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2N/A<refentry id="systemd.path">

2N/A <refentryinfo>

2N/A <title>systemd.path</title>

2N/A <productname>systemd</productname>

2N/A

3817N/A <authorgroup>

2N/A <author>

2N/A <contrib>Developer</contrib>

2N/A <firstname>Lennart</firstname>

59N/A <surname>Poettering</surname>

59N/A <email>lennart@poettering.net</email>

2N/A </author>

2N/A </authorgroup>

2N/A </refentryinfo>

2N/A

26N/A <refmeta>

26N/A <refentrytitle>systemd.path</refentrytitle>

2N/A <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>

26N/A </refmeta>

1470N/A

38N/A <refnamediv>

1470N/A <refname>systemd.path</refname>

1470N/A <refpurpose>Path unit configuration</refpurpose>

1470N/A </refnamediv>

181N/A

26N/A <refsynopsisdiv>

4811N/A <para><filename>systemd.path</filename></para>

4811N/A </refsynopsisdiv>

4811N/A

3739N/A <refsect1>

3739N/A <title>Description</title>

3739N/A

3739N/A <para>A unit configuration file whose name ends in

3739N/A <filename>.path</filename> encodes information about

3739N/A a path monitored by systemd, for

3739N/A path-based activation.</para>

3739N/A

3817N/A <para>This man page lists the configuration options

3817N/A specific to this unit type. See

26N/A <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>

26N/A for the common options of all unit configuration

26N/A files. The common configuration items are configured

26N/A in the generic [Unit] and [Install] sections. The

26N/A path specific configuration options are configured in

26N/A the [Path] section.</para>

26N/A

700N/A <para>For each path file, a matching unit file must

700N/A exist, describing the unit to activate when the path

26N/A changes. By default, a service by the same name as the

26N/A path (except for the suffix) is activated. Example: a

26N/A path file <filename>foo.path</filename> activates a

1498N/A matching service <filename>foo.service</filename>. The

1498N/A unit to activate may be controlled by

26N/A <varname>Unit=</varname> (see below).</para>

1498N/A

151N/A <para>Internally, path units use the

206N/A <citerefentry><refentrytitle>inotify</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>

26N/A API to monitor file systems. Due to that, it suffers by the

26N/A same limitations as inotify, and for example cannot be

26N/A used to monitor files or directories changed by other

26N/A machines on remote NFS file systems.</para>

26N/A

3998N/A <para>If a path unit is beneath another mount

2818N/A point in the file system hierarchy, a dependency

2830N/A between both units is created automatically.</para>

3127N/A

3998N/A <para>Unless <varname>DefaultDependencies=</varname>

26N/A is set to <option>false</option>, path units will

3294N/A implicitly have dependencies of type

26N/A <varname>Conflicts=</varname> and

2N/A <varname>Before=</varname> on

4747N/A <filename>shutdown.target</filename>. These ensure

4437N/A that path units are terminated cleanly prior to system

4437N/A shutdown. Only path units involved with early boot or

4488N/A late system shutdown should disable this

4488N/A option.</para>

4437N/A </refsect1>

4437N/A

5425N/A <refsect1>

5425N/A <title>Options</title>

5425N/A

5425N/A <para>Path files must include a [Path] section,

5425N/A which carries information about the path(s) it

5425N/A monitors. The options specific to the [Path] section

5425N/A of path units are the following:</para>

5425N/A

5425N/A <variablelist>

5425N/A <varlistentry>

5425N/A <term><varname>PathExists=</varname></term>

5425N/A <term><varname>PathExistsGlob=</varname></term>

5425N/A <term><varname>PathChanged=</varname></term>

5425N/A <term><varname>PathModified=</varname></term>

5425N/A <term><varname>DirectoryNotEmpty=</varname></term>

5425N/A

5425N/A <listitem><para>Defines paths to

5425N/A monitor for certain changes:

5329N/A <varname>PathExists=</varname> may be

5329N/A used to watch the mere existence of a

5329N/A file or directory. If the file

5329N/A specified exists the configured unit

5349N/A is

2236N/A activated. <varname>PathExistsGlob=</varname>

2818N/A works similar, but checks for the

4910N/A existence of at least one file

2N/A matching the globbing pattern

5425N/A specified. <varname>PathChanged=</varname>

5425N/A may be used to watch a file or

5425N/A directory and activate the configured

5425N/A unit whenever it changes. It is not activated

5425N/A on every write to the watched file but it is

5425N/A activated if the file which was open for writing

5425N/A gets closed. <varname>PathModified=</varname>

26N/A is similar, but additionally it is activated

26N/A also on simple writes to the watched file.

181N/A

181N/A <varname>DirectoryNotEmpty=</varname>

4353N/A may be used to watch a directory and

4353N/A activate the configured unit whenever

4353N/A it contains at least one file.</para>

4488N/A

99N/A <para>The arguments of these

59N/A directives must be absolute file

12N/A system paths.</para>

30N/A

4811N/A <para>Multiple directives may be

4811N/A combined, of the same and of different

4811N/A types, to watch multiple paths.</para>

1256N/A

1256N/A <para>If a path is already existing

1256N/A (in case of

2818N/A <varname>PathExists=</varname> and

1256N/A <varname>PathExistsGlob=</varname>) or

1256N/A a directory already is not empty (in

1256N/A case of

1256N/A <varname>DirectoryNotEmpty=</varname>)

1256N/A at the time the path unit is

1256N/A activated, then the configured unit is

1256N/A immediately activated as

1256N/A well. Something similar does not apply

1256N/A to <varname>PathChanged=</varname>.

2818N/A </para></listitem>

1256N/A </varlistentry>

1256N/A <varlistentry>

1256N/A <term><varname>Unit=</varname></term>

1256N/A

1256N/A <listitem><para>The unit to activate

1256N/A when any of the configured paths

1256N/A changes. The argument is a unit name,

3109N/A whose suffix is not

3109N/A <filename>.path</filename>. If not

3109N/A specified, this value defaults to a

3109N/A service that has the same name as the

3109N/A path unit, except for the suffix. (See

3109N/A above.) It is recommended that the

3109N/A unit name that is activated and the

3109N/A unit name of the path unit are named

3109N/A identical, except for the

3109N/A suffix.</para></listitem>

3109N/A </varlistentry>

3109N/A <varlistentry>

3109N/A <term><varname>MakeDirectory=</varname></term>

3109N/A

3109N/A <listitem><para>Takes a boolean

3109N/A argument. If true the directories to

3109N/A watch are created before

1256N/A watching. This option is ignored for

1256N/A <varname>PathExists=</varname>

1256N/A settings. Defaults to

3109N/A <option>false</option>.</para></listitem>

4811N/A </varlistentry>

1256N/A <varlistentry>

26N/A <term><varname>DirectoryMode=</varname></term>

26N/A

1256N/A <listitem><para>If

2N/A <varname>MakeDirectory=</varname> is

26N/A enabled use the mode specified here to

1256N/A create the directories in

1256N/A question. Takes an access mode in

185N/A octal notation. Defaults to

2N/A <option>0755</option>.</para></listitem>

255N/A </varlistentry>

145N/A </variablelist>

7N/A </refsect1>

26N/A

26N/A <refsect1>

38N/A <title>See Also</title>

26N/A <para>

197N/A <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,

197N/A <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,

197N/A <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,

197N/A <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,

197N/A <citerefentry><refentrytitle>inotify</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>

26N/A </para>

30N/A </refsect1>

26N/A

46N/A</refentry>

46N/A