From: Yu Watanabe <watanabe.yu+github@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2025 08:49:52 +0000 (+0900)
Subject: man: mention relative PIDFile= in user service is prefixed with $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
X-Git-Tag: v258-rc1~135^2
X-Git-Url: http://git.ipfire.org/gitweb.cgi?a=commitdiff_plain;h=293cc8866da4c98d426519988d4c5c24144ed77d;p=thirdparty%2Fsystemd.git

man: mention relative PIDFile= in user service is prefixed with $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
---

diff --git a/man/systemd.service.xml b/man/systemd.service.xml
index c17ed4fcae1..68663e9ed81 100644
--- a/man/systemd.service.xml
+++ b/man/systemd.service.xml
@@ -357,15 +357,17 @@
       <varlistentry>
         <term><varname>PIDFile=</varname></term>
 
-        <listitem><para>Takes a path referring to the PID file of the service. Usage of this option is recommended for
-        services where <varname>Type=</varname> is set to <option>forking</option>. The path specified typically points
-        to a file below <filename>/run/</filename>. If a relative path is specified it is hence prefixed with
-        <filename>/run/</filename>. The service manager will read the PID of the main process of the service from this
-        file after start-up of the service. The service manager will not write to the file configured here, although it
-        will remove the file after the service has shut down if it still exists. The PID file does not need to be owned
-        by a privileged user, but if it is owned by an unprivileged user additional safety restrictions are enforced:
-        the file may not be a symlink to a file owned by a different user (neither directly nor indirectly), and the
-        PID file must refer to a process already belonging to the service.</para>
+        <listitem><para>Takes a path referring to the PID file of the service. Usage of this option is
+        recommended for services where <varname>Type=</varname> is set to <option>forking</option>. The path
+        specified typically points to a file below <filename>/run/</filename>. If a relative path is
+        specified for system service, then it is hence prefixed with <filename>/run/</filename>, and prefixed
+        with <filename>$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR</filename> if specified in a user service. The service manager will
+        read the PID of the main process of the service from this file after start-up of the service. The
+        service manager will not write to the file configured here, although it will remove the file after
+        the service has shut down if it still exists. The PID file does not need to be owned by a privileged
+        user, but if it is owned by an unprivileged user additional safety restrictions are enforced: the
+        file may not be a symlink to a file owned by a different user (neither directly nor indirectly), and
+        the PID file must refer to a process already belonging to the service.</para>
 
         <para>Note that PID files should be avoided in modern projects. Use <option>Type=notify</option>,
         <option>Type=notify-reload</option> or <option>Type=simple</option> where possible, which does not