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514094f9 1<?xml version='1.0'?>
3a54a157 2<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
12b42c76 3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
0307f791 4<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1+ -->
9e632bf7 5
dfdebb1b 6<refentry id="systemd"
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7 xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
8
9 <refentryinfo>
10 <title>systemd</title>
11 <productname>systemd</productname>
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12 </refentryinfo>
13
14 <refmeta>
15 <refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle>
16 <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
17 </refmeta>
18
19 <refnamediv>
20 <refname>systemd</refname>
21 <refname>init</refname>
22 <refpurpose>systemd system and service manager</refpurpose>
23 </refnamediv>
24
25 <refsynopsisdiv>
26 <cmdsynopsis>
b57b372a 27 <command>/usr/lib/systemd/systemd</command>
770c4777 28 <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">OPTIONS</arg>
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29 </cmdsynopsis>
30 <cmdsynopsis>
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31 <command>init</command>
32 <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">OPTIONS</arg>
33 <arg choice="req">COMMAND</arg>
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34 </cmdsynopsis>
35 </refsynopsisdiv>
36
37 <refsect1>
38 <title>Description</title>
39
c035f376 40 <para>systemd is a system and service manager for Linux operating systems. When run as first process on
11fcfc53 41 boot (as PID 1), it acts as init system that brings up and maintains userspace services. Separate
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42 instances are started for logged-in users to start their services.</para>
43
44 <para><command>systemd</command> is usually not invoked directly by the user, but is installed as the
45 <filename>/sbin/init</filename> symlink and started during early boot. The user manager instances are
46 started automatically through the
47 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>user@.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
48 service.</para>
49
50 <para>For compatibility with SysV, if the binary is called as <command>init</command> and is not the
51 first process on the machine (PID is not 1), it will execute <command>telinit</command> and pass all
52 command line arguments unmodified. That means <command>init</command> and <command>telinit</command> are
53 mostly equivalent when invoked from normal login sessions. See
54 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>telinit</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry> for more
55 information.</para>
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56
57 <para>When run as a system instance, systemd interprets the
58 configuration file <filename>system.conf</filename> and the files
59 in <filename>system.conf.d</filename> directories; when run as a
60 user instance, systemd interprets the configuration file
61 <filename>user.conf</filename> and the files in
62 <filename>user.conf.d</filename> directories. See
63 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-system.conf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
64 for more information.</para>
65 </refsect1>
66
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67 <refsect1>
68 <title>Concepts</title>
69
70 <para>systemd provides a dependency system between various
19f0cf65 71 entities called "units" of 11 different types. Units encapsulate
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72 various objects that are relevant for system boot-up and
73 maintenance. The majority of units are configured in unit
74 configuration files, whose syntax and basic set of options is
75 described in
76 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
77 however some are created automatically from other configuration,
78 dynamically from system state or programmatically at runtime.
1eecafb8 79 Units may be "active" (meaning started, bound, plugged in, …,
798d3a52 80 depending on the unit type, see below), or "inactive" (meaning
1eecafb8 81 stopped, unbound, unplugged, …), as well as in the process of
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82 being activated or deactivated, i.e. between the two states (these
83 states are called "activating", "deactivating"). A special
84 "failed" state is available as well, which is very similar to
85 "inactive" and is entered when the service failed in some way
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86 (process returned error code on exit, or crashed, an operation
87 timed out, or after too many restarts). If this state is entered,
88 the cause will be logged, for later reference. Note that the
89 various unit types may have a number of additional substates,
90 which are mapped to the five generalized unit states described
91 here.</para>
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92
93 <para>The following unit types are available:</para>
94
95 <orderedlist>
96 <listitem><para>Service units, which start and control daemons
b938cb90 97 and the processes they consist of. For details, see
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98 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para></listitem>
99
100 <listitem><para>Socket units, which encapsulate local IPC or
101 network sockets in the system, useful for socket-based
b938cb90 102 activation. For details about socket units, see
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103 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.socket</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
104 for details on socket-based activation and other forms of
105 activation, see
106 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>daemon</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para></listitem>
107
108 <listitem><para>Target units are useful to group units, or
109 provide well-known synchronization points during boot-up, see
110 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.target</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para></listitem>
111
112 <listitem><para>Device units expose kernel devices in systemd
113 and may be used to implement device-based activation. For
b938cb90 114 details, see
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115 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.device</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para></listitem>
116
117 <listitem><para>Mount units control mount points in the file
118 system, for details see
119 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.mount</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para></listitem>
120
121 <listitem><para>Automount units provide automount capabilities,
122 for on-demand mounting of file systems as well as parallelized
123 boot-up. See
124 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.automount</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para></listitem>
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125
126 <listitem><para>Timer units are useful for triggering activation
127 of other units based on timers. You may find details in
128 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para></listitem>
129
130 <listitem><para>Swap units are very similar to mount units and
131 encapsulate memory swap partitions or files of the operating
132 system. They are described in
133 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.swap</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para></listitem>
134
135 <listitem><para>Path units may be used to activate other
136 services when file system objects change or are modified. See
137 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.path</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para></listitem>
138
139 <listitem><para>Slice units may be used to group units which
140 manage system processes (such as service and scope units) in a
141 hierarchical tree for resource management purposes. See
142 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.slice</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para></listitem>
143
144 <listitem><para>Scope units are similar to service units, but
145 manage foreign processes instead of starting them as well. See
146 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.scope</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para></listitem>
147
148 </orderedlist>
149
150 <para>Units are named as their configuration files. Some units
151 have special semantics. A detailed list is available in
152 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.special</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para>
153
154 <para>systemd knows various kinds of dependencies, including
155 positive and negative requirement dependencies (i.e.
156 <varname>Requires=</varname> and <varname>Conflicts=</varname>) as
157 well as ordering dependencies (<varname>After=</varname> and
158 <varname>Before=</varname>). NB: ordering and requirement
159 dependencies are orthogonal. If only a requirement dependency
160 exists between two units (e.g. <filename>foo.service</filename>
161 requires <filename>bar.service</filename>), but no ordering
162 dependency (e.g. <filename>foo.service</filename> after
163 <filename>bar.service</filename>) and both are requested to start,
164 they will be started in parallel. It is a common pattern that both
165 requirement and ordering dependencies are placed between two
166 units. Also note that the majority of dependencies are implicitly
167 created and maintained by systemd. In most cases, it should be
168 unnecessary to declare additional dependencies manually, however
169 it is possible to do this.</para>
170
171 <para>Application programs and units (via dependencies) may
172 request state changes of units. In systemd, these requests are
173 encapsulated as 'jobs' and maintained in a job queue. Jobs may
174 succeed or can fail, their execution is ordered based on the
175 ordering dependencies of the units they have been scheduled
176 for.</para>
177
178 <para>On boot systemd activates the target unit
179 <filename>default.target</filename> whose job is to activate
180 on-boot services and other on-boot units by pulling them in via
b938cb90 181 dependencies. Usually, the unit name is just an alias (symlink) for
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182 either <filename>graphical.target</filename> (for fully-featured
183 boots into the UI) or <filename>multi-user.target</filename> (for
184 limited console-only boots for use in embedded or server
185 environments, or similar; a subset of graphical.target). However,
186 it is at the discretion of the administrator to configure it as an
187 alias to any other target unit. See
188 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.special</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>
189 for details about these target units.</para>
190
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191 <para>systemd only keeps a minimal set of units loaded into memory. Specifically, the only units that are kept
192 loaded into memory are those for which at least one of the following conditions is true:</para>
193
194 <orderedlist>
05d4db20 195 <listitem><para>It is in an active, activating, deactivating or failed state (i.e. in any unit state except for <literal>inactive</literal>)</para></listitem>
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196 <listitem><para>It has a job queued for it</para></listitem>
197 <listitem><para>It is a dependency of some sort of at least one other unit that is loaded into memory</para></listitem>
198 <listitem><para>It has some form of resource still allocated (e.g. a service unit that is inactive but for which
199 a process is still lingering that ignored the request to be terminated)</para></listitem>
200 <listitem><para>It has been pinned into memory programmatically by a D-Bus call</para></listitem>
201 </orderedlist>
202
203 <para>systemd will automatically and implicitly load units from disk — if they are not loaded yet — as soon as
204 operations are requested for them. Thus, in many respects, the fact whether a unit is loaded or not is invisible to
205 clients. Use <command>systemctl list-units --all</command> to comprehensively list all units currently loaded. Any
206 unit for which none of the conditions above applies is promptly unloaded. Note that when a unit is unloaded from
207 memory its accounting data is flushed out too. However, this data is generally not lost, as a journal log record
208 is generated declaring the consumed resources whenever a unit shuts down.</para>
209
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210 <para>Processes systemd spawns are placed in individual Linux
211 control groups named after the unit which they belong to in the
212 private systemd hierarchy. (see <ulink
3c887f97 213 url="https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/cgroup-v1/cgroups.txt">cgroups.txt</ulink>
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214 for more information about control groups, or short "cgroups").
215 systemd uses this to effectively keep track of processes. Control
216 group information is maintained in the kernel, and is accessible
217 via the file system hierarchy (beneath
218 <filename>/sys/fs/cgroup/systemd/</filename>), or in tools such as
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219 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>systemd-cgls</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
220 or
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221 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>ps</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
222 (<command>ps xawf -eo pid,user,cgroup,args</command> is
223 particularly useful to list all processes and the systemd units
224 they belong to.).</para>
225
226 <para>systemd is compatible with the SysV init system to a large
227 degree: SysV init scripts are supported and simply read as an
228 alternative (though limited) configuration file format. The SysV
229 <filename>/dev/initctl</filename> interface is provided, and
230 compatibility implementations of the various SysV client tools are
231 available. In addition to that, various established Unix
232 functionality such as <filename>/etc/fstab</filename> or the
233 <filename>utmp</filename> database are supported.</para>
234
235 <para>systemd has a minimal transaction system: if a unit is
236 requested to start up or shut down it will add it and all its
237 dependencies to a temporary transaction. Then, it will verify if
238 the transaction is consistent (i.e. whether the ordering of all
239 units is cycle-free). If it is not, systemd will try to fix it up,
240 and removes non-essential jobs from the transaction that might
241 remove the loop. Also, systemd tries to suppress non-essential
242 jobs in the transaction that would stop a running service. Finally
243 it is checked whether the jobs of the transaction contradict jobs
244 that have already been queued, and optionally the transaction is
245 aborted then. If all worked out and the transaction is consistent
246 and minimized in its impact it is merged with all already
247 outstanding jobs and added to the run queue. Effectively this
248 means that before executing a requested operation, systemd will
249 verify that it makes sense, fixing it if possible, and only
250 failing if it really cannot work.</para>
92e29d82 251
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252 <para>Note that transactions are generated independently of a unit's
253 state at runtime, hence, for example, if a start job is requested on an
254 already started unit, it will still generate a transaction and wake up any
255 inactive dependencies (and cause propagation of other jobs as per the
256 defined relationships). This is because the enqueued job is at the time of
257 execution compared to the target unit's state and is marked successful and
258 complete when both satisfy. However, this job also pulls in other
259 dependencies due to the defined relationships and thus leads to, in our
260 our example, start jobs for any of those inactive units getting queued as
261 well.</para>
798d3a52 262
f95b0be7 263 <para>systemd contains native implementations of various tasks
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264 that need to be executed as part of the boot process. For example,
265 it sets the hostname or configures the loopback network device. It
266 also sets up and mounts various API file systems, such as
267 <filename>/sys</filename> or <filename>/proc</filename>.</para>
268
269 <para>For more information about the concepts and
270 ideas behind systemd, please refer to the
271 <ulink url="http://0pointer.de/blog/projects/systemd.html">Original Design Document</ulink>.</para>
272
273 <para>Note that some but not all interfaces provided
274 by systemd are covered by the
28a0ad81 275 <ulink url="https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/InterfaceStabilityPromise">Interface
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276 Stability Promise</ulink>.</para>
277
278 <para>Units may be generated dynamically at boot and system
279 manager reload time, for example based on other configuration
b938cb90 280 files or parameters passed on the kernel command line. For details, see
b1c1a519 281 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.generator</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para>
798d3a52 282
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283 <para>Systems which invoke systemd in a container or initrd environment should implement the <ulink
284 url="https://systemd.io/CONTAINER_INTERFACE">Container Interface</ulink> or <ulink
285 url="https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/InitrdInterface">initrd Interface</ulink>
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286 specifications, respectively.</para>
287 </refsect1>
288
289 <refsect1>
290 <title>Directories</title>
291
292 <variablelist>
293 <varlistentry>
294 <term>System unit directories</term>
295
296 <listitem><para>The systemd system manager reads unit
297 configuration from various directories. Packages that want to
298 install unit files shall place them in the directory returned
299 by <command>pkg-config systemd
300 --variable=systemdsystemunitdir</command>. Other directories
301 checked are <filename>/usr/local/lib/systemd/system</filename>
12b42c76 302 and <filename>/usr/lib/systemd/system</filename>. User
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303 configuration always takes precedence. <command>pkg-config
304 systemd --variable=systemdsystemconfdir</command> returns the
305 path of the system configuration directory. Packages should
306 alter the content of these directories only with the
307 <command>enable</command> and <command>disable</command>
308 commands of the
309 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
310 tool. Full list of directories is provided in
311 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
312 </para></listitem>
313 </varlistentry>
314 </variablelist>
315
316 <variablelist>
317 <varlistentry>
318 <term>User unit directories</term>
319
320 <listitem><para>Similar rules apply for the user unit
321 directories. However, here the
322 <ulink url="http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html">XDG
323 Base Directory specification</ulink> is followed to find
324 units. Applications should place their unit files in the
325 directory returned by <command>pkg-config systemd
326 --variable=systemduserunitdir</command>. Global configuration
327 is done in the directory reported by <command>pkg-config
328 systemd --variable=systemduserconfdir</command>. The
329 <command>enable</command> and <command>disable</command>
330 commands of the
331 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
332 tool can handle both global (i.e. for all users) and private
333 (for one user) enabling/disabling of units. Full list of
334 directories is provided in
335 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
336 </para></listitem>
337 </varlistentry>
338 </variablelist>
339
340 <variablelist>
341 <varlistentry>
342 <term>SysV init scripts directory</term>
343
344 <listitem><para>The location of the SysV init script directory
345 varies between distributions. If systemd cannot find a native
346 unit file for a requested service, it will look for a SysV
347 init script of the same name (with the
348 <filename>.service</filename> suffix
349 removed).</para></listitem>
350 </varlistentry>
351 </variablelist>
352
353 <variablelist>
354 <varlistentry>
355 <term>SysV runlevel link farm directory</term>
356
357 <listitem><para>The location of the SysV runlevel link farm
358 directory varies between distributions. systemd will take the
359 link farm into account when figuring out whether a service
360 shall be enabled. Note that a service unit with a native unit
361 configuration file cannot be started by activating it in the
362 SysV runlevel link farm.</para></listitem>
363 </varlistentry>
364 </variablelist>
365 </refsect1>
366
367 <refsect1>
368 <title>Signals</title>
369
370 <variablelist>
371 <varlistentry>
372 <term><constant>SIGTERM</constant></term>
373
374 <listitem><para>Upon receiving this signal the systemd system
375 manager serializes its state, reexecutes itself and
376 deserializes the saved state again. This is mostly equivalent
377 to <command>systemctl daemon-reexec</command>.</para>
378
379 <para>systemd user managers will start the
380 <filename>exit.target</filename> unit when this signal is
381 received. This is mostly equivalent to <command>systemctl
d60cb656 382 --user start exit.target
27e64442 383 --job-mode=replace-irreversibly</command>.</para></listitem>
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384 </varlistentry>
385
386 <varlistentry>
387 <term><constant>SIGINT</constant></term>
388
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389 <listitem><para>Upon receiving this signal the systemd system manager will start the
390 <filename>ctrl-alt-del.target</filename> unit. This is mostly equivalent to
27e64442 391 <command>systemctl start ctrl-alt-del.target --job-mode=replace-irreversibly</command>. If
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392 this signal is received more than 7 times per 2s, an immediate reboot is triggered. Note
393 that pressing
394 <keycombo><keycap>Ctrl</keycap><keycap>Alt</keycap><keycap>Del</keycap></keycombo> on the
395 console will trigger this signal. Hence, if a reboot is hanging, pressing
396 <keycombo><keycap>Ctrl</keycap><keycap>Alt</keycap><keycap>Del</keycap></keycombo> more than
397 7 times in 2 seconds is a relatively safe way to trigger an immediate reboot.</para>
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398
399 <para>systemd user managers treat this signal the same way as
400 <constant>SIGTERM</constant>.</para></listitem>
401 </varlistentry>
402
403 <varlistentry>
404 <term><constant>SIGWINCH</constant></term>
405
406 <listitem><para>When this signal is received the systemd
407 system manager will start the
408 <filename>kbrequest.target</filename> unit. This is mostly
409 equivalent to <command>systemctl start
410 kbrequest.target</command>.</para>
411
412 <para>This signal is ignored by systemd user
413 managers.</para></listitem>
414 </varlistentry>
415
416 <varlistentry>
417 <term><constant>SIGPWR</constant></term>
418
419 <listitem><para>When this signal is received the systemd
420 manager will start the <filename>sigpwr.target</filename>
421 unit. This is mostly equivalent to <command>systemctl start
422 sigpwr.target</command>.</para></listitem>
423 </varlistentry>
424
425 <varlistentry>
426 <term><constant>SIGUSR1</constant></term>
427
428 <listitem><para>When this signal is received the systemd
429 manager will try to reconnect to the D-Bus
430 bus.</para></listitem>
431 </varlistentry>
432
433 <varlistentry>
434 <term><constant>SIGUSR2</constant></term>
435
436 <listitem><para>When this signal is received the systemd
b938cb90 437 manager will log its complete state in human-readable form.
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438 The data logged is the same as printed by
439 <command>systemd-analyze dump</command>.</para></listitem>
440 </varlistentry>
441
442 <varlistentry>
443 <term><constant>SIGHUP</constant></term>
444
445 <listitem><para>Reloads the complete daemon configuration.
446 This is mostly equivalent to <command>systemctl
447 daemon-reload</command>.</para></listitem>
448 </varlistentry>
449
450 <varlistentry>
451 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+0</constant></term>
452
453 <listitem><para>Enters default mode, starts the
454 <filename>default.target</filename> unit. This is mostly
d60cb656 455 equivalent to <command>systemctl isolate
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456 default.target</command>.</para></listitem>
457 </varlistentry>
458
459 <varlistentry>
460 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+1</constant></term>
461
462 <listitem><para>Enters rescue mode, starts the
463 <filename>rescue.target</filename> unit. This is mostly
464 equivalent to <command>systemctl isolate
465 rescue.target</command>.</para></listitem>
466 </varlistentry>
467
468 <varlistentry>
469 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+2</constant></term>
470
471 <listitem><para>Enters emergency mode, starts the
472 <filename>emergency.service</filename> unit. This is mostly
473 equivalent to <command>systemctl isolate
474 emergency.service</command>.</para></listitem>
475 </varlistentry>
476
477 <varlistentry>
478 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+3</constant></term>
479
480 <listitem><para>Halts the machine, starts the
481 <filename>halt.target</filename> unit. This is mostly
d60cb656 482 equivalent to <command>systemctl start halt.target
27e64442 483 --job-mode=replace-irreversibly</command>.</para>
d60cb656 484 </listitem>
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485 </varlistentry>
486
487 <varlistentry>
488 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+4</constant></term>
489
490 <listitem><para>Powers off the machine, starts the
491 <filename>poweroff.target</filename> unit. This is mostly
d60cb656 492 equivalent to <command>systemctl start poweroff.target
27e64442 493 --job-mode=replace-irreversibly</command>.</para>
d60cb656 494 </listitem>
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495 </varlistentry>
496
497 <varlistentry>
498 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+5</constant></term>
499
500 <listitem><para>Reboots the machine, starts the
501 <filename>reboot.target</filename> unit. This is mostly
d60cb656 502 equivalent to <command>systemctl start reboot.target
27e64442 503 --job-mode=replace-irreversibly</command>.</para>
d60cb656 504 </listitem>
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505 </varlistentry>
506
507 <varlistentry>
508 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+6</constant></term>
509
510 <listitem><para>Reboots the machine via kexec, starts the
511 <filename>kexec.target</filename> unit. This is mostly
d60cb656 512 equivalent to <command>systemctl start kexec.target
27e64442 513 --job-mode=replace-irreversibly</command>.</para>
d60cb656 514 </listitem>
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515 </varlistentry>
516
517 <varlistentry>
518 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+13</constant></term>
519
520 <listitem><para>Immediately halts the machine.</para></listitem>
521 </varlistentry>
522
523 <varlistentry>
524 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+14</constant></term>
525
526 <listitem><para>Immediately powers off the machine.</para></listitem>
527 </varlistentry>
528
529 <varlistentry>
530 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+15</constant></term>
531
532 <listitem><para>Immediately reboots the machine.</para></listitem>
533 </varlistentry>
534
535 <varlistentry>
536 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+16</constant></term>
537
538 <listitem><para>Immediately reboots the machine with kexec.</para></listitem>
539 </varlistentry>
540
541 <varlistentry>
542 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+20</constant></term>
543
544 <listitem><para>Enables display of status messages on the
545 console, as controlled via
546 <varname>systemd.show_status=1</varname> on the kernel command
547 line.</para></listitem>
548 </varlistentry>
549
550 <varlistentry>
551 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+21</constant></term>
552
553 <listitem><para>Disables display of
554 status messages on the console, as
555 controlled via
556 <varname>systemd.show_status=0</varname>
557 on the kernel command
558 line.</para></listitem>
559 </varlistentry>
560
561 <varlistentry>
562 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+22</constant></term>
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563
564 <listitem><para>Sets the service manager's log level to <literal>debug</literal>, in a fashion equivalent to
565 <varname>systemd.log_level=debug</varname> on the kernel command line.</para></listitem>
566 </varlistentry>
567
568 <varlistentry>
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569 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+23</constant></term>
570
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571 <listitem><para>Restores the log level to its configured value. The configured value is derived from – in order
572 of priority – the value specified with <varname>systemd.log-level=</varname> on the kernel command line, or the
573 value specified with <option>LogLevel=</option> in the configuration file, or the built-in default of
574 <literal>info</literal>.</para></listitem>
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575 </varlistentry>
576
577 <varlistentry>
578 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+24</constant></term>
579
580 <listitem><para>Immediately exits the manager (only available
581 for --user instances).</para></listitem>
582 </varlistentry>
583
584 <varlistentry>
585 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+26</constant></term>
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586
587 <listitem><para>Restores the log target to its configured value. The configured value is derived from – in
588 order of priority – the value specified with <varname>systemd.log-target=</varname> on the kernel command line,
589 or the value specified with <option>LogTarget=</option> in the configuration file, or the built-in
590 default.</para></listitem>
591 </varlistentry>
592
593 <varlistentry>
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594 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+27</constant></term>
595 <term><constant>SIGRTMIN+28</constant></term>
596
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597 <listitem><para>Sets the log target to <literal>console</literal> on <constant>SIGRTMIN+27</constant> (or
598 <literal>kmsg</literal> on <constant>SIGRTMIN+28</constant>), in a fashion equivalent to
599 <varname>systemd.log_target=console</varname> (or <varname>systemd.log_target=kmsg</varname> on
600 <constant>SIGRTMIN+28</constant>) on the kernel command line.</para></listitem>
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601 </varlistentry>
602 </variablelist>
603 </refsect1>
604
605 <refsect1>
606 <title>Environment</title>
607
608 <variablelist class='environment-variables'>
609 <varlistentry>
610 <term><varname>$SYSTEMD_LOG_LEVEL</varname></term>
611 <listitem><para>systemd reads the log level from this
612 environment variable. This can be overridden with
613 <option>--log-level=</option>.</para></listitem>
614 </varlistentry>
615
616 <varlistentry>
617 <term><varname>$SYSTEMD_LOG_TARGET</varname></term>
618 <listitem><para>systemd reads the log target from this
619 environment variable. This can be overridden with
620 <option>--log-target=</option>.</para></listitem>
621 </varlistentry>
622
623 <varlistentry>
624 <term><varname>$SYSTEMD_LOG_COLOR</varname></term>
625 <listitem><para>Controls whether systemd highlights important
626 log messages. This can be overridden with
627 <option>--log-color=</option>.</para></listitem>
628 </varlistentry>
629
630 <varlistentry>
631 <term><varname>$SYSTEMD_LOG_LOCATION</varname></term>
632 <listitem><para>Controls whether systemd prints the code
633 location along with log messages. This can be overridden with
634 <option>--log-location=</option>.</para></listitem>
635 </varlistentry>
636
637 <varlistentry>
638 <term><varname>$XDG_CONFIG_HOME</varname></term>
639 <term><varname>$XDG_CONFIG_DIRS</varname></term>
640 <term><varname>$XDG_DATA_HOME</varname></term>
641 <term><varname>$XDG_DATA_DIRS</varname></term>
642
643 <listitem><para>The systemd user manager uses these variables
644 in accordance to the <ulink
645 url="http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html">XDG
646 Base Directory specification</ulink> to find its
647 configuration.</para></listitem>
648 </varlistentry>
649
650 <varlistentry>
651 <term><varname>$SYSTEMD_UNIT_PATH</varname></term>
652
653 <listitem><para>Controls where systemd looks for unit
654 files.</para></listitem>
655 </varlistentry>
656
657 <varlistentry>
658 <term><varname>$SYSTEMD_SYSVINIT_PATH</varname></term>
659
660 <listitem><para>Controls where systemd looks for SysV init
661 scripts.</para></listitem>
662 </varlistentry>
663
664 <varlistentry>
665 <term><varname>$SYSTEMD_SYSVRCND_PATH</varname></term>
666
667 <listitem><para>Controls where systemd looks for SysV init
668 script runlevel link farms.</para></listitem>
669 </varlistentry>
670
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671 <xi:include href="less-variables.xml" xpointer="pager"/>
672 <xi:include href="less-variables.xml" xpointer="less"/>
673 <xi:include href="less-variables.xml" xpointer="lesscharset"/>
674 <xi:include href="less-variables.xml" xpointer="colors"/>
675 <xi:include href="less-variables.xml" xpointer="urlify"/>
23b27b39 676
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677 <varlistentry>
678 <term><varname>$LISTEN_PID</varname></term>
679 <term><varname>$LISTEN_FDS</varname></term>
8dd4c05b 680 <term><varname>$LISTEN_FDNAMES</varname></term>
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681
682 <listitem><para>Set by systemd for supervised processes during
683 socket-based activation. See
684 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>sd_listen_fds</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>
acf553b0 685 for more information.</para></listitem>
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686 </varlistentry>
687
688 <varlistentry>
689 <term><varname>$NOTIFY_SOCKET</varname></term>
690
691 <listitem><para>Set by systemd for supervised processes for
692 status and start-up completion notification. See
693 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>sd_notify</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>
acf553b0 694 for more information.</para></listitem>
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695 </varlistentry>
696 </variablelist>
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697
698 <para>For further environment variables understood by systemd and its various components, see <ulink
699 url="https://systemd.io/ENVIRONMENT">Known Environment Variables</ulink>.</para>
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700 </refsect1>
701
702 <refsect1>
703 <title>Kernel Command Line</title>
704
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705 <para>When run as the system instance systemd parses a number of options listed below. They can be
706 specified as kernel command line arguments<footnote><para>If run inside a Linux container these arguments
707 may be passed as command line arguments to systemd itself, next to any of the command line options listed
708 in the Options section above. If run outside of Linux containers, these arguments are parsed from
709 <filename>/proc/cmdline</filename> instead.</para></footnote>, or through the
710 <literal>SystemdOptions</literal> EFI variable (on EFI systems). The kernel command line has higher
711 priority. Following variables are understood:</para>
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712
713 <variablelist class='kernel-commandline-options'>
714 <varlistentry>
715 <term><varname>systemd.unit=</varname></term>
716 <term><varname>rd.systemd.unit=</varname></term>
717
718 <listitem><para>Overrides the unit to activate on boot.
719 Defaults to <filename>default.target</filename>. This may be
720 used to temporarily boot into a different boot unit, for
721 example <filename>rescue.target</filename> or
722 <filename>emergency.service</filename>. See
723 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.special</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>
724 for details about these units. The option prefixed with
725 <literal>rd.</literal> is honored only in the initial RAM disk
726 (initrd), while the one that is not prefixed only in the main
727 system.</para></listitem>
728 </varlistentry>
729
730 <varlistentry>
770c4777 731 <term><varname>systemd.dump_core</varname></term>
798d3a52 732
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733 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument or enables the option if specified
734 without an argument. If enabled, the systemd manager (PID 1) dumps core when
735 it crashes. Otherwise, no core dump is created. Defaults to enabled.</para>
736 </listitem>
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737 </varlistentry>
738
739 <varlistentry>
770c4777 740 <term><varname>systemd.crash_chvt</varname></term>
b9e74c39 741
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742 <listitem><para>Takes a positive integer, or a boolean argument. Can be also
743 specified without an argument, with the same effect as a positive boolean. If
744 a positive integer (in the range 1–63) is specified, the system manager (PID
745 1) will activate the specified virtual terminal (VT) when it
746 crashes. Defaults to disabled, meaning that no such switch is attempted. If
747 set to enabled, the VT the kernel messages are written to is selected.
748 </para></listitem>
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749 </varlistentry>
750
751 <varlistentry>
770c4777 752 <term><varname>systemd.crash_shell</varname></term>
798d3a52 753
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754 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument or enables the option if specified
755 without an argument. If enabled, the system manager (PID 1) spawns a shell
756 when it crashes, after a 10s delay. Otherwise, no shell is spawned. Defaults
757 to disabled, for security reasons, as the shell is not protected by password
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758 authentication.</para></listitem>
759 </varlistentry>
760
761 <varlistentry>
770c4777 762 <term><varname>systemd.crash_reboot</varname></term>
798d3a52 763
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764 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument or enables the option if specified
765 without an argument. If enabled, the system manager (PID 1) will reboot the
766 machine automatically when it crashes, after a 10s delay. Otherwise, the
767 system will hang indefinitely. Defaults to disabled, in order to avoid a
768 reboot loop. If combined with <varname>systemd.crash_shell</varname>, the
4cf0b03b 769 system is rebooted after the shell exits.</para></listitem>
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770 </varlistentry>
771
772 <varlistentry>
770c4777 773 <term><varname>systemd.confirm_spawn</varname></term>
798d3a52 774
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775 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument or a path to the virtual console
776 where the confirmation messages should be emitted. Can be also specified
777 without an argument, with the same effect as a positive boolean. If enabled,
778 the system manager (PID 1) asks for confirmation when spawning processes
779 using <option>/dev/console</option>. If a path or a console name (such as
780 <literal>ttyS0</literal>) is provided, the virtual console pointed to by this
781 path or described by the give name will be used instead. Defaults to disabled.
782 </para></listitem>
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783 </varlistentry>
784
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785 <varlistentry>
786 <term><varname>systemd.service_watchdogs=</varname></term>
787
788 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. If disabled, all service runtime
789 watchdogs (<option>WatchdogSec=</option>) and emergency actions (e.g.
790 <option>OnFailure=</option> or <option>StartLimitAction=</option>) are
791 ignored by the system manager (PID 1); see
792 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
793 Defaults to enabled, i.e. watchdogs and failure actions are processed
794 normally. The hardware watchdog is not affected by this
795 option.</para></listitem>
796 </varlistentry>
797
798d3a52 798 <varlistentry>
770c4777 799 <term><varname>systemd.show_status</varname></term>
798d3a52 800
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801 <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument or the constant
802 <constant>auto</constant>. Can be also specified without an argument, with
803 the same effect as a positive boolean. If enabled, the systemd manager (PID
804 1) shows terse service status updates on the console during bootup.
805 <constant>auto</constant> behaves like <option>false</option> until a unit
806 fails or there is a significant delay in boot. Defaults to enabled, unless
807 <option>quiet</option> is passed as kernel command line option, in which case
808 it defaults to <constant>auto</constant>. If specified overrides the system
809 manager configuration file option <option>ShowStatus=</option>, see
810 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-system.conf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
c035f376 811 </para></listitem>
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812 </varlistentry>
813
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814 <varlistentry>
815 <term><varname>systemd.status_unit_format=</varname></term>
816
817 <listitem><para>Takes either <option>name</option> or <option>description</option> as the value. If
818 <option>name</option>, the system manager will use unit names in status messages. If specified,
819 overrides the system manager configuration file option <option>StatusUnitFormat=</option>, see
820 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-system.conf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
821 </para></listitem>
822 </varlistentry>
823
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824 <varlistentry>
825 <term><varname>systemd.log_target=</varname></term>
826 <term><varname>systemd.log_level=</varname></term>
798d3a52 827 <term><varname>systemd.log_location=</varname></term>
770c4777 828 <term><varname>systemd.log_color</varname></term>
798d3a52 829
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830 <listitem><para>Controls log output, with the same effect as the
831 <varname>$SYSTEMD_LOG_TARGET</varname>,
798d3a52 832 <varname>$SYSTEMD_LOG_LEVEL</varname>,
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833 <varname>$SYSTEMD_LOG_LOCATION</varname>,
834 <varname>$SYSTEMD_LOG_COLOR</varname> environment variables described above.
835 <varname>systemd.log_color</varname> can be specified without an argument,
836 with the same effect as a positive boolean.</para></listitem>
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837 </varlistentry>
838
839 <varlistentry>
840 <term><varname>systemd.default_standard_output=</varname></term>
841 <term><varname>systemd.default_standard_error=</varname></term>
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842
843 <listitem><para>Controls default standard output and error output for services and sockets. That is,
844 controls the default for <option>StandardOutput=</option> and <option>StandardError=</option> (see
845 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
846 details). Takes one of <option>inherit</option>, <option>null</option>, <option>tty</option>,
847 <option>journal</option>, <option>journal+console</option>, <option>kmsg</option>,
848 <option>kmsg+console</option>. If the argument is omitted
849 <varname>systemd.default-standard-output=</varname> defaults to <option>journal</option> and
850 <varname>systemd.default-standard-error=</varname> to <option>inherit</option>.</para></listitem>
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851 </varlistentry>
852
853 <varlistentry>
854 <term><varname>systemd.setenv=</varname></term>
855
856 <listitem><para>Takes a string argument in the form
857 VARIABLE=VALUE. May be used to set default environment
858 variables to add to forked child processes. May be used more
859 than once to set multiple variables.</para></listitem>
860 </varlistentry>
861
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862 <varlistentry>
863 <term><varname>systemd.machine_id=</varname></term>
864
865 <listitem><para>Takes a 32 character hex value to be
866 used for setting the machine-id. Intended mostly for
867 network booting where the same machine-id is desired
868 for every boot.</para></listitem>
869 </varlistentry>
870
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871 <varlistentry>
872 <term><varname>systemd.unified_cgroup_hierarchy</varname></term>
873
874 <listitem><para>When specified without an argument or with a true argument,
875 enables the usage of
bb6d563a 876 <ulink url="https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/admin-guide/cgroup-v2.html">unified cgroup hierarchy</ulink>
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877 (a.k.a. cgroups-v2). When specified with a false argument, fall back to
878 hybrid or full legacy cgroup hierarchy.</para>
879
880 <para>If this option is not specified, the default behaviour is determined
0fad72fa 881 during compilation (the <option>-Ddefault-hierarchy=</option> meson
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882 option). If the kernel does not support unified cgroup hierarchy, the legacy
883 hierarchy will be used even if this option is specified.</para>
884 </listitem>
885 </varlistentry>
886
887 <varlistentry>
888 <term><varname>systemd.legacy_systemd_cgroup_controller</varname></term>
889
890 <listitem><para>Takes effect if the full unified cgroup hierarchy is not used
891 (see previous option). When specified without an argument or with a true
892 argument, disables the use of "hybrid" cgroup hierarchy (i.e. a cgroups-v2
893 tree used for systemd, and
894 <ulink url="https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/cgroup-v1/">legacy
895 cgroup hierarchy</ulink>, a.k.a. cgroups-v1, for other controllers), and
896 forces a full "legacy" mode. When specified with a false argument, enables
897 the use of "hybrid" hierarchy.</para>
898
899 <para>If this option is not specified, the default behaviour is determined
0fad72fa 900 during compilation (the <option>-Ddefault-hierarchy=</option> meson
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901 option). If the kernel does not support unified cgroup hierarchy, the legacy
902 hierarchy will be used even if this option is specified.</para>
903 </listitem>
904 </varlistentry>
905
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906 <varlistentry>
907 <term><varname>quiet</varname></term>
908
909 <listitem><para>Turn off status output at boot, much like
964c4eda 910 <varname>systemd.show_status=no</varname> would. Note that
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911 this option is also read by the kernel itself and disables
912 kernel log output. Passing this option hence turns off the
913 usual output from both the system manager and the kernel.
914 </para></listitem>
915 </varlistentry>
916
917 <varlistentry>
918 <term><varname>debug</varname></term>
919
920 <listitem><para>Turn on debugging output. This is equivalent
921 to <varname>systemd.log_level=debug</varname>. Note that this
922 option is also read by the kernel itself and enables kernel
923 debug output. Passing this option hence turns on the debug
924 output from both the system manager and the
925 kernel.</para></listitem>
926 </varlistentry>
927
928 <varlistentry>
929 <term><varname>emergency</varname></term>
dcd61450 930 <term><varname>rd.emergency</varname></term>
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931 <term><varname>-b</varname></term>
932
933 <listitem><para>Boot into emergency mode. This is equivalent
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934 to <varname>systemd.unit=emergency.target</varname> or
935 <varname>rd.systemd.unit=emergency.target</varname>, respectively, and
936 provided for compatibility reasons and to be easier to type.</para></listitem>
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937 </varlistentry>
938
939 <varlistentry>
940 <term><varname>rescue</varname></term>
dcd61450 941 <term><varname>rd.rescue</varname></term>
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942 <term><varname>single</varname></term>
943 <term><varname>s</varname></term>
944 <term><varname>S</varname></term>
945 <term><varname>1</varname></term>
946
947 <listitem><para>Boot into rescue mode. This is equivalent to
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948 <varname>systemd.unit=rescue.target</varname> or
949 <varname>rd.systemd.unit=rescue.target</varname>, respectively, and
950 provided for compatibility reasons and to be easier to type.</para></listitem>
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951 </varlistentry>
952
953 <varlistentry>
954 <term><varname>2</varname></term>
955 <term><varname>3</varname></term>
956 <term><varname>4</varname></term>
957 <term><varname>5</varname></term>
958
959 <listitem><para>Boot into the specified legacy SysV runlevel.
960 These are equivalent to
961 <varname>systemd.unit=runlevel2.target</varname>,
962 <varname>systemd.unit=runlevel3.target</varname>,
963 <varname>systemd.unit=runlevel4.target</varname>, and
964 <varname>systemd.unit=runlevel5.target</varname>,
965 respectively, and provided for compatibility reasons and to be
966 easier to type.</para></listitem>
967 </varlistentry>
968
969 <varlistentry>
970 <term><varname>locale.LANG=</varname></term>
971 <term><varname>locale.LANGUAGE=</varname></term>
972 <term><varname>locale.LC_CTYPE=</varname></term>
973 <term><varname>locale.LC_NUMERIC=</varname></term>
974 <term><varname>locale.LC_TIME=</varname></term>
975 <term><varname>locale.LC_COLLATE=</varname></term>
976 <term><varname>locale.LC_MONETARY=</varname></term>
977 <term><varname>locale.LC_MESSAGES=</varname></term>
978 <term><varname>locale.LC_PAPER=</varname></term>
979 <term><varname>locale.LC_NAME=</varname></term>
980 <term><varname>locale.LC_ADDRESS=</varname></term>
981 <term><varname>locale.LC_TELEPHONE=</varname></term>
982 <term><varname>locale.LC_MEASUREMENT=</varname></term>
983 <term><varname>locale.LC_IDENTIFICATION=</varname></term>
984
985 <listitem><para>Set the system locale to use. This overrides
986 the settings in <filename>/etc/locale.conf</filename>. For
b938cb90 987 more information, see
3ba3a79d 988 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>locale.conf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
798d3a52 989 and
3ba3a79d 990 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>locale</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
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991 </para></listitem>
992 </varlistentry>
993 </variablelist>
994
995 <para>For other kernel command line parameters understood by
996 components of the core OS, please refer to
997 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>kernel-command-line</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para>
998 </refsect1>
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999
1000 <refsect1>
1001 <title>Options</title>
1002
1003 <para><command>systemd</command> is only very rarely invoked directly, since it is started early and is
1004 already running by the time users may interact with it. Normally, tools like
1005 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> are used to
1006 give commands to the manager. Since <command>systemd</command> is usually not invoked directly, the
1007 options listed below are mostly useful for debugging and special purposes.</para>
1008
1009 <refsect2>
1010 <title>Introspection and debugging options</title>
1011
1012 <para>Those options are used for testing and introspection, and <command>systemd</command> may
1013 be invoked with them at any time:</para>
1014
1015 <variablelist>
1016 <varlistentry>
1017 <term><option>--dump-configuration-items</option></term>
1018
1019 <listitem><para>Dump understood unit configuration items. This outputs a terse but complete list of
1020 configuration items understood in unit definition files.</para></listitem>
1021 </varlistentry>
1022
1023 <varlistentry>
1024 <term><option>--dump-bus-properties</option></term>
1025
1026 <listitem><para>Dump exposed bus properties. This outputs a terse but complete list of properties
1027 exposed on D-Bus.</para></listitem>
1028 </varlistentry>
1029
1030 <varlistentry>
1031 <term><option>--test</option></term>
1032
1033 <listitem><para>Determine the initial start-up transaction (i.e. the list of jobs enqueued at
1034 start-up), dump it and exit — without actually executing any of the determined jobs. This option is
1035 useful for debugging only. Note that during regular service manager start-up additional units not
1036 shown by this operation may be started, because hardware, socket, bus or other kinds of activation
1037 might add additional jobs as the transaction is executed. Use <option>--system</option> to request
1038 the initial transaction of the system service manager (this is also the implied default), combine
1039 with <option>--user</option> to request the initial transaction of the per-user service manager
1040 instead.</para></listitem>
1041 </varlistentry>
1042
1043 <varlistentry>
1044 <term><option>--system</option></term>
1045 <term><option>--user</option></term>
1046
1047 <listitem><para>When used in conjunction with <option>--test</option>, selects whether to calculate
1048 the initial transaction for the system instance or for a per-user instance. These options have no
1049 effect when invoked without <option>--test</option>, as during regular
1050 (i.e. non-<option>--test</option>) invocations the service manager will automatically detect
1051 whether it shall operate in system or per-user mode, by checking whether the PID it is run as is 1
1052 or not. Note that it is not supported booting and maintaining a system with the service manager
1053 running in <option>--system</option> mode but with a PID other than 1.</para></listitem>
1054 </varlistentry>
1055
1056 <xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="help" />
1057 <xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="version" />
1058 </variablelist>
1059 </refsect2>
1060
1061 <refsect2>
1062 <title>Options that duplicate kernel command line settings</title>
1063
1064 <para>Those options correspond directly to options listed above in "Kernel Command Line". Both forms
1065 may be used equivalently for the system manager, but it is recommended to use the forms listed above in
1066 this context, because they are properly namespaced. When an option is specified both on the kernel
1067 command line, and as a normal command line argument, the latter has higher precedence.</para>
1068
1069 <para>When <command>systemd</command> is used a user manager, the kernel command line is ignored and
1070 the options described are understood. Nevertheless, <command>systemd</command> is usually started in
1071 this mode through the
1072 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>user@.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
1073 service, which is shared between all users, and it may be more convenient to use configuration files to
1074 modify settings, see
1075 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-user.conf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1076 or a drop-in that specifies one of the environment variables listed above in "Environment, see
1077 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para>
1078
1079 <variablelist>
1080 <varlistentry>
1081 <term><option>--unit=</option></term>
1082
1083 <listitem><para>Set default unit to activate on startup. If not specified, defaults to
1084 <filename>default.target</filename>. See <varname>systemd.unit=</varname> above.</para></listitem>
1085 </varlistentry>
1086
1087 <varlistentry>
1088 <term><option>--dump-core</option></term>
1089
1090 <listitem><para>Enable core dumping on crash. This switch has no effect when running as user
1091 instance. Same as <varname>systemd.dump_core=</varname> above.</para></listitem>
1092 </varlistentry>
1093
1094 <varlistentry>
1095 <term><option>--crash-vt=</option><replaceable>VT</replaceable></term>
1096
1097 <listitem><para>Switch to a specific virtual console (VT) on crash. This switch has no effect when
1098 running as user instance. Same as <varname>systemd.crash_chvt=</varname> above (but not the
1099 different spelling!).</para></listitem>
1100 </varlistentry>
1101
1102 <varlistentry>
1103 <term><option>--crash-shell</option></term>
1104
1105 <listitem><para>Run a shell on crash. This switch has no effect when running as user instance. See
1106 <varname>systemd.crash_shell=</varname> above.</para></listitem>
1107 </varlistentry>
1108
1109 <varlistentry>
1110 <term><option>--crash-reboot</option></term>
1111
1112 <listitem><para>Automatically reboot the system on crash. This switch has no effect when running as
1113 user instance. See <varname>systemd.crash_reboot</varname> above.</para></listitem>
1114 </varlistentry>
1115
1116 <varlistentry>
1117 <term><option>--confirm-spawn</option></term>
1118
1119 <listitem><para>Ask for confirmation when spawning processes. This switch has no effect when run as
1120 user instance. See <varname>systemd.confirm_spawn</varname> above.</para></listitem>
1121 </varlistentry>
1122
1123 <varlistentry>
1124 <term><option>--show-status</option></term>
1125
1126 <listitem><para>Show terse unit status information is shown on the console during boot-up and
1127 shutdown. See <varname>systemd.show_status</varname> above.</para></listitem>
1128 </varlistentry>
1129
1130 <varlistentry>
1131 <term><option>--log-target=</option></term>
1132
1133 <listitem><para>Set log target. See <varname>systemd.log_target</varname> above.</para></listitem>
1134 </varlistentry>
1135
1136 <varlistentry>
1137 <term><option>--log-level=</option></term>
1138
1139 <listitem><para>Set log level. See <varname>systemd.log_level</varname> above.</para></listitem>
1140 </varlistentry>
1141
1142 <varlistentry>
1143 <term><option>--log-color</option></term>
1144
1145 <listitem><para>Highlight important log messages. See <varname>systemd.log_color</varname> above.
1146 </para></listitem>
1147 </varlistentry>
1148
1149 <varlistentry>
1150 <term><option>--log-location</option></term>
1151
1152 <listitem><para>Include code location in log messages. See <varname>systemd.log_location</varname>
1153 above.</para></listitem>
1154 </varlistentry>
1155
1156 <varlistentry>
1157 <term><option>--machine-id=</option></term>
1158
1159 <listitem><para>Override the machine-id set on the hard drive. See
1160 <varname>systemd.machine_id=</varname> above.</para></listitem>
1161 </varlistentry>
1162
1163 <varlistentry>
1164 <term><option>--service-watchdogs</option></term>
1165
1166 <listitem><para>Globally enable/disable all service watchdog timeouts and emergency actions. See
1167 <varname>systemd.service_watchdogs</varname> above.</para></listitem>
1168 </varlistentry>
1169
1170 <varlistentry>
1171 <term><option>--default-standard-output=</option></term>
1172 <term><option>--default-standard-error=</option></term>
1173
1174 <listitem><para>Sets the default output or error output for all services and sockets,
1175 respectively. See <varname>systemd.default_standard_output=</varname> and
1176 <varname>systemd.default_standard_error=</varname> above.</para></listitem>
1177 </varlistentry>
1178 </variablelist>
1179 </refsect2>
1180 </refsect1>
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1181
1182 <refsect1>
1183 <title>Sockets and FIFOs</title>
1184
1185 <variablelist>
1186 <varlistentry>
1187 <term><filename>/run/systemd/notify</filename></term>
1188
1189 <listitem><para>Daemon status notification socket. This is an
1190 <constant>AF_UNIX</constant> datagram socket and is used to
1191 implement the daemon notification logic as implemented by
1192 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>sd_notify</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para></listitem>
1193
1194 </varlistentry>
1195
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1196 <varlistentry>
1197 <term><filename>/run/systemd/private</filename></term>
1198
1199 <listitem><para>Used internally as communication channel
1200 between
1201 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
1202 and the systemd process. This is an
1203 <constant>AF_UNIX</constant> stream socket. This interface is
1204 private to systemd and should not be used in external
1205 projects.</para></listitem>
1206 </varlistentry>
1207
1208 <varlistentry>
1209 <term><filename>/dev/initctl</filename></term>
1210
1211 <listitem><para>Limited compatibility support for the SysV
1212 client interface, as implemented by the
1213 <filename>systemd-initctl.service</filename> unit. This is a
1214 named pipe in the file system. This interface is obsolete and
1215 should not be used in new applications.</para></listitem>
1216 </varlistentry>
1217 </variablelist>
1218 </refsect1>
1219
1220 <refsect1>
1221 <title>See Also</title>
1222 <para>
28a0ad81 1223 The <ulink url="https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/">systemd Homepage</ulink>,
798d3a52 1224 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-system.conf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
3ba3a79d 1225 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>locale.conf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
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1226 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1227 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>journalctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1228 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-notify</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1229 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>daemon</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1230 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>sd-daemon</refentrytitle><manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1231 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1232 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.special</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1233 <citerefentry project='die-net'><refentrytitle>pkg-config</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1234 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>kernel-command-line</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1235 <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>bootup</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
1236 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.directives</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>
1237 </para>
1238 </refsect1>
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1239
1240</refentry>