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systemd-stable/ENVIRONMENT.md
Colin Walters f38951a628 systemctl,verbs: Introduce SYSTEMD_OFFLINE environment variable
A lot of code references the `running_in_chroot()` function; while
I didn't dig I'm pretty certain this arose to deal with situations
like RPM package builds in `mock` - there we don't want the `%post`s
to `systemctl start` for example.

And actually this exact same use case arises for
[rpm-ostree](https://github.com/projectatomic/rpm-ostree/)
where we implement offline upgrades by default; the `%post`s are
always run in a new chroot using [bwrap](https://github.com/projectatomic/bubblewrap).

And here's the problem: bwrap creates proper mount roots, so it
passes `running_in_chroot()`, and then if a script tries to do
`systemctl start` we get:
`System has not been booted with systemd as init system (PID 1)`
but that's an *error*, unlike the `running_in_chroot()` case where we ignore.

Further complicating things is there are real world RPM packages
like `glusterfs` which end up invoking `systemctl start`.

A while ago, the `SYSTEMD_IGNORE_CHROOT` environment variable was
added for the inverse case of running in a chroot, but still wanting
to use systemd as PID 1 (presumably some broken initramfs setups?).

Let's introduce a `SYSTEMD_OFFLINE` environment variable for cases like
mock/rpm-ostree so we can force on the "ignore everything except preset" logic.
This way we'll still not start services even if mock switches to use nspawn or
bwrap or something else that isn't a chroot.

We also cleanly supercede the `SYSTEMD_IGNORE_CHROOT=1` which is now spelled
`SYSTEMD_OFFLINE=0`.  (Suggested by @poettering)

Also I made things slightly nicer here and we now print the ignored operation.
2017-12-14 16:00:16 -05:00

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# Known Environment Variables
A number of systemd components take additional runtime parameters via
environment variables. Many of these environment variables are not supported at
the same level as command line switches and other interfaces are: we don't
document them in the man pages and we make no stability guarantees for
them. While they generally are unlikely to be dropped any time soon again, we
do not want to guarantee that they stay around for good either.
Below is an (incomprehensive) list of the environment variables understood by
the various tools. Note that this list only covers environment variables not
documented in the proper man pages.
All tools:
* `$SYSTEMD_OFFLINE=[0|1]` — if set to `1`, then `systemctl` will
refrain from talking to PID 1; this has the same effect as the historical
detection of `chroot()`. Setting this variable to `0` instead has a similar
effect as `SYSTEMD_IGNORE_CHROOT=1`; i.e. tools will try to
communicate with PID 1 even if a `chroot()` environment is detected.
You almost certainly want to set this to `1` if you maintain a package build system
or similar and are trying to use a modern container system and not plain
`chroot()`.
* `$SYSTEMD_IGNORE_CHROOT=1` — if set, don't check whether being invoked in a
`chroot()` environment. This is particularly relevant for systemctl, as it
will not alter its behaviour for `chroot()` environments if set. Normally it
refrains from talking to PID 1 in such a case; turning most operations such
as `start` into no-ops. If that's what's explicitly desired, you might
consider setting `SYSTEMD_OFFLINE=1`.
* `$SD_EVENT_PROFILE_DELAYS=1` — if set, the sd-event event loop implementation
will print latency information at runtime.
* `$SYSTEMD_PROC_CMDLINE` — if set, may contain a string that is used as kernel
command line instead of the actual one readable from /proc/cmdline. This is
useful for debugging, in order to test generators and other code against
specific kernel command lines.
systemctl:
* `$SYSTEMCTL_FORCE_BUS=1` — if set, do not connect to PID1's private D-Bus
listener, and instead always connect through the dbus-daemon D-bus broker.
* `$SYSTEMCTL_INSTALL_CLIENT_SIDE=1` — if set, enable or disable unit files on
the client side, instead of asking PID 1 to do this.
* `$SYSTEMCTL_SKIP_SYSV=1` — if set, do not call out to SysV compatibility hooks.
systemd-nspawn:
* `$UNIFIED_CGROUP_HIERARCHY=1` — if set, force nspawn into unified cgroup
hierarchy mode.
* `$SYSTEMD_NSPAWN_API_VFS_WRITABLE=1` — if set, make /sys and /proc/sys and
friends writable in the container. If set to "network", leave only
/proc/sys/net writable.
* `$SYSTEMD_NSPAWN_CONTAINER_SERVICE=…` — override the "service" name nspawn
uses to register with machined. If unset defaults to "nspawn", but with this
variable may be set to any other value.
* `$SYSTEMD_NSPAWN_USE_CGNS=0` — if set, do not use cgroup namespacing, even if
it is available.
* `$SYSTEMD_NSPAWN_LOCK=0` — if set, do not lock container images when running.
systemd-logind:
* `$SYSTEMD_BYPASS_HIBERNATION_MEMORY_CHECK=1` — if set, report that
hibernation is available even if the swap devices do not provide enough room
for it.
installed systemd tests:
* `$SYSTEMD_TEST_DATA` — override the location of test data. This is useful if
a test executable is moved to an arbitrary location.
nss-systemd:
* `$SYSTEMD_NSS_BYPASS_SYNTHETIC=1` — if set, `nss-systemd` won't synthesize
user/group records for the `root` and `nobody` users if they are missing from
`/etc/passwd`.
* `$SYSTEMD_NSS_DYNAMIC_BYPASS=1` — if set, `nss-systemd` won't return
user/group records for dynamically registered service users (i.e. users
registered through `DynamicUser=1`).
* `$SYSTEMD_NSS_BYPASS_BUS=1` — if set, `nss-systemd` won't use D-Bus to do
dynamic user lookups. This is primarily useful to make `nss-systemd` work
safely from within `dbus-daemon`.