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 <troglobit@gmail.com>
This commit is contained in:
Joachim Wiberg committed 2026-08-05 17:57:56 +02:00
1 parent cfae4a0e10
commit 4299ce8839
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@@ -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
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@@ -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
+62 -2
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@@ -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 <run/udevadm:5/success> \
[S0123456789] syslogd -F $SYSLOGD_ARGS -- System log daemon
service if:mdev nowarn env:-/etc/default/sysklogd <run/coldplug/success> \
[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.
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@@ -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
----------
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@@ -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"
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@@ -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 |