1SYSTEMD.PATH(5)                  systemd.path                  SYSTEMD.PATH(5)
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NAME

6       systemd.path - Path unit configuration
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SYNOPSIS

9       path.path
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DESCRIPTION

12       A unit configuration file whose name ends in ".path" encodes
13       information about a path monitored by systemd, for path-based
14       activation.
15
16       This man page lists the configuration options specific to this unit
17       type. See systemd.unit(5) for the common options of all unit
18       configuration files. The common configuration items are configured in
19       the generic [Unit] and [Install] sections. The path specific
20       configuration options are configured in the [Path] section.
21
22       For each path file, a matching unit file must exist, describing the
23       unit to activate when the path changes. By default, a service by the
24       same name as the path (except for the suffix) is activated. Example: a
25       path file foo.path activates a matching service foo.service. The unit
26       to activate may be controlled by Unit= (see below).
27
28       Internally, path units use the inotify(7) API to monitor file systems.
29       Due to that, it suffers by the same limitations as inotify, and for
30       example cannot be used to monitor files or directories changed by other
31       machines on remote NFS file systems.
32
33       If a path unit is beneath another mount point in the file system
34       hierarchy, a dependency between both units is created automatically.
35
36       Unless DefaultDependencies=false is used, path units will implicitly
37       have dependencies of type Conflicts= and Before= on shutdown.target.
38       These ensure that path units are terminated cleanly prior to system
39       shutdown. Only path units involved with early boot or late system
40       shutdown should disable this option.
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OPTIONS

43       Path files must include a [Path] section, which carries information
44       about the path(s) it monitors. The options specific to the [Path]
45       section of path units are the following:
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47       PathExists=, PathExistsGlob=, PathChanged=, PathModified=,
48       DirectoryNotEmpty=
49           Defines paths to monitor for certain changes: PathExists= may be
50           used to watch the mere existence of a file or directory. If the
51           file specified exists, the configured unit is activated.
52           PathExistsGlob= works similar, but checks for the existence of at
53           least one file matching the globbing pattern specified.
54           PathChanged= may be used to watch a file or directory and activate
55           the configured unit whenever it changes. It is not activated on
56           every write to the watched file but it is activated if the file
57           which was open for writing gets closed.  PathModified= is similar,
58           but additionally it is activated also on simple writes to the
59           watched file.  DirectoryNotEmpty= may be used to watch a directory
60           and activate the configured unit whenever it contains at least one
61           file.
62
63           The arguments of these directives must be absolute file system
64           paths.
65
66           Multiple directives may be combined, of the same and of different
67           types, to watch multiple paths. If the empty string is assigned to
68           any of these options, the list of paths to watch is reset, and any
69           prior assignments of these options will not have any effect.
70
71           If a path already exists (in case of PathExists= and
72           PathExistsGlob=) or a directory already is not empty (in case of
73           DirectoryNotEmpty=) at the time the path unit is activated, then
74           the configured unit is immediately activated as well. Something
75           similar does not apply to PathChanged= and PathModified=.
76
77           If the path itself or any of the containing directories are not
78           accessible, systemd will watch for permission changes and notice
79           that conditions are satisfied when permissions allow that.
80
81       Unit=
82           The unit to activate when any of the configured paths changes. The
83           argument is a unit name, whose suffix is not ".path". If not
84           specified, this value defaults to a service that has the same name
85           as the path unit, except for the suffix. (See above.) It is
86           recommended that the unit name that is activated and the unit name
87           of the path unit are named identical, except for the suffix.
88
89       MakeDirectory=
90           Takes a boolean argument. If true, the directories to watch are
91           created before watching. This option is ignored for PathExists=
92           settings. Defaults to false.
93
94       DirectoryMode=
95           If MakeDirectory= is enabled, use the mode specified here to create
96           the directories in question. Takes an access mode in octal
97           notation. Defaults to 0755.
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SEE ALSO

100       systemd(1), systemctl(1), systemd.unit(5), systemd.service(5),
101       inotify(7), systemd.directives(7)
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105systemd 219                                                    SYSTEMD.PATH(5)