systemd.path(5) - Path unit configuration

[amurleopard]

SYSTEMD.PATH(5) 		 systemd.path		       SYSTEMD.PATH(5)

NAME
       systemd.path - Path unit configuration

SYNOPSIS
       path.path

DESCRIPTION
       A unit configuration file whose name ends in ".path" encodes
       information about a path monitored by systemd, for path-based
       activation.

       This man page lists the configuration options specific to this unit
       type. See systemd.unit(5) 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.

       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 foo.path activates a matching service foo.service. The unit
       to activate may be controlled by Unit= (see below).

       Internally, path units use the inotify(7) 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.

AUTOMATIC DEPENDENCIES
       If a path unit is beneath another mount unit in the file system
       hierarchy, both a requirement and an ordering dependency between both
       units are created automatically.

       An implicit Before= dependency is added between a path unit and the
       unit it is supposed to activate.

       Unless DefaultDependencies=false is used, path units will implicitly
       have dependencies of type Before= on paths.target, dependencies of type
       After= and Requires= on sysinit.target, and have dependencies of type
       Conflicts= and Before= on 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.

OPTIONS
       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:

       PathExists=, PathExistsGlob=, PathChanged=, PathModified=,
       DirectoryNotEmpty=
	   Defines paths to monitor for certain changes: PathExists= may be
	   used to watch the mere existence of a file or directory. If the
	   file specified exists, the configured unit is activated.
	   PathExistsGlob= works similar, but checks for the existence of at
	   least one file matching the globbing pattern specified.
	   PathChanged= 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.  PathModified= is similar,
	   but additionally it is activated also on simple writes to the
	   watched file.  DirectoryNotEmpty= may be used to watch a directory
	   and activate the configured unit whenever it contains at least one
	   file.

	   The arguments of these directives must be absolute file system
	   paths.

	   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.

	   If a path already exists (in case of PathExists= and
	   PathExistsGlob=) or a directory already is not empty (in case of
	   DirectoryNotEmpty=) at the time the path unit is activated, then
	   the configured unit is immediately activated as well. Something
	   similar does not apply to PathChanged= and PathModified=.

	   If the path itself or any of the containing directories are not
	   accessible, systemd will watch for permission changes and notice
	   that conditions are satisfied when permissions allow that.

       Unit=
	   The unit to activate when any of the configured paths changes. The
	   argument is a unit name, whose suffix is not ".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.

       MakeDirectory=
	   Takes a boolean argument. If true, the directories to watch are
	   created before watching. This option is ignored for PathExists=
	   settings. Defaults to false.

       DirectoryMode=
	   If MakeDirectory= is enabled, use the mode specified here to create
	   the directories in question. Takes an access mode in octal
	   notation. Defaults to 0755.

SEE ALSO
       systemd(1), systemctl(1), systemd.unit(5), systemd.service(5),
       inotify(7), systemd.directives(7)

systemd						       SYSTEMD.PATH(5)