xref: /freebsd/sbin/devd/devd.8 (revision 6bfca4dcab07dad45a805879d954876b353c0810)
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2.\" Copyright (c) 2002 M. Warner Losh <imp@FreeBSD.org>
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25.Dd October 19, 2021
26.Dt DEVD 8
27.Os
28.Sh NAME
29.Nm devd
30.Nd "device state change daemon"
31.Sh SYNOPSIS
32.Nm
33.Op Fl dnq
34.Op Fl f Ar file
35.Op Fl l Ar num
36.Sh DESCRIPTION
37The
38.Nm
39daemon provides a way to have userland programs run when certain
40kernel events happen.
41.Pp
42The following options are accepted.
43.Bl -tag -width ".Fl f Ar file"
44.It Fl d
45Run in the foreground instead of becoming a daemon and log additional information for debugging.
46.It Fl f Ar file
47Use configuration file
48.Ar file
49instead of the default
50.Pa /etc/devd.conf .
51If option
52.Fl f
53is specified more than once, the last file specified is used.
54.It Fl l Ar num
55Limit concurrent socket connections to
56.Ar num .
57The default connection limit is 10.
58.It Fl n
59Do not process all pending events before becoming a daemon.
60Instead, call daemon right away.
61.It Fl q
62Quiet mode.
63Only log messages at priority LOG_WARNING or above.
64.El
65.Sh IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
66The
67.Nm
68utility
69is a system daemon that runs in the background all the time.
70Whenever a device is added to or removed from the device tree,
71.Nm
72will execute actions specified in
73.Xr devd.conf 5 .
74For example,
75.Nm
76might execute
77.Xr dhclient 8
78when an Ethernet adapter is added to the system, and kill the
79.Xr dhclient 8
80instance when the same adapter is removed.
81Another example would be for
82.Nm
83to use a table to locate and load via
84.Xr kldload 8
85the proper driver for an unrecognized device that is added to the system.
86.Pp
87The
88.Nm
89utility
90hooks into the
91.Xr devctl 4
92device driver.
93This device driver has hooks into the device configuration system.
94When nodes are added or deleted from the tree, this device will
95deliver information about the event to
96.Nm .
97Once
98.Nm
99has parsed the message, it will search its action list for that kind
100of event and perform the action with the highest matching value.
101For most mundane uses, the default handlers are adequate.
102However, for more advanced users, the power is present to tweak every
103aspect of what happens.
104.Pp
105The
106.Nm
107utility
108reads
109.Pa /etc/devd.conf
110or the alternate configuration file specified with a
111.Fl f
112option and uses that file to drive the rest of the process.
113While the format of this file is described in
114.Xr devd.conf 5 ,
115some basics are covered here.
116.Pp
117In the
118.Ic options
119section, one can define multiple directories to search
120for config files.
121The default config file specifies
122.Pa /etc/devd
123and
124.Pa /usr/local/etc/devd
125as directories to search.
126All files in these directories whose names match the pattern
127.Pa *.conf
128are parsed.
129These files are intended to be installed by third party vendors that
130wish to hook into the
131.Nm
132system without modifying the user's other
133config files.
134.Pp
135Since
136.Xr devctl 4
137allows only one active reader,
138.Nm
139multiplexes it, forwarding all events to any number of connected clients.
140Clients connect by opening the SOCK_SEQPACKET
141.Ux
142domain socket at
143.Pa /var/run/devd.seqpacket.pipe .
144.Sh FILES
145.Bl -tag -width ".Pa /var/run/devd.seqpacket.pipe" -compact
146.It Pa /etc/devd.conf
147The default
148.Nm
149configuration file.
150.It Pa /var/run/devd.seqpacket.pipe
151The socket used by
152.Nm
153to communicate with its clients.
154.It Pa /var/run/devd.pipe
155A deprecated socket retained for use with old clients.
156.El
157.Sh SEE ALSO
158.Xr devctl 4 ,
159.Xr devd.conf 5
160.Sh HISTORY
161The
162.Nm
163utility first appeared in
164.Fx 5.0 .
165.Sh AUTHORS
166.An M. Warner Losh
167