2005-08-31 01:30:52 +04:00
<?xml version='1.0'?>
2010-05-24 19:00:15 +04:00
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="http://docbook.sourceforge.net/release/xsl/current/xhtml/docbook.xsl"?>
< !DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
2005-08-31 01:30:52 +04:00
"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
2010-05-24 19:00:15 +04:00
<refentry id= "udev" >
<refentryinfo >
2005-08-31 01:30:52 +04:00
<title > udev</title>
2010-05-24 19:00:15 +04:00
<productname > udev</productname>
</refentryinfo>
<refmeta >
<refentrytitle > udev</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum > 7</manvolnum>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv >
<refname > udev</refname>
<refpurpose > Linux dynamic device management</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsect1 > <title > Description</title>
<para > udev supplies the system software with device events, manages permissions
of device nodes and may create additional symlinks in the <filename > /dev</filename>
directory, or renames network interfaces. The kernel usually just assigns unpredictable
device names based on the order of discovery. Meaningful symlinks or network device
names provide a way to reliably identify devices based on their properties or
current configuration.</para>
<para > The udev daemon <citerefentry > <refentrytitle > udevd</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum > 8</manvolnum> </citerefentry> receives device uevents directly from
the kernel whenever a device is added or removed from the system, or it changes its
state. When udev receives a device event, it matches its configured set of rules
against various device attributes to identify the device. Rules that match, may
provide additional device information to be stored in the udev database, or information
to be used to create meaningful symlink names.</para>
<para > All device information udev processes, is stored in the udev database and
sent out to possible event subscribers. Access to all stored data and the event
sources are provided by the library libudev.</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1 > <title > Configuration</title>
<para > udev configuration files are placed in <filename > /etc/udev/</filename>
and <filename > /lib/udev/</filename> . All empty lines, or lines beginning with
'#' will be ignored.</para>
<refsect2 > <title > Configuration file</title>
<para > udev expects its main configuration file at <filename > /etc/udev/udev.conf</filename> .
It consists of a set of variables allowing the user to override default udev values.
The following variables can be set:</para>
<variablelist >
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > udev_root</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Specifies where to place the device nodes in the filesystem.
The default value is <filename > /dev</filename> .</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > udev_log</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The logging priority. Valid values are the numerical syslog priorities
or their textual representations: <option > err</option> , <option > info</option>
and <option > debug</option> .</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
<refsect2 > <title > Rules files</title>
<para > The udev rules are read from the files located in the
default rules directory <filename > /lib/udev/rules.d/</filename> ,
the custom rules directory <filename > /etc/udev/rules.d/</filename>
2011-03-23 04:31:09 +03:00
and the temporary rules directory <filename > /run/udev/rules.d/</filename> .
2010-05-24 19:00:15 +04:00
All rule files are sorted and processed in lexical order, regardless
2010-08-20 14:19:23 +04:00
in which of these directories they live. Files in
<filename > /etc/udev/rules.d/</filename> have precedence over files with
the same name in <filename > /lib/udev/rules.d/</filename> . This can be
used to ignore a default rules file if needed.</para>
2010-05-24 19:00:15 +04:00
2010-08-20 14:19:23 +04:00
<para > Rule files must end in <filename > .rules</filename> , other extensions
are ignored.</para>
2010-05-24 19:00:15 +04:00
<para > Every line in the rules file contains at least one key value pair.
There are two kind of keys, match and assignment keys.
If all match keys are matching against its value, the rule gets applied and the
assign keys get the specified value assigned.</para>
<para > A matching rule may rename a network interface, add symlinks
pointing to the device node, or run a specified program as part of
the event handling.</para>
<para > A rule consists of a list of one or more key value pairs separated by
a comma. Each key has a distinct operation, depending on the used operator. Valid
operators are:</para>
<variablelist >
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > ==</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Compare for equality.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > !=</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Compare for inequality.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > =</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Assign a value to a key. Keys that represent a list, are reset
and only this single value is assigned.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > +=</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Add the value to a key that holds a list of entries.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > :=</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Assign a value to a key finally; disallow any later changes,
which may be used to prevent changes by any later rules.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para > The following key names can be used to match against device properties.
Some of the keys also match against properties of the parent devices in sysfs,
not only the device that has generated the event. If multiple keys that match
a parent device are specified in a single rule, all these keys must match at
one and the same parent device.</para>
<variablelist >
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > ACTION</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Match the name of the event action.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > DEVPATH</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Match the devpath of the event device.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > KERNEL</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Match the name of the event device.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > NAME</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Match the name of the node or network interface. It can
be used once the NAME key has been set in one of the preceding
rules.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > SYMLINK</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Match the name of a symlink targeting the node. It can
be used once a SYMLINK key has been set in one of the preceding
rules. There may be multiple symlinks; only one needs to match.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > SUBSYSTEM</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Match the subsystem of the event device.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > DRIVER</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Match the driver name of the event device. Only set for devices
which are bound to a driver at the time the event is generated.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > ATTR{<replaceable > filename</replaceable> }</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Match sysfs attribute values of the event device. Trailing
whitespace in the attribute values is ignored, if the specified match
value does not contain trailing whitespace itself.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > KERNELS</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Search the devpath upwards for a matching device name.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > SUBSYSTEMS</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Search the devpath upwards for a matching device subsystem name.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > DRIVERS</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Search the devpath upwards for a matching device driver name.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > ATTRS{<replaceable > filename</replaceable> }</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Search the devpath upwards for a device with matching sysfs attribute values.
If multiple <option > ATTRS</option> matches are specified, all of them
must match on the same device. Trailing whitespace in the attribute values is ignored,
if the specified match value does not contain trailing whitespace itself.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > ENV{<replaceable > key</replaceable> }</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Match against a device property value.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > TAG</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Match against a device tag.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > TEST{<replaceable > octal mode mask</replaceable> }</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Test the existence of a file. An octal mode mask can be specified
if needed.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > PROGRAM</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Execute a program. The key is true, if the program returns
successfully. The device properties are made available to the
executed program in the environment. The program's output printed to
stdout, is available in the RESULT key.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > RESULT</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Match the returned string of the last PROGRAM call. This key can
be used in the same or in any later rule after a PROGRAM call.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para > Most of the fields support a shell style pattern matching. The following
pattern characters are supported:</para>
<variablelist >
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > *</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Matches zero, or any number of characters.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > ?</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Matches any single character.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > []</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Matches any single character specified within the brackets. For
example, the pattern string 'tty[SR]' would match either 'ttyS' or 'ttyR'.
Ranges are also supported within this match with the '-' character.
For example, to match on the range of all digits, the pattern [0-9] would
be used. If the first character following the '[' is a '!', any characters
not enclosed are matched.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para > The following keys can get values assigned:</para>
<variablelist >
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > NAME</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The name, a network interface should be renamed to. Or as
2010-11-10 03:29:50 +03:00
a temporary workaround, the name a device node should be named.
2010-05-24 19:00:15 +04:00
Usually the kernel provides the defined node name, or even creates
and removes the node before udev even receives any event. Changing
the node name from the kernel's default creates inconsistencies
and is not supported. If the kernel and NAME specify different names,
an error will be logged. Udev is only expected to handle device node
permissions and to create additional symlinks, not to change
kernel-provided device node names. Instead of renaming a device node,
SYMLINK should be used. Symlink names must never conflict with
device node names, it will result in unpredictable behavior.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > SYMLINK</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The name of a symlink targeting the node. Every matching rule will add
this value to the list of symlinks to be created. Multiple symlinks may be
specified by separating the names by the space character. In case multiple
devices claim the same name, the link will always point to the device with
the highest link_priority. If the current device goes away, the links will
be re-evaluated and the device with the next highest link_priority will own
the link. If no link_priority is specified, the order of the devices, and
which one of them will own the link, is undefined. Claiming the same name for
a symlink, which is or might be used for a device node, may result in
unexpected behavior and is not supported.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > OWNER, GROUP, MODE</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The permissions for the device node. Every specified value overwrites
the compiled-in default value.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > ATTR{<replaceable > key</replaceable> }</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The value that should be written to a sysfs attribute of the
event device.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > ENV{<replaceable > key</replaceable> }</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Set a device property value. Property names with a leading '.'
are not stored in the database or exported to external tool or events.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > TAG</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Attach a tag to a device. This is used to filter events for users
of libudev's monitor functionality, or to enumerate a group of tagged
devices. The implementation can only work efficiently if only a few
tags are attached to a device. It is only meant to be used in
contexts with specific device filter requirements, and not as a
general-purpose flag. Excessive use might result in inefficient event
handling.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > RUN</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Add a program to the list of programs to be executed for a specific
device. This can only be used for very short running tasks. Running an
event process for a long period of time may block all further events for
this or a dependent device. Long running tasks need to be immediately
2011-03-24 01:56:15 +03:00
detached from the event process itself.</para>
2010-05-24 19:00:15 +04:00
<para > If no absolute path is given, the program is expected to live in
<filename > /lib/udev</filename> , otherwise the absolute path must be
specified. Program name and arguments are separated by spaces. Single quotes
can be used to specify arguments with spaces.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > LABEL</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Named label where a GOTO can jump to.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > GOTO</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Jumps to the next LABEL with a matching name</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > IMPORT{<replaceable > type</replaceable> }</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Import a set of variables as device properties,
depending on <replaceable > type</replaceable> :</para>
<variablelist >
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > program</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Execute an external program specified as the assigned value and
import its output, which must be in environment key
format. Path specification, command/argument separation,
and quoting work like in <option > RUN</option> .</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > file</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Import a text file specified as the assigned value, which must be in
environment key format.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > db</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Import a single property specified as the assigned value from the
current device database. This works only if the database is already populated
by an earlier event.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
2010-05-31 03:13:03 +04:00
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > cmdline</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Import a single property from the kernel commandline. For simple flags
the value of the property will be set to '1'.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
2010-05-24 19:00:15 +04:00
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > parent</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Import the stored keys from the parent device by reading
the database entry of the parent device. The value assigned to
<option > IMPORT{parent}</option> is used as a filter of key names
to import (with the same shell-style pattern matching used for
comparisons).</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para > If no option is given, udev will choose between <option > program</option>
and <option > file</option> based on the executable bit of the file
permissions.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > WAIT_FOR</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Wait for a file to become available or until a 10
2010-09-21 14:12:01 +04:00
seconds timeout expires. The path is relative to the sysfs device,
i. e. if no path is specified this waits for an attribute to appear.</para>
2010-05-24 19:00:15 +04:00
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > OPTIONS</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Rule and device options:</para>
<variablelist >
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > link_priority=<replaceable > value</replaceable> </option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Specify the priority of the created symlinks. Devices with higher
priorities overwrite existing symlinks of other devices. The default is 0.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > event_timeout=</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Number of seconds an event will wait for operations to finish, before it
will terminate itself.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > string_escape=<replaceable > none|replace</replaceable> </option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Usually control and other possibly unsafe characters are replaced
in strings used for device naming. The mode of replacement can be specified
with this option.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
2010-05-28 17:11:36 +04:00
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > static_node=</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Apply the permissions specified in this rule to a static device node with
the specified name. Static device nodes might be provided by kernel modules,
or copied from <filename > /lib/udev/devices</filename> . These nodes might not have
a corresponding kernel device at the time udevd is started, and allow to trigger
automatic kernel module on-demand loading.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
2010-05-24 19:00:15 +04:00
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > watch</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Watch the device node with inotify, when closed after being opened for
writing, a change uevent will be synthesised.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
2010-07-07 13:35:40 +04:00
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > nowatch</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > Disable the watching of a device node with inotify.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
2010-05-24 19:00:15 +04:00
</variablelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para > The <option > NAME</option> , <option > SYMLINK</option> , <option > PROGRAM</option> ,
<option > OWNER</option> , <option > GROUP</option> , <option > MODE</option> and <option > RUN</option>
fields support simple printf-like string substitutions. The <option > RUN</option>
format chars gets applied after all rules have been processed, right before the program
is executed. It allows the use of device properties set by earlier matching
rules. For all other fields, substitutions are applied while the individual rule is
being processed. The available substitutions are:</para>
<variablelist >
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $kernel</option> , <option > %k</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The kernel name for this device.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $number</option> , <option > %n</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The kernel number for this device. For example, 'sda3' has
kernel number of '3'</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $devpath</option> , <option > %p</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The devpath of the device.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $id</option> , <option > %b</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The name of the device matched while searching the devpath upwards for
<option > SUBSYSTEMS</option> , <option > KERNELS</option> , <option > DRIVERS</option> and <option > ATTRS</option> .
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $driver</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The driver name of the device matched while searching the devpath upwards for
<option > SUBSYSTEMS</option> , <option > KERNELS</option> , <option > DRIVERS</option> and <option > ATTRS</option> .
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $attr{<replaceable > file</replaceable> }</option> , <option > %s{<replaceable > file</replaceable> }</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The value of a sysfs attribute found at the device, where
all keys of the rule have matched. If the matching device does not have
2010-08-27 18:54:52 +04:00
such an attribute, and a previous KERNELS, SUBSYSTEMS, DRIVERS, or
ATTRS test selected a parent device, use the attribute from that
parent device.
2010-05-24 19:00:15 +04:00
If the attribute is a symlink, the last element of the symlink target is
returned as the value.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $env{<replaceable > key</replaceable> }</option> , <option > %E{<replaceable > key</replaceable> }</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > A device property value.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $major</option> , <option > %M</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The kernel major number for the device.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $minor</option> , <option > %m</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The kernel minor number for the device.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $result</option> , <option > %c</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The string returned by the external program requested with PROGRAM.
A single part of the string, separated by a space character may be selected
by specifying the part number as an attribute: <option > %c{N}</option> .
If the number is followed by the '+' char this part plus all remaining parts
of the result string are substituted: <option > %c{N+}</option> </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $parent</option> , <option > %P</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The node name of the parent device.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $name</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The current name of the device node. If not changed by a rule, it is the
name of the kernel device.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $links</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The current list of symlinks, separated by a space character. The value is
only set if an earlier rule assigned a value, or during a remove events.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $root</option> , <option > %r</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The udev_root value.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $sys</option> , <option > %S</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The sysfs mount point.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $tempnode</option> , <option > %N</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The name of a created temporary device node to provide access to
the device from a external program before the real node is created.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > %%</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The '%' character itself.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry >
<term > <option > $$</option> </term>
<listitem >
<para > The '$' character itself.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
</refsect1>
<refsect1 > <title > Author</title>
<para > Written by Greg Kroah-Hartman <email > greg@kroah.com</email> and
Kay Sievers <email > kay.sievers@vrfy.org</email> . With much help from
Dan Stekloff and many others.</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1 >
<title > See Also</title>
<para > <citerefentry >
<refentrytitle > udevd</refentrytitle> <manvolnum > 8</manvolnum>
</citerefentry> ,
<citerefentry >
<refentrytitle > udevadm</refentrytitle> <manvolnum > 8</manvolnum>
</citerefentry> </para>
</refsect1>
</refentry>
