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<?xml version='1.0'?> <!-- * - nxml - * -->
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< !DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
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"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
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<!-- SPDX - License - Identifier: LGPL - 2.1 - or - later -->
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<refentry id= "systemd-tmpfiles"
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xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
<refentryinfo >
<title > systemd-tmpfiles</title>
<productname > systemd</productname>
</refentryinfo>
<refmeta >
<refentrytitle > systemd-tmpfiles</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum > 8</manvolnum>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv >
<refname > systemd-tmpfiles</refname>
<refname > systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service</refname>
<refname > systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service</refname>
<refname > systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service</refname>
<refname > systemd-tmpfiles-clean.timer</refname>
<refpurpose > Creates, deletes and cleans up volatile
and temporary files and directories</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv >
<cmdsynopsis >
<command > systemd-tmpfiles</command>
<arg choice= "opt" rep= "repeat" > OPTIONS</arg>
<arg choice= "opt" rep= "repeat" > <replaceable > CONFIGFILE</replaceable> </arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
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<para > System units:
<literallayout > <filename > systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service</filename>
<filename > systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service</filename>
<filename > systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service</filename>
<filename > systemd-tmpfiles-clean.timer</filename> </literallayout> </para>
<para > User units:
<literallayout > <filename > systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service</filename>
<filename > systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service</filename>
<filename > systemd-tmpfiles-clean.timer</filename> </literallayout> </para>
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</refsynopsisdiv>
<refsect1 >
<title > Description</title>
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<para > <command > systemd-tmpfiles</command> creates, deletes, and cleans up volatile and temporary files
and directories, using the configuration file format and location specified in
<citerefentry > <refentrytitle > tmpfiles.d</refentrytitle> <manvolnum > 5</manvolnum> </citerefentry> . It must
be invoked with one or more options <option > --create</option> , <option > --remove</option> , and
<option > --clean</option> , to select the respective subset of operations.</para>
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<para > By default, directives from all configuration files are applied. When invoked with
<option > --replace=<replaceable > PATH</replaceable> </option> , arguments specified on the command line are
used instead of the configuration file <replaceable > PATH</replaceable> . Otherwise, if one or more
absolute filenames are passed on the command line, only the directives in these files are applied. If
<literal > -</literal> is specified instead of a filename, directives are read from standard input. If only
the basename of a configuration file is specified, all configuration directories as specified in
<citerefentry > <refentrytitle > tmpfiles.d</refentrytitle> <manvolnum > 5</manvolnum> </citerefentry> are
searched for a matching file and the file found that has the highest priority is executed.</para>
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<para > System services (<filename > systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service</filename> ,
<filename > systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service</filename> ,
<filename > systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service</filename> ) invoke <command > systemd-tmpfiles</command> to create
system files and to perform system wide cleanup. Those services read administrator-controlled
configuration files in <filename > tmpfiles.d/</filename> directories. User services
(<filename > systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service</filename> ,
<filename > systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service</filename> ) also invoke <command > systemd-tmpfiles</command> , but
it reads a separate set of files, which includes user-controlled files under
<filename > ~/.config/user-tmpfiles.d/</filename> and <filename > ~/.local/share/user-tmpfiles.d/</filename> ,
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and administrator-controlled files under <filename > /usr/share/user-tmpfiles.d/</filename> . Users may use
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this to create and clean up files under their control, but the system instance performs global cleanup
and is not influenced by user configuration. Note that this means a time-based cleanup configured in the
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system instance, such as the one typically configured for <filename > /tmp/</filename> , will thus also
affect files created by the user instance if they are placed in <filename > /tmp/</filename> , even if the
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user instance's time-based cleanup is turned off.</para>
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<para > To re-apply settings after configuration has been modified, simply restart
<filename > systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service</filename> , which will apply any settings which can be safely
executed at runtime. To debug <command > systemd-tmpfiles</command> , it may be useful to invoke it
directly from the command line with increased log level (see <varname > $SYSTEMD_LOG_LEVEL</varname>
below).</para>
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</refsect1>
<refsect1 >
<title > Options</title>
<para > The following options are understood:</para>
<variablelist >
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > --create</option> </term>
<listitem > <para > If this option is passed, all files and
directories marked with
<varname > f</varname> ,
<varname > F</varname> ,
<varname > w</varname> ,
<varname > d</varname> ,
<varname > D</varname> ,
<varname > v</varname> ,
<varname > p</varname> ,
<varname > L</varname> ,
<varname > c</varname> ,
<varname > b</varname> ,
<varname > m</varname>
in the configuration files are created or written to. Files
and directories marked with
<varname > z</varname> ,
<varname > Z</varname> ,
<varname > t</varname> ,
<varname > T</varname> ,
<varname > a</varname> , and
<varname > A</varname> have their ownership, access mode and
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security labels set.</para> </listitem>
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</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > --clean</option> </term>
<listitem > <para > If this option is passed, all files and
directories with an age parameter configured will be cleaned
up.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > --remove</option> </term>
<listitem > <para > If this option is passed, the contents of
directories marked with <varname > D</varname> or
<varname > R</varname> , and files or directories themselves
marked with <varname > r</varname> or <varname > R</varname> are
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removed unless an exclusive or shared BSD lock is taken on them (see <citerefentry
project='man-pages'><refentrytitle > flock</refentrytitle> <manvolnum > 2</manvolnum> </citerefentry> ).
</para> </listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry >
<term > <option > --user</option> </term>
<listitem > <para > Execute "user" configuration, i.e. <filename > tmpfiles.d</filename>
files in user configuration directories.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry >
<term > <option > --boot</option> </term>
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<listitem > <para > Also execute lines with an exclamation mark. Lines that are not safe to be executed
on a running system may be marked in this way. <command > systemd-tmpfiles</command> is executed in
early boot with <option > --boot</option> specified and will execute those lines. When invoked again
later, it should be called without <option > --boot</option> .</para> </listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry >
<term > <option > --graceful</option> </term>
<listitem > <para > Ignore configuration lines pertaining to unknown users or groups. This option is
intended to be used in early boot before all users or groups have been created.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry >
<term > <option > --prefix=<replaceable > path</replaceable> </option> </term>
<listitem > <para > Only apply rules with paths that start with
the specified prefix. This option can be specified multiple
times.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry >
<term > <option > --exclude-prefix=<replaceable > path</replaceable> </option> </term>
<listitem > <para > Ignore rules with paths that start with the
specified prefix. This option can be specified multiple
times.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry >
<term > <option > -E</option> </term>
<listitem > <para > A shortcut for <literal > --exclude-prefix=/dev --exclude-prefix=/proc
--exclude-prefix=/run --exclude-prefix=/sys</literal> , i.e. exclude the hierarchies typically backed
by virtual or memory file systems. This is useful in combination with <option > --root=</option> , if
the specified directory tree contains an OS tree without these virtual/memory file systems mounted
in, as it is typically not desirable to create any files and directories below these subdirectories
if they are supposed to be overmounted during runtime.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry >
<term > <option > --root=<replaceable > root</replaceable> </option> </term>
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<listitem > <para > Takes a directory path as an argument. All paths will be prefixed with the given alternate
<replaceable > root</replaceable> path, including config search paths.</para>
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<para > When this option is used, the libc Name Service Switch (NSS) is bypassed for resolving users
and groups. Instead the files <filename > /etc/passwd</filename> and <filename > /etc/group</filename>
inside the alternate root are read directly. This means that users/groups not listed in these files
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will not be resolved, i.e. LDAP NIS and other complex databases are not considered.</para>
<para > Consider combining this with <option > -E</option> to ensure the invocation does not create files
or directories below mount points in the OS image operated on that are typically overmounted during
runtime.</para> </listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry >
<term > <option > --image=<replaceable > image</replaceable> </option> </term>
<listitem > <para > Takes a path to a disk image file or block device node. If specified all operations
are applied to file system in the indicated disk image. This is similar to <option > --root=</option>
but operates on file systems stored in disk images or block devices. The disk image should either
contain just a file system or a set of file systems within a GPT partition table, following the
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<ulink url= "https://uapi-group.org/specifications/specs/discoverable_partitions_specification" > Discoverable Partitions
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Specification</ulink> . For further information on supported disk images, see
<citerefentry > <refentrytitle > systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle> <manvolnum > 1</manvolnum> </citerefentry> 's
switch of the same name.</para>
<para > Implies <option > -E</option> .</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
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<xi:include href= "standard-options.xml" xpointer= "image-policy-open" />
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<varlistentry >
<term > <option > --replace=<replaceable > PATH</replaceable> </option> </term>
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<listitem > <para > When this option is given, one or more positional arguments
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must be specified. All configuration files found in the directories listed in
<citerefentry > <refentrytitle > tmpfiles.d</refentrytitle> <manvolnum > 5</manvolnum> </citerefentry>
will be read, and the configuration given on the command line will be
handled instead of and with the same priority as the configuration file
<replaceable > PATH</replaceable> .</para>
<para > This option is intended to be used when package installation scripts
are running and files belonging to that package are not yet available on
disk, so their contents must be given on the command line, but the admin
configuration might already exist and should be given higher priority.
</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
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<xi:include href= "standard-options.xml" xpointer= "cat-config" />
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<xi:include href= "standard-options.xml" xpointer= "no-pager" />
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<xi:include href= "standard-options.xml" xpointer= "help" />
<xi:include href= "standard-options.xml" xpointer= "version" />
</variablelist>
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<para > It is possible to combine <option > --create</option> , <option > --clean</option> , and <option > --remove</option>
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in one invocation (in which case removal and cleanup are executed before creation of new files). For example,
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during boot the following command line is executed to ensure that all temporary and volatile directories are
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removed and created according to the configuration file:</para>
<programlisting > systemd-tmpfiles --remove --create</programlisting>
</refsect1>
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<refsect1 >
<title > Credentials</title>
<para > <command > systemd-tmpfiles</command> supports the service credentials logic as implemented by
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<varname > ImportCredential=</varname> /<varname > LoadCredential=</varname> /<varname > SetCredential=</varname>
(see <citerefentry > <refentrytitle > systemd.exec</refentrytitle> <manvolnum > 1</manvolnum> </citerefentry> for
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details). The following credentials are used when passed in:</para>
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<variablelist class= 'system-credentials' >
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<varlistentry >
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<term > <varname > tmpfiles.extra</varname> </term>
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<listitem > <para > The contents of this credential may contain additional lines to operate on. The
credential contents should follow the same format as any other <filename > tmpfiles.d/</filename>
drop-in configuration file. If this credential is passed it is processed after all of the drop-in
files read from the file system. The lines in the credential can hence augment existing lines of the
OS, but not override them.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para > Note that by default the <filename > systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service</filename> unit file (and related
unit files) is set up to inherit the <literal > tmpfiles.extra</literal> credential from the service
manager.</para>
</refsect1>
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<refsect1 >
<title > Environment</title>
<variablelist class= 'environment-variables' >
<xi:include href= "common-variables.xml" xpointer= "log-level" />
<xi:include href= "common-variables.xml" xpointer= "log-color" />
<xi:include href= "common-variables.xml" xpointer= "log-time" />
<xi:include href= "common-variables.xml" xpointer= "log-location" />
<xi:include href= "common-variables.xml" xpointer= "log-target" />
<xi:include href= "common-variables.xml" xpointer= "pager" />
<xi:include href= "common-variables.xml" xpointer= "less" />
<xi:include href= "common-variables.xml" xpointer= "lesscharset" />
<xi:include href= "common-variables.xml" xpointer= "lesssecure" />
<xi:include href= "common-variables.xml" xpointer= "colors" />
<xi:include href= "common-variables.xml" xpointer= "urlify" />
</variablelist>
</refsect1>
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<refsect1 >
<title > Unprivileged --cleanup operation</title>
<para > <command > systemd-tmpfiles</command> tries to avoid changing
the access and modification times on the directories it accesses,
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which requires <constant > CAP_FOWNER</constant> privileges. When
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running as non-root, directories which are checked for files to
clean up will have their access time bumped, which might prevent
their cleanup.
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1 >
<title > Exit status</title>
tmpfiles: make handling of existing-but-different targets more consistent
create_fifo() was added in a2fc2f8dd30c17ad1e23a31fc6ff2aeba4c6fa27, and
would always ignore failure. The test was trying to fail in this case, but
we actually don't fail, which seems to be correct. We didn't notice before
because the test was ineffective.
To make things consistent, generally log at warning level, but don't propagate
the error. For symlinks, log at debug level, as before.
For 'e', failure is not propagated now. The test is adjusted to match.
I think warning is appropriate in most cases: we do not expect a device node to
be replaced by a different device node or even a non-device file. This would
most likely be an error somewhere. An exception is made for symlinks, which are
mismatched on purpose, for example /etc/resolv.conf. With this patch, we don't
get any warnings with the any of the 74 tmpfiles.d files, which suggests that
increasing the warning levels will not cause too many unexpected warnings. If
it turns out that there are valid cases where people have expected mismatches
for non-symlink types, we can always decrease the log levels again.
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<para > On success, 0 is returned. If the configuration was syntactically invalid (syntax errors, missing
arguments, …), so some lines had to be ignored, but no other errors occurred, <constant > 65</constant> is
returned (<constant > EX_DATAERR</constant> from <filename > /usr/include/sysexits.h</filename> ). If the
configuration was syntactically valid, but could not be executed (lack of permissions, creation of files
in missing directories, invalid contents when writing to <filename > /sys/</filename> values, …),
<constant > 73</constant> is returned (<constant > EX_CANTCREAT</constant> from
<filename > /usr/include/sysexits.h</filename> ). Otherwise, <constant > 1</constant> is returned
(<constant > EXIT_FAILURE</constant> from <filename > /usr/include/stdlib.h</filename> ).</para>
<para > Note: when creating items, if the target already exists, but is of the wrong type or otherwise does
not match the requested state, and forced operation has not been requested with <literal > +</literal> ,
a message is emitted, but the failure is otherwise ignored.</para>
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</refsect1>
<refsect1 >
<title > See Also</title>
<para >
<citerefentry > <refentrytitle > systemd</refentrytitle> <manvolnum > 1</manvolnum> </citerefentry> ,
<citerefentry > <refentrytitle > tmpfiles.d</refentrytitle> <manvolnum > 5</manvolnum> </citerefentry>
</para>
</refsect1>
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</refentry>