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| <refentry id="systemd.path"> |
| <refentryinfo> |
| <title>systemd.path</title> |
| <productname>systemd</productname> |
| </refentryinfo> |
| |
| <refmeta> |
| <refentrytitle>systemd.path</refentrytitle> |
| <manvolnum>5</manvolnum> |
| </refmeta> |
| |
| <refnamediv> |
| <refname>systemd.path</refname> |
| <refpurpose>Path unit configuration</refpurpose> |
| </refnamediv> |
| |
| <refsynopsisdiv> |
| <para><filename><replaceable>path</replaceable>.path</filename></para> |
| </refsynopsisdiv> |
| |
| <refsect1> |
| <title>Description</title> |
| |
| <para>A unit configuration file whose name ends in |
| <literal>.path</literal> encodes information about a path |
| monitored by systemd, for path-based activation.</para> |
| |
| <para>This man page lists the configuration options specific to |
| this unit type. See |
| <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> |
| for the common options of all unit configuration files. The common |
| configuration items are configured in the generic [Unit] and |
| [Install] sections. The path specific configuration options are |
| configured in the [Path] section.</para> |
| |
| <para>For each path file, a matching unit file must exist, |
| describing the unit to activate when the path changes. By default, |
| a service by the same name as the path (except for the suffix) is |
| activated. Example: a path file <filename>foo.path</filename> |
| activates a matching service <filename>foo.service</filename>. The |
| unit to activate may be controlled by <varname>Unit=</varname> |
| (see below).</para> |
| |
| <para>Internally, path units use the |
| <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>inotify</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry> |
| API to monitor file systems. Due to that, it suffers by the same |
| limitations as inotify, and for example cannot be used to monitor |
| files or directories changed by other machines on remote NFS file |
| systems.</para> |
| |
| <para>When a service unit triggered by a path unit terminates (regardless whether it exited successfully |
| or failed), monitored paths are checked immediately again, and the service accordingly restarted |
| instantly. As protection against busy looping in this trigger/start cycle, a start rate limit is enforced |
| on the service unit, see <varname>StartLimitIntervalSec=</varname> and |
| <varname>StartLimitBurst=</varname> in |
| <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>. Unlike |
| other service failures, the error condition that the start rate limit is hit is propagated from the |
| service unit to the path unit and causes the path unit to fail as well, thus ending the loop.</para> |
| </refsect1> |
| |
| <refsect1> |
| <title>Automatic Dependencies</title> |
| |
| <refsect2> |
| <title>Implicit Dependencies</title> |
| |
| <para>The following dependencies are implicitly added:</para> |
| |
| <itemizedlist> |
| <listitem><para>If a path unit is beneath another mount unit in the file |
| system hierarchy, both a requirement and an ordering dependency |
| between both units are created automatically.</para></listitem> |
| |
| <listitem><para>An implicit <varname>Before=</varname> dependency is added |
| between a path unit and the unit it is supposed to activate.</para></listitem> |
| </itemizedlist> |
| </refsect2> |
| |
| <refsect2> |
| <title>Default Dependencies</title> |
| |
| <para>The following dependencies are added unless <varname>DefaultDependencies=no</varname> is set:</para> |
| |
| <itemizedlist> |
| <listitem><para>Path units will automatically have dependencies of type <varname>Before=</varname> on |
| <filename>paths.target</filename>, |
| dependencies of type <varname>After=</varname> and <varname>Requires=</varname> on |
| <filename>sysinit.target</filename>, and have dependencies of type <varname>Conflicts=</varname> and |
| <varname>Before=</varname> on <filename>shutdown.target</filename>. These ensure that path units are terminated |
| cleanly prior to system shutdown. Only path units involved with early boot or late system shutdown should |
| disable <varname>DefaultDependencies=</varname> option.</para></listitem> |
| </itemizedlist> |
| |
| <para></para> |
| </refsect2> |
| </refsect1> |
| |
| <refsect1> |
| <title>Options</title> |
| |
| <para>Path files must include a [Path] section, which carries |
| information about the path(s) it monitors. The options specific to |
| the [Path] section of path units are the following:</para> |
| |
| <variablelist class='unit-directives'> |
| <varlistentry> |
| <term><varname>PathExists=</varname></term> |
| <term><varname>PathExistsGlob=</varname></term> |
| <term><varname>PathChanged=</varname></term> |
| <term><varname>PathModified=</varname></term> |
| <term><varname>DirectoryNotEmpty=</varname></term> |
| |
| <listitem><para>Defines paths to monitor for certain changes: |
| <varname>PathExists=</varname> may be used to watch the mere |
| existence of a file or directory. If the file specified |
| exists, the configured unit is activated. |
| <varname>PathExistsGlob=</varname> works similar, but checks |
| for the existence of at least one file matching the globbing |
| pattern specified. <varname>PathChanged=</varname> may be used |
| to watch a file or directory and activate the configured unit |
| whenever it changes. It is not activated on every write to the |
| watched file but it is activated if the file which was open |
| for writing gets closed. <varname>PathModified=</varname> is |
| similar, but additionally it is activated also on simple |
| writes to the watched file. |
| <varname>DirectoryNotEmpty=</varname> may be used to watch a |
| directory and activate the configured unit whenever it |
| contains at least one file.</para> |
| |
| <para>The arguments of these directives must be absolute file |
| system paths.</para> |
| |
| <para>Multiple directives may be combined, of the same and of |
| different types, to watch multiple paths. If the empty string |
| is assigned to any of these options, the list of paths to |
| watch is reset, and any prior assignments of these options |
| will not have any effect.</para> |
| |
| <para>If a path already exists (in case of |
| <varname>PathExists=</varname> and |
| <varname>PathExistsGlob=</varname>) or a directory already is |
| not empty (in case of <varname>DirectoryNotEmpty=</varname>) |
| at the time the path unit is activated, then the configured |
| unit is immediately activated as well. Something similar does |
| not apply to <varname>PathChanged=</varname> and |
| <varname>PathModified=</varname>.</para> |
| |
| <para>If the path itself or any of the containing directories |
| are not accessible, <command>systemd</command> will watch for |
| permission changes and notice that conditions are satisfied |
| when permissions allow that. </para></listitem> |
| </varlistentry> |
| <varlistentry> |
| <term><varname>Unit=</varname></term> |
| |
| <listitem><para>The unit to activate when any of the |
| configured paths changes. The argument is a unit name, whose |
| suffix is not <literal>.path</literal>. If not specified, this |
| value defaults to a service that has the same name as the path |
| unit, except for the suffix. (See above.) It is recommended |
| that the unit name that is activated and the unit name of the |
| path unit are named identical, except for the |
| suffix.</para></listitem> |
| </varlistentry> |
| <varlistentry> |
| <term><varname>MakeDirectory=</varname></term> |
| |
| <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. If true, the |
| directories to watch are created before watching. This option |
| is ignored for <varname>PathExists=</varname> settings. |
| Defaults to <option>false</option>.</para></listitem> |
| </varlistentry> |
| <varlistentry> |
| <term><varname>DirectoryMode=</varname></term> |
| |
| <listitem><para>If <varname>MakeDirectory=</varname> is |
| enabled, use the mode specified here to create the directories |
| in question. Takes an access mode in octal notation. Defaults |
| to <option>0755</option>.</para></listitem> |
| </varlistentry> |
| </variablelist> |
| </refsect1> |
| |
| <refsect1> |
| <title>See Also</title> |
| <para> |
| <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>, |
| <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>, |
| <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>, |
| <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>, |
| <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>inotify</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>, |
| <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.directives</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry> |
| </para> |
| </refsect1> |
| |
| </refentry> |