From 4299ce883900e740c277ca66ff0f4e45a64ea3d9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joachim Wiberg Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2026 11:33:58 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] doc: document command candidates and the duplicate title rule The migration guide covered a stanza at a time, which is the wrong shape for the two idioms that repeated a whole stanza. One of them, several candidate binaries for one service, is now a command list. The other, one service gated differently per platform, has no block equivalent: those blocks share an identity because they share the barrier condition downstream services wait for, so they cannot be given separate titles. For that one the guide says to split the variants across files, or leave that file in the line-based format, which Finit still reads. The udevd example in services.md taught the merge-broken form, and system/10-hotplug.conf.in pointed readers at it for their syslogd. Also lists libConfuse among the build dependencies. It has been mandatory since the new .conf format landed, and build.md still said two libraries. And corrects the note on variable expansion: it is ${VAR} that libconfuse expands when the file is read, with ${VAR:-default} supported. A plain $VAR reaches the service, which is what makes `command = "syslogd -F $SYSLOGD_ARGS"` work with envfile. Signed-off-by: Joachim Wiberg --- doc/ChangeLog.md | 11 +++++++ doc/build.md | 5 ++- doc/config/migration.md | 64 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-- doc/config/service-opts.md | 52 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ doc/config/services.md | 25 ++++++++------- doc/config/tty.md | 4 +++ 6 files changed, 147 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/ChangeLog.md b/doc/ChangeLog.md index 35c61552..e7ae2f06 100644 --- a/doc/ChangeLog.md +++ b/doc/ChangeLog.md @@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ All relevant changes are documented in this file. ### Changes +- The `command` setting in a block takes a list of candidates for the + same service, `command = { "/lib/systemd/systemd-udevd", "-udevd" }`, + and Finit starts the first one it finds. The line-based format could + only express this by repeating the whole stanza per candidate - Restart log now spells out the signal name and flags core dumps, e.g. `killed by SIGKILL` or `killed by SIGSEGV, core dumped`, in place of the bare numeric `by signal: N`. Gives operators a much @@ -15,6 +19,13 @@ All relevant changes are documented in this file. ### Fixes +- Reject a .conf file that declares the same block title twice. The + title is the service identity and libConfuse merges two sections + sharing one, so the file loaded as a single service holding a mix of + both declarations, silently. This hit `system/10-hotplug.conf`, + where the two `udevd` blocks left only the second command, dropping + the service on systems that only have `systemd-udevd`. The same + title in another file is still how a system .conf is overridden - Remove stale daemon-owned (`pid:!`) pidfiles after unclean exits. When a daemon dies via SIGKILL/OOM/segfault, or exits early during startup, its pidfile lingers and can prevent the next instance from diff --git a/doc/build.md b/doc/build.md index ae25f7b8..65bf5365 100644 --- a/doc/build.md +++ b/doc/build.md @@ -2,10 +2,11 @@ Building Finit ============== Finit comes with a traditional configure script to control features and -optional plugins to enable. It depends on two external libraries: +optional plugins to enable. It depends on three external libraries: - [libuEv][], the event loop - [libite][] (-lite), much needed frog DNA +- [libConfuse][], the parser behind the .conf format > [!IMPORTANT] > Most free/open source software packages that use `configure` default @@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ version of the above mentioned libraries. Currently required versions: - libite v2.2.0, or later - libuEv v2.2.0, or later +- libConfuse v3.3, or later Configure @@ -193,3 +195,4 @@ it only for debugging start up issues when Finit crashes. [1]: https://github.com/finit-project/finit/releases/download/4.3/finit-4.3.tar.gz [libuEv]: https://github.com/troglobit/libuev [libite]: https://github.com/troglobit/libite +[libConfuse]: https://github.com/libconfuse/libconfuse diff --git a/doc/config/migration.md b/doc/config/migration.md index 30c24be4..57060793 100644 --- a/doc/config/migration.md +++ b/doc/config/migration.md @@ -82,6 +82,63 @@ Service options | `nowarn` | leading `-` on `command` or `envfile` | | `restarttmo:` | dropped, was already an alias for `restart_sec:` | +Repeated stanzas +---------------- + +The line-based format has no titles, so the same service could be +declared more than once and Finit would sort out which line applied. +A block title *is* the identity, and two blocks sharing one in the +same file are rejected. The two shapes that relied on the repetition +convert differently. + +**Several candidate binaries for one service.** The daemon is known +under more than one name and the stanzas were repeated once per name, +each with `nowarn` so the ones that were not installed were skipped: + + service nowarn pid:!/run/udevd.pid [S12345789] /lib/systemd/systemd-udevd -- Device event daemon + service nowarn pid:!/run/udevd.pid [S12345789] udevd -- Device event daemon + +The candidates now go in one block, and Finit starts the first one it +finds: + + service udevd { + description = "Device event daemon" + runlevel = "S12345789" + pidfile = "/run/udevd.pid" + command = { "/lib/systemd/systemd-udevd", "-udevd" } + } + +**One service gated differently per platform.** The command is the +same every time, only `if:` and the conditions differ, e.g. a syslog +daemon that has to wait for whichever hotplug daemon the system has: + + service if:udevd nowarn env:-/etc/default/sysklogd \ + [S0123456789] syslogd -F $SYSLOGD_ARGS -- System log daemon + service if:mdev nowarn env:-/etc/default/sysklogd \ + [S0123456789] syslogd -F $SYSLOGD_ARGS -- System log daemon + +All of these are one service, `syslogd`, providing one `pid/syslogd` +barrier for everything downstream, so they cannot be given separate +titles without renaming that barrier. There are two ways to keep the +identity: + + * put each variant in its own .conf file, since the ban on duplicate + titles is per file, or + * leave this one file in the line-based format, which Finit still + reads. Format is detected per file, so the rest of the system can + be block format. + +A single variant converts the way anything else does: + + service syslogd { + description = "System log daemon" + runlevel = "S0123456789" + if = "udevd" + conditions = { "run/udevadm:5/success" } + envfile = "-/etc/default/sysklogd" + command = "-syslogd -F $SYSLOGD_ARGS" + } + Cgroups ------- @@ -170,8 +227,11 @@ Worth knowing exactly like its legacy counterpart. * A list cannot hold comments; the lexer reads entries after a `#` regardless. Put commented-out candidates above the list. - * `$VAR` in a value is expanded when the file is read, against - Finit's environment. An unset variable expands to nothing. + * `${VAR}` in a value is expanded when the file is read, against + Finit's environment, and `${VAR:-default}` works too. An unset + variable expands to nothing. A plain `$VAR` is left alone and + reaches the service, which is what keeps `command = "syslogd -F + $SYSLOGD_ARGS"` working with an `envfile`. * New settings only appear in the block format. The first are the [per-service directories](service-opts.md#service-directories), `runtime-dir` and friends. diff --git a/doc/config/service-opts.md b/doc/config/service-opts.md index 2eeb8b56..af97384e 100644 --- a/doc/config/service-opts.md +++ b/doc/config/service-opts.md @@ -61,6 +61,58 @@ Other run/task/service settings are: * a leading `-` on `command` -- see [Conditional Loading](services.md#conditional-loading) +Command Candidates +------------------ + +The `command` setting may list several candidates for the same +service, in which case Finit starts the first one it finds: + + service udevd { + command = { "/lib/systemd/systemd-udevd", "-udevd" } + } + +A candidate that is not installed is skipped without a warning, that +is the point of listing more than one. The leading `-` is read from +the candidate that wins, or from the last one when none are found, so +a block with a single command behaves as it always has. + +The candidates are alternative spellings of one service, not a +fallback for a service that fails to start. Finit chooses when the +.conf file is read and does not revisit the choice. + +A [`tty`](tty.md) block takes the same list, where the candidates are +the getty to run: + + tty ttyAMA0 { + command = { "/sbin/agetty -L ttyAMA0 115200 vt100", + "/sbin/getty -L 115200 /dev/ttyAMA0 vt100" } + } + +Duplicate Titles +---------------- + +The title is the service identity, so two blocks sharing a title in +one file are two declarations of one service. The parser underneath +merges them without a word, leaving a single service holding a mix of +both, so Finit rejects the file and names the title: + + /etc/finit.d/hotplug.conf:12: found duplicate title 'udevd' + +Nothing from a rejected file is loaded and the rest of the +configuration is unaffected. + +The same title in *another* file is fine. That is how a system .conf +is overridden, the later file wins, see [Files & Layout](files.md). + +Two shapes need a single identity and used to be written as repeated +declarations. One is a service with several candidate binaries, which +is now a [command list](#command-candidates). The other is a service +gated differently per platform, e.g. a syslog daemon waiting for +whichever hotplug daemon the system happens to have. For that one, +give each variant its own file, or keep them as one-liners in the +line-based format, which has no titles. The [migration +guide](migration.md) works through it. + Restarting ---------- diff --git a/doc/config/services.md b/doc/config/services.md index 570a94f7..1e242f0e 100644 --- a/doc/config/services.md +++ b/doc/config/services.md @@ -226,23 +226,26 @@ Finit supports conditional loading of blocks. The following example is taken from the `system/10-hotplug.conf` file in the Finit distribution. Here we only show a simplified subset. -Starting with the leading `-` on `command`. +Starting with the udev daemon, which goes by two names depending on +how it was built. Both are candidates for the same service: service udevd { pidfile = "udevd" - command = "-/lib/systemd/systemd-udevd" - } - - service udevd { - pidfile = "udevd" - command = "-udevd" + command = { "/lib/systemd/systemd-udevd", "-udevd" } } When loading the .conf file Finit looks for -`/lib/systemd/systemd-udevd`, and if that is not found it logs a -warning. The leading `-` says a missing binary is expected here, so -the block is skipped quietly and the second one can be evaluated, -which also provides a service named `udevd`. +`/lib/systemd/systemd-udevd`, and if that is not there it moves on to +`udevd`. A candidate that is not installed is expected, so no warning +is logged for the ones that are skipped. The leading `-` on the last +one says it is also fine if none of them are found, in which case the +block is dropped quietly and no service named `udevd` exists. + +> [!NOTE] +> This needs to be one block. The title is the service identity, so +> two blocks titled `udevd` in the same file are two declarations of +> one service, which Finit rejects. See [Duplicate +> titles](service-opts.md#duplicate-titles). run udevadm:1 { runlevel = "S" diff --git a/doc/config/tty.md b/doc/config/tty.md index 945c5f2a..138a7b81 100644 --- a/doc/config/tty.md +++ b/doc/config/tty.md @@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ may be the special keyword `@console`, expanded from `/sys/class/tty/console/active`, useful on embedded systems. `command` hands the TTY to an external getty. `notty` opens nothing at all. +`command` may name several candidates, `{ "agetty ...", "getty ..." }`, +and Finit runs the first one it finds. See [Command +Candidates](service-opts.md#command-candidates). + Settings common to all three: | Setting | Alias | Description |