionUser=</varname> takes a numeric
534bab66
FS
1153 <literal>UID</literal>, a UNIX user name, or the special value
1154 <literal>@system</literal>. This condition may be used to check
1155 whether the service manager is running as the given user. The
1156 special value <literal>@system</literal> can be used to check
1157 if the user id is within the system user range. This option is not
c465a29f
FS
1158 useful for system services, as the system manager exclusively
1159 runs as the root user, and thus the test result is constant.</para>
1160
1161 <para><varname>ConditionGroup=</varname> is similar
1162 to <varname>ConditionUser=</varname> but verifies that the
1163 service manager's real or effective group, or any of its
534bab66
FS
1164 auxiliary groups match the specified group or GID. This setting
1165 does not have a special value <literal>@system</literal>.</para>
c465a29f 1166
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ZJS
1167 <para>If multiple conditions are specified, the unit will be
1168 executed if all of them apply (i.e. a logical AND is applied).
1169 Condition checks can be prefixed with a pipe symbol (|) in
1170 which case a condition becomes a triggering condition. If at
1171 least one triggering condition is defined for a unit, then the
1172 unit will be executed if at least one of the triggering
1173 conditions apply and all of the non-triggering conditions. If
1174 you prefix an argument with the pipe symbol and an exclamation
1175 mark, the pipe symbol must be passed first, the exclamation
1176 second. Except for
1177 <varname>ConditionPathIsSymbolicLink=</varname>, all path
1178 checks follow symlinks. If any of these options is assigned
1179 the empty string, the list of conditions is reset completely,
1180 all previous condition settings (of any kind) will have no
1181 effect.</para></listitem>
1182 </varlistentry>
1183
1184 <varlistentry>
1185 <term><varname>AssertArchitecture=</varname></term>
1186 <term><varname>AssertVirtualization=</varname></term>
1187 <term><varname>AssertHost=</varname></term>
1188 <term><varname>AssertKernelCommandLine=</varname></term>
1189 <term><varname>AssertSecurity=</varname></term>
1190 <term><varname>AssertCapability=</varname></term>
1191 <term><varname>AssertACPower=</varname></term>
1192 <term><varname>AssertNeedsUpdate=</varname></term>
1193 <term><varname>AssertFirstBoot=</varname></term>
1194 <term><varname>AssertPathExists=</varname></term>
1195 <term><varname>AssertPathExistsGlob=</varname></term>
1196 <term><varname>AssertPathIsDirectory=</varname></term>
1197 <term><varname>AssertPathIsSymbolicLink=</varname></term>
1198 <term><varname>AssertPathIsMountPoint=</varname></term>
1199 <term><varname>AssertPathIsReadWrite=</varname></term>
1200 <term><varname>AssertDirectoryNotEmpty=</varname></term>
1201 <term><varname>AssertFileNotEmpty=</varname></term>
1202 <term><varname>AssertFileIsExecutable=</varname></term>
c465a29f
FS
1203 <term><varname>AssertUser=</varname></term>
1204 <term><varname>AssertGroup=</varname></term>
798d3a52 1205
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LP
1206 <listitem><para>Similar to the <varname>ConditionArchitecture=</varname>,
1207 <varname>ConditionVirtualization=</varname>, …, condition settings described above, these settings add
1208 assertion checks to the start-up of the unit. However, unlike the conditions settings, any assertion setting
da25e029
ZJS
1209 that is not met results in failure of the start job (which means this is logged loudly). Use assertion
1210 expressions for units that cannot operate when specific requirements are not met, and when this is something
1211 the administrator or user should look into.</para></listitem>
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ZJS
1212 </varlistentry>
1213
1214 <varlistentry>
1215 <term><varname>SourcePath=</varname></term>
1216 <listitem><para>A path to a configuration file this unit has
1217 been generated from. This is primarily useful for
1218 implementation of generator tools that convert configuration
1219 from an external configuration file format into native unit
1220 files. This functionality should not be used in normal
1221 units.</para></listitem>
1222 </varlistentry>
1223 </variablelist>
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1224 </refsect1>
1225
1226 <refsect1>
1227 <title>Mapping of unit properties to their inverses</title>
1228
1229 <para>Unit settings that create a relationship with a second unit usually show up
1230 in properties of both units, for example in <command>systemctl show</command>
1231 output. In some cases the name of the property is the same as the name of the
1232 configuration setting, but not always. This table lists the pairs of properties
1233 that are shown on two units which are connected through some dependency, and shows
1234 which property on "source" unit corresponds to which property on the "target" unit.
1235 </para>
1236
1237 <table>
1238 <title>
1239 "Forward" and "reverse" unit properties
1240 </title>
1241
1242 <tgroup cols='2'>
1243 <colspec colname='forward' />
1244 <colspec colname='reverse' />
1245 <colspec colname='notes' />
1246 <thead>
1247 <row>
1248 <entry>"Forward" property</entry>
1249 <entry>"Reverse" property</entry>
1250 <entry>Where used</entry>
1251 </row>
1252 </thead>
1253 <tbody>
1254 <row>
1255 <entry><varname>Before=</varname></entry>
1256 <entry><varname>After=</varname></entry>
1257 <entry morerows='1' valign='middle'>Both are unit file options</entry>
1258 </row>
1259 <row>
1260 <entry><varname>After=</varname></entry>
1261 <entry><varname>Before=</varname></entry>
1262 </row>
1263 <row>
1264 <entry><varname>Requires=</varname></entry>
1265 <entry><varname>RequiredBy=</varname></entry>
1266 <entry>A unit file option; an option in the [Install] section</entry>
1267 </row>
1268 <row>
1269 <entry><varname>Wants=</varname></entry>
1270 <entry><varname>WantedBy=</varname></entry>
1271 <entry>A unit file option; an option in the [Install] section</entry>
1272 </row>
1273 <row>
1274 <entry><varname>PartOf=</varname></entry>
1275 <entry><varname>ConsistsOf=</varname></entry>
1276 <entry>A unit file option; an automatic property</entry>
1277 </row>
1278 <row>
1279 <entry><varname>BindsTo=</varname></entry>
1280 <entry><varname>BoundBy=</varname></entry>
1281 <entry>A unit file option; an automatic property</entry>
1282 </row>
1283 <row>
1284 <entry><varname>Requisite=</varname></entry>
1285 <entry><varname>RequisiteOf=</varname></entry>
1286 <entry>A unit file option; an automatic property</entry>
1287 </row>
1288 <row>
1289 <entry><varname>Triggers=</varname></entry>
1290 <entry><varname>TriggeredBy=</varname></entry>
1291 <entry>Automatic properties, see notes below</entry>
1292 </row>
1293 <row>
1294 <entry><varname>Conflicts=</varname></entry>
1295 <entry><varname>ConflictedBy=</varname></entry>
1296 <entry>A unit file option; an automatic property</entry>
1297 </row>
1298 <row>
1299 <entry><varname>PropagatesReloadTo=</varname></entry>
1300 <entry><varname>ReloadPropagatedFrom=</varname></entry>
1301 <entry morerows='1' valign='middle'>Both are unit file options</entry>
1302 </row>
1303 <row>
1304 <entry><varname>ReloadPropagatedFrom=</varname></entry>
1305 <entry><varname>PropagatesReloadTo=</varname></entry>
1306 </row>
1307 </tbody>
1308 </tgroup>
1309 </table>
798d3a52 1310
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ZJS
1311 <para>Note: <varname>WantedBy=</varname> and <varname>RequiredBy=</varname> are
1312 used in the [Install] section to create symlinks in <filename>.wants/</filename>
1313 and <filename>.requires/</filename> directories. They cannot be used directly as a
1314 unit configuration setting.</para>
1315
1316 <para>Note: <varname>ConsistsOf=</varname>, <varname>BoundBy=</varname>,
1317 <varname>RequisiteOf=</varname>, <varname>ConflictedBy=</varname> are created
1318 implicitly along with their reverse and cannot be specified directly.</para>
1319
1320 <para>Note: <varname>Triggers=</varname> is created implicitly between a socket,
1321 path unit, or an automount unit, and the unit they activate. By default a unit
1322 with the same name is triggered, but this can be overriden using
1323 <varname>Sockets=</varname>, <varname>Service=</varname>, and <varname>Unit=</varname>
1324 settings. See
1325 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1326 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.socket</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1327 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.path</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1328 and
1329 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.automount</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
1330 for details. <varname>TriggersBy=</varname> is created implicitly on the
1331 triggered unit.</para>
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1332 </refsect1>
1333
1334 <refsect1>
1335 <title>[Install] Section Options</title>
1336
be73bb48
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1337 <para>Unit files may include an <literal>[Install]</literal> section, which carries installation information for
1338 the unit. This section is not interpreted by
1339 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> during runtime; it is
1340 used by the <command>enable</command> and <command>disable</command> commands of the
1341 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> tool during
caa45f5b 1342 installation of a unit.</para>
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1343
1344 <variablelist class='unit-directives'>
1345 <varlistentry>
1346 <term><varname>Alias=</varname></term>
1347
f4bf8d2f 1348 <listitem><para>A space-separated list of additional names this unit shall be installed under. The names listed
1245e413 1349 here must have the same suffix (i.e. type) as the unit filename. This option may be specified more than once,
f4bf8d2f
LP
1350 in which case all listed names are used. At installation time, <command>systemctl enable</command> will create
1351 symlinks from these names to the unit filename. Note that not all unit types support such alias names, and this
1352 setting is not supported for them. Specifically, mount, slice, swap, and automount units do not support
1353 aliasing.</para></listitem>
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1354 </varlistentry>
1355
1356 <varlistentry>
1357 <term><varname>WantedBy=</varname></term>
1358 <term><varname>RequiredBy=</varname></term>
1359
1360 <listitem><para>This option may be used more than once, or a
1361 space-separated list of unit names may be given. A symbolic
1362 link is created in the <filename>.wants/</filename> or
1363 <filename>.requires/</filename> directory of each of the
1364 listed units when this unit is installed by <command>systemctl
1365 enable</command>. This has the effect that a dependency of
1366 type <varname>Wants=</varname> or <varname>Requires=</varname>
1367 is added from the listed unit to the current unit. The primary
1368 result is that the current unit will be started when the
1369 listed unit is started. See the description of
1370 <varname>Wants=</varname> and <varname>Requires=</varname> in
1371 the [Unit] section for details.</para>
1372
1373 <para><command>WantedBy=foo.service</command> in a service
1374 <filename>bar.service</filename> is mostly equivalent to
1375 <command>Alias=foo.service.wants/bar.service</command> in the
1376 same file. In case of template units, <command>systemctl
1377 enable</command> must be called with an instance name, and
1378 this instance will be added to the
1379 <filename>.wants/</filename> or
1380 <filename>.requires/</filename> list of the listed unit. E.g.
1381 <command>WantedBy=getty.target</command> in a service
1382 <filename>getty@.service</filename> will result in
1383 <command>systemctl enable getty@tty2.service</command>
1384 creating a
1385 <filename>getty.target.wants/getty@tty2.service</filename>
1386 link to <filename>getty@.service</filename>.
1387 </para></listitem>
1388 </varlistentry>
1389
1390 <varlistentry>
1391 <term><varname>Also=</varname></term>
1392
1393 <listitem><para>Additional units to install/deinstall when
1394 this unit is installed/deinstalled. If the user requests
1395 installation/deinstallation of a unit with this option
1396 configured, <command>systemctl enable</command> and
1397 <command>systemctl disable</command> will automatically
1398 install/uninstall units listed in this option as well.</para>
1399
1400 <para>This option may be used more than once, or a
1401 space-separated list of unit names may be
1402 given.</para></listitem>
1403 </varlistentry>
1404
1405 <varlistentry>
1406 <term><varname>DefaultInstance=</varname></term>
1407
1408 <listitem><para>In template unit files, this specifies for
1409 which instance the unit shall be enabled if the template is
1410 enabled without any explicitly set instance. This option has
1411 no effect in non-template unit files. The specified string
1412 must be usable as instance identifier.</para></listitem>
1413 </varlistentry>
1414 </variablelist>
1415
1416 <para>The following specifiers are interpreted in the Install
1417 section: %n, %N, %p, %i, %U, %u, %m, %H, %b, %v. For their meaning
1418 see the next section.
1419 </para>
1420 </refsect1>
1421
1422 <refsect1>
1423 <title>Specifiers</title>
1424
1425 <para>Many settings resolve specifiers which may be used to write
1426 generic unit files referring to runtime or unit parameters that
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1427 are replaced when the unit files are loaded. Specifiers must be known
1428 and resolvable for the setting to be valid. The following
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1429 specifiers are understood:</para>
1430
1431 <table>
1432 <title>Specifiers available in unit files</title>
1433 <tgroup cols='3' align='left' colsep='1' rowsep='1'>
1434 <colspec colname="spec" />
1435 <colspec colname="mean" />
1436 <colspec colname="detail" />
1437 <thead>
1438 <row>
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1439 <entry>Specifier</entry>
1440 <entry>Meaning</entry>
1441 <entry>Details</entry>
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1442 </row>
1443 </thead>
1444 <tbody>
1445 <row>
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1446 <entry><literal>%n</literal></entry>
1447 <entry>Full unit name</entry>
1448 <entry></entry>
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1449 </row>
1450 <row>
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1451 <entry><literal>%N</literal></entry>
1452 <entry>Unescaped full unit name</entry>
1453 <entry>Same as <literal>%n</literal>, but with escaping undone. This undoes the escaping used when generating unit names from arbitrary strings (see above). </entry>
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1454 </row>
1455 <row>
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1456 <entry><literal>%p</literal></entry>
1457 <entry>Prefix name</entry>
1458 <entry>For instantiated units, this refers to the string before the <literal>@</literal> character of the unit name. For non-instantiated units, this refers to the name of the unit with the type suffix removed.</entry>
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1459 </row>
1460 <row>
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1461 <entry><literal>%P</literal></entry>
1462 <entry>Unescaped prefix name</entry>
1463 <entry>Same as <literal>%p</literal>, but with escaping undone</entry>
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1464 </row>
1465 <row>
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1466 <entry><literal>%i</literal></entry>
1467 <entry>Instance name</entry>
1468 <entry>For instantiated units: this is the string between the <literal>@</literal> character and the suffix of the unit name.</entry>
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1469 </row>
1470 <row>
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1471 <entry><literal>%I</literal></entry>
1472 <entry>Unescaped instance name</entry>
1473 <entry>Same as <literal>%i</literal>, but with escaping undone</entry>
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1474 </row>
1475 <row>
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1476 <entry><literal>%f</literal></entry>
1477 <entry>Unescaped filename</entry>
1478 <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>
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1479 </row>
1480 <row>
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1481 <entry><literal>%t</literal></entry>
1482 <entry>Runtime directory root</entry>
1483 <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>
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1484 </row>
1485 <row>
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1486 <entry><literal>%S</literal></entry>
1487 <entry>State directory root</entry>
1488 <entry>This is either <filename>/var/lib</filename> (for the system manager) or the path <literal>$XDG_CONFIG_HOME</literal> resolves to (for user managers).</entry>
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1489 </row>
1490 <row>
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1491 <entry><literal>%C</literal></entry>
1492 <entry>Cache directory root</entry>
1493 <entry>This is either <filename>/var/cache</filename> (for the system manager) or the path <literal>$XDG_CACHE_HOME</literal> resolves to (for user managers).</entry>
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1494 </row>
1495 <row>
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1496 <entry><literal>%L</literal></entry>
1497 <entry>Log directory root</entry>
1498 <entry>This is either <filename>/var/log</filename> (for the system manager) or the path <literal>$XDG_CONFIG_HOME</literal> resolves to with <filename noindex='true'>/log</filename> appended (for user managers).</entry>
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1499 </row>
1500 <row>
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1501 <entry><literal>%u</literal></entry>
1502 <entry>User name</entry>
1503 <entry>This is the name of the user running the service manager instance. In case of the system manager this resolves to <literal>root</literal>.</entry>
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1504 </row>
1505 <row>
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1506 <entry><literal>%U</literal></entry>
1507 <entry>User UID</entry>
1508 <entry>This is the numeric UID of the user running the service manager instance. In case of the system manager this resolves to <literal>0</literal>.</entry>
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1509 </row>
1510 <row>
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1511 <entry><literal>%h</literal></entry>
1512 <entry>User home directory</entry>
1513 <entry>This is the home directory of the user running the service manager instance. In case of the system manager this resolves to <literal>/root</literal>.</entry>
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1514 </row>
1515 <row>
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1516 <entry><literal>%s</literal></entry>
1517 <entry>User shell</entry>
1518 <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>
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1519 </row>
1520 <row>
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1521 <entry><literal>%m</literal></entry>
1522 <entry>Machine ID</entry>
1523 <entry>The machine ID of the running system, formatted as string. See <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machine-id</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> for more information.</entry>
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1524 </row>
1525 <row>
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1526 <entry><literal>%b</literal></entry>
1527 <entry>Boot ID</entry>
1528 <entry>The boot ID of the running system, formatted as string. See <citerefentry><refentrytitle>random</refentrytitle><manvolnum>4</manvolnum></citerefentry> for more information.</entry>
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1529 </row>
1530 <row>
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1531 <entry><literal>%H</literal></entry>
1532 <entry>Host name</entry>
1533 <entry>The hostname of the running system at the point in time the unit configuration is loaded.</entry>
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1534 </row>
1535 <row>
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1536 <entry><literal>%v</literal></entry>
1537 <entry>Kernel release</entry>
1538 <entry>Identical to <command>uname -r</command> output</entry>
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1539 </row>
1540 <row>
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1541 <entry><literal>%%</literal></entry>
1542 <entry>Single percent sign</entry>
1543 <entry>Use <literal>%%</literal> in place of <literal>%</literal> to specify a single percent sign.</entry>
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1544 </row>
1545 </tbody>
1546 </tgroup>
1547 </table>
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1548 </refsect1>
1549
1550 <refsect1>
1551 <title>Examples</title>
1552
1553 <example>
1554 <title>Allowing units to be enabled</title>
1555
1556 <para>The following snippet (highlighted) allows a unit (e.g.
1557 <filename>foo.service</filename>) to be enabled via
1558 <command>systemctl enable</command>:</para>
1559
1560 <programlisting>[Unit]
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1561Description=Foo
1562
1563[Service]
1564ExecStart=/usr/sbin/foo-daemon
1565
1566<emphasis>[Install]</emphasis>
1567<emphasis>WantedBy=multi-user.target</emphasis></programlisting>
1568
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1569 <para>After running <command>systemctl enable</command>, a
1570 symlink
12b42c76 1571 <filename>/etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/foo.service</filename>
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1572 linking to the actual unit will be created. It tells systemd to
1573 pull in the unit when starting
1574 <filename>multi-user.target</filename>. The inverse
1575 <command>systemctl disable</command> will remove that symlink
1576 again.</para>
1577 </example>
1578
1579 <example>
1580 <title>Overriding vendor settings</title>
1581
1582 <para>There are two methods of overriding vendor settings in
1583 unit files: copying the unit file from
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1584 <filename>/usr/lib/systemd/system</filename> to
1585 <filename>/etc/systemd/system</filename> and modifying the
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1586 chosen settings. Alternatively, one can create a directory named
1587 <filename><replaceable>unit</replaceable>.d/</filename> within
12b42c76 1588 <filename>/etc/systemd/system</filename> and place a drop-in
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1589 file <filename><replaceable>name</replaceable>.conf</filename>
1590 there that only changes the specific settings one is interested
1591 in. Note that multiple such drop-in files are read if
8331eaab 1592 present, processed in lexicographic order of their filename.</para>
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1593
1594 <para>The advantage of the first method is that one easily
1595 overrides the complete unit, the vendor unit is not parsed at
1596 all anymore. It has the disadvantage that improvements to the
1597 unit file by the vendor are not automatically incorporated on
1598 updates.</para>
1599
1600 <para>The advantage of the second method is that one only
1601 overrides the settings one specifically wants, where updates to
1602 the unit by the vendor automatically apply. This has the
1603 disadvantage that some future updates by the vendor might be
1604 incompatible with the local changes.</para>
1605
1606 <para>Note that for drop-in files, if one wants to remove
1607 entries from a setting that is parsed as a list (and is not a
1608 dependency), such as <varname>ConditionPathExists=</varname> (or
1609 e.g. <varname>ExecStart=</varname> in service units), one needs
1610 to first clear the list before re-adding all entries except the
1611 one that is to be removed. See below for an example.</para>
1612
1613 <para>This also applies for user instances of systemd, but with
1614 different locations for the unit files. See the section on unit
1615 load paths for further details.</para>
1616
1617 <para>Suppose there is a vendor-supplied unit
12b42c76 1618 <filename>/usr/lib/systemd/system/httpd.service</filename> with
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1619 the following contents:</para>
1620
1621 <programlisting>[Unit]
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1622Description=Some HTTP server
1623After=remote-fs.target sqldb.service
1624Requires=sqldb.service
1625AssertPathExists=/srv/webserver
1626
1627[Service]
1628Type=notify
1629ExecStart=/usr/sbin/some-fancy-httpd-server
1630Nice=5
1631
1632[Install]
1633WantedBy=multi-user.target</programlisting>
1634
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1635 <para>Now one wants to change some settings as an administrator:
1636 firstly, in the local setup, <filename>/srv/webserver</filename>
e2acdb6b 1637 might not exist, because the HTTP server is configured to use
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1638 <filename>/srv/www</filename> instead. Secondly, the local
1639 configuration makes the HTTP server also depend on a memory
1640 cache service, <filename>memcached.service</filename>, that
1641 should be pulled in (<varname>Requires=</varname>) and also be
1642 ordered appropriately (<varname>After=</varname>). Thirdly, in
1643 order to harden the service a bit more, the administrator would
1644 like to set the <varname>PrivateTmp=</varname> setting (see
912f003f 1645 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
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1646 for details). And lastly, the administrator would like to reset
1647 the niceness of the service to its default value of 0.</para>
1648
1649 <para>The first possibility is to copy the unit file to
12b42c76 1650 <filename>/etc/systemd/system/httpd.service</filename> and
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1651 change the chosen settings:</para>
1652
1653 <programlisting>[Unit]
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1654Description=Some HTTP server
1655After=remote-fs.target sqldb.service <emphasis>memcached.service</emphasis>
1656Requires=sqldb.service <emphasis>memcached.service</emphasis>
1657AssertPathExists=<emphasis>/srv/www</emphasis>
1658
1659[Service]
1660Type=notify
1661ExecStart=/usr/sbin/some-fancy-httpd-server
1662<emphasis>Nice=0</emphasis>
1663<emphasis>PrivateTmp=yes</emphasis>
1664
1665[Install]
1666WantedBy=multi-user.target</programlisting>
1667
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1668 <para>Alternatively, the administrator could create a drop-in
1669 file
12b42c76 1670 <filename>/etc/systemd/system/httpd.service.d/local.conf</filename>
798d3a52 1671 with the following contents:</para>
92b1e225 1672
798d3a52 1673 <programlisting>[Unit]
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1674After=memcached.service
1675Requires=memcached.service
1676# Reset all assertions and then re-add the condition we want
1677AssertPathExists=
1678AssertPathExists=/srv/www
1679
1680[Service]
1681Nice=0
1682PrivateTmp=yes</programlisting>
1683
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1684 <para>Note that dependencies (<varname>After=</varname>, etc.)
1685 cannot be reset to an empty list, so dependencies can only be
1686 added in drop-ins. If you want to remove dependencies, you have
1687 to override the entire unit.</para>
0cf4c0d1 1688
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1689 </example>
1690 </refsect1>
1691
1692 <refsect1>
1693 <title>See Also</title>
1694 <para>
1695 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1696 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1697 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.special</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1698 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1699 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.socket</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1700 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.device</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1701 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.mount</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1702 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.automount</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1703 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.swap</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1704 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.target</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1705 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.path</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1706 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
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1707 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.scope</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1708 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.slice</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1709 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.time</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1710 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-analyze</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1711 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>capabilities</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1712 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.directives</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
3ba3a79d 1713 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>uname</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
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1714 </para>
1715 </refsect1>
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1716
1717</refentry>