man/systemd.path.5

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  22 .SH "NAME"
  23 systemd.path \- Path unit configuration
  24 .SH "SYNOPSIS"
  25 .PP
  26 \fIpath\fR\&.path
  27 .SH "DESCRIPTION"
  28 .PP
  29 A unit configuration file whose name ends in
  30 "\&.path"
  31 encodes information about a path monitored by systemd, for path\-based activation\&.
  32 .PP
  33 This man page lists the configuration options specific to this unit type\&. See
  34 \fBsystemd.unit\fR(5)
  35 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\&.
  36 .PP
  37 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
  38 foo\&.path
  39 activates a matching service
  40 foo\&.service\&. The unit to activate may be controlled by
  41 \fIUnit=\fR
  42 (see below)\&.
  43 .PP
  44 Internally, path units use the
  45 \fBinotify\fR(7)
  46 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\&.
  47 .PP
  48 If a path unit is beneath another mount point in the file system hierarchy, a dependency between both units is created automatically\&.
  49 .PP
  50 Unless
  51 \fIDefaultDependencies=false\fR
  52 is used, path units will implicitly have dependencies of type
  53 \fIConflicts=\fR
  54 and
  55 \fIBefore=\fR
  56 on
  57 shutdown\&.target\&. 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 this option\&.
  58 .SH "OPTIONS"
  59 .PP
  60 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:
  61 .PP
  62 \fIPathExists=\fR, \fIPathExistsGlob=\fR, \fIPathChanged=\fR, \fIPathModified=\fR, \fIDirectoryNotEmpty=\fR
  63 .RS 4
  64 Defines paths to monitor for certain changes:
  65 \fIPathExists=\fR
  66 may be used to watch the mere existence of a file or directory\&. If the file specified exists, the configured unit is activated\&.
  67 \fIPathExistsGlob=\fR
  68 works similar, but checks for the existence of at least one file matching the globbing pattern specified\&.
  69 \fIPathChanged=\fR
  70 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\&.
  71 \fIPathModified=\fR
  72 is similar, but additionally it is activated also on simple writes to the watched file\&.
  73 \fIDirectoryNotEmpty=\fR
  74 may be used to watch a directory and activate the configured unit whenever it contains at least one file\&.
  75 .sp
  76 The arguments of these directives must be absolute file system paths\&.
  77 .sp
  78 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\&.
  79 .sp
  80 If a path already exists (in case of
  81 \fIPathExists=\fR
  82 and
  83 \fIPathExistsGlob=\fR) or a directory already is not empty (in case of
  84 \fIDirectoryNotEmpty=\fR) at the time the path unit is activated, then the configured unit is immediately activated as well\&. Something similar does not apply to
  85 \fIPathChanged=\fR
  86 and
  87 \fIPathModified=\fR\&.
  88 .sp
  89 If the path itself or any of the containing directories are not accessible,
  90 \fBsystemd\fR
  91 will watch for permission changes and notice that conditions are satisfied when permissions allow that\&.
  92 .RE
  93 .PP
  94 \fIUnit=\fR
  95 .RS 4
  96 The unit to activate when any of the configured paths changes\&. The argument is a unit name, whose suffix is not
  97 "\&.path"\&. 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\&.
  98 .RE
  99 .PP
 100 \fIMakeDirectory=\fR
 101 .RS 4
 102 Takes a boolean argument\&. If true, the directories to watch are created before watching\&. This option is ignored for
 103 \fIPathExists=\fR
 104 settings\&. Defaults to
 105 \fBfalse\fR\&.
 106 .RE
 107 .PP
 108 \fIDirectoryMode=\fR
 109 .RS 4
 110 If
 111 \fIMakeDirectory=\fR
 112 is enabled, use the mode specified here to create the directories in question\&. Takes an access mode in octal notation\&. Defaults to
 113 \fB0755\fR\&.
 114 .RE
 115 .SH "SEE ALSO"
 116 .PP
 117 \fBsystemd\fR(1),
 118 \fBsystemctl\fR(1),
 119 \fBsystemd.unit\fR(5),
 120 \fBsystemd.service\fR(5),
 121 \fBinotify\fR(7),
 122 \fBsystemd.directives\fR(7)