]> git.ipfire.org Git - thirdparty/systemd.git/blame - man/hwdb.xml
test-execute: Add tests for new PassEnvironment= directive
[thirdparty/systemd.git] / man / hwdb.xml
CommitLineData
65eb4378 1<?xml version='1.0'?> <!--*- Mode: nxml; nxml-child-indent: 2; indent-tabs-mode: nil -*-->
65eb4378 2<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
12b42c76 3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
65eb4378 4
3715a071 5<refentry id="hwdb" conditional="ENABLE_HWDB">
65eb4378
TG
6 <refentryinfo>
7 <title>hwdb</title>
8 <productname>systemd</productname>
9 <authorgroup>
10 <author>
11 <contrib>Developer</contrib>
12 <firstname>Kay</firstname>
13 <surname>Sievers</surname>
14 <email>kay@vrfy.org</email>
15 </author>
16 <author>
17 <contrib>Developer</contrib>
18 <firstname>Tom</firstname>
19 <surname>Gundersen</surname>
20 <email>teg@jklm.no</email>
21 </author>
22 </authorgroup>
23 </refentryinfo>
24
25 <refmeta>
26 <refentrytitle>hwdb</refentrytitle>
27 <manvolnum>7</manvolnum>
28 </refmeta>
29
30 <refnamediv>
31 <refname>hwdb</refname>
32 <refpurpose>Hardware Database</refpurpose>
33 </refnamediv>
34
35 <refsect1><title>Description</title>
36 <para>The hardware database is a key-value store for associating modalias-like keys to
a8eaaee7 37 udev-property-like values. It is used primarily by udev to add the relevant properties
65eb4378
TG
38 to matching devices, but it can also be queried directly.</para>
39 </refsect1>
40
41 <refsect1><title>Hardware Database Files</title>
42 <para>The hwdb files are read from the files located in the
12b42c76
TG
43 system hwdb directory <filename>/usr/lib/udev/hwdb.d</filename> and
44 the local administration directory <filename>/etc/udev/hwdb.d</filename>.
65eb4378
TG
45 All hwdb files are collectively sorted and processed in lexical order,
46 regardless of the directories in which they live. However, files with
47 identical filenames replace each other. Files in <filename>/etc</filename>
12b42c76
TG
48 have the highest priority and take precedence over files with the same
49 name in <filename>/usr/lib</filename>. This can be used to override a
50 system-supplied hwdb file with a local file if needed;
65eb4378 51 a symlink in <filename>/etc</filename> with the same name as a hwdb file in
12b42c76 52 <filename>/usr/lib</filename>, pointing to <filename>/dev/null</filename>,
65eb4378
TG
53 disables the hwdb file entirely. hwdb files must have the extension
54 <filename>.hwdb</filename>; other extensions are ignored.</para>
55
56 <para>The hwdb file contains data records consisting of matches and
57 associated key-value pairs. Every record in the hwdb starts with one or
b938cb90 58 more match strings, specifying a shell glob to compare the database
65eb4378 59 lookup string against. Multiple match lines are specified in additional
a8eaaee7 60 consecutive lines. Every match line is compared individually, and they are
65eb4378
TG
61 combined by OR. Every match line must start at the first character of
62 the line.</para>
63
64 <para>The match lines are followed by one or more key-value pair lines, which
65 are recognized by a leading space character. The key name and value are separated
66 by <literal>=</literal>. An empty line signifies the end
67 of a record. Lines beginning with <literal>#</literal> are ignored.</para>
68
69 <para>The content of all hwdb files is read by
70 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-hwdb</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
71 and compiled to a binary database located at <filename>/etc/udev/hwdb.bin</filename>,
12b42c76 72 or alternatively <filename>/usr/lib/udev/hwdb.bin</filename> if you want ship the compiled
65eb4378 73 database in an immutable image.
b938cb90 74 During runtime, only the binary database is used.</para>
65eb4378
TG
75 </refsect1>
76
77 <refsect1>
78 <title>See Also</title>
79 <para>
80 <citerefentry>
81 <refentrytitle>systemd-hwdb</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
82 </citerefentry>
83 </para>
84 </refsect1>
85</refentry>