systemd-debug-generator(8) — Linux manual page

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | KERNEL COMMAND LINE | SYSTEM CREDENTIALS | SEE ALSO | COLOPHON

SYSTEMD-...GENERATOR(8)  systemd-debug-generator  SYSTEMD-...GENERATOR(8)

NAME         top

       systemd-debug-generator - Generator for enabling a runtime debug
       shell and masking specific units at boot

SYNOPSIS         top

       /usr/lib/systemd/system-generators/systemd-debug-generator

DESCRIPTION         top

       systemd-debug-generator is a generator that provides some
       debugging functionality.

       systemd-debug-generator implements systemd.generator(7).

KERNEL COMMAND LINE         top

       systemd-debug-generator understands the following kernel command
       line parameters:

       systemd.mask=, rd.systemd.mask=
           These options take a unit name as argument. The unit specified
           is masked for the runtime (i.e. for this session — from boot
           to shutdown), similarly to the effect of systemctl(1)'s mask
           command. This is useful to boot with certain units removed
           from the initial boot transaction for debugging system
           startup. May be specified more than once. The option prefixed
           with "rd."  is honored only in the initrd, while the one
           without prefix is only honored on the host.

           Added in version 215.

       systemd.wants=, rd.systemd.wants=
           These options take a unit name as argument. A start job for
           this unit is added to the initial transaction. This is useful
           to start one or more additional units at boot. May be
           specified more than once. The option prefixed with "rd."  is
           honored only in the initrd, while the one that is not prefixed
           only on the host.

           Added in version 215.

       systemd.debug_shell, rd.systemd.debug_shell,
       systemd.default_debug_tty=, rd.systemd.default_debug_tty=
           If the systemd.debug_shell or rd.systemd.debug_shell option is
           specified, the debug shell service "debug-shell.service" is
           pulled into the boot transaction and a debug shell will be
           spawned during early boot. By default, /dev/tty9 is used, but
           a specific tty can also be specified, either with or without
           the /dev/ prefix. To set the tty to use without enabling the
           debug shell, the systemd.default_debug_tty= option can be used
           which also takes a tty with or without the /dev/ prefix. Note
           that the shell may also be turned on persistently by enabling
           it with systemctl(1)'s enable command. The options prefixed
           with "rd."  are honored only in the initrd, while the ones
           without prefix are only honored on the host.

           Added in version 215.

       systemd.break=, rd.systemd.break=
           Takes one of pre-udev, pre-basic, pre-mount, or
           pre-switch-root (the default for the "rd."  option). It also
           accepts multiple values separated by comma (","). These
           options allow to pause the boot process at a certain point and
           spawn a debug shell. After exiting this shell, the system will
           resume booting. The option prefixed with "rd."  is honored
           only in the initrd, while the one without prefix is only
           honored on the host.

           Table 1. Available breakpoints
           ┌─────────────────┬───────────────────────┬────────────────┬────────────────┐
           │ Breakpoints     Description           Can be used in Can be used on │
           │                 │                       │ the initrd     the host       │
           ├─────────────────┼───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────┤
           │ pre-udev        │ Before starting       │ ✓              │ ✓              │
           │                 │ to process            │                │                │
           │                 │ kernel uevents,       │                │                │
           │                 │ i.e., before          │                │                │
           │                 │ systemd-udevd.service │                │                │
           │                 │ starts.               │                │                │
           ├─────────────────┼───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────┤
           │ pre-basic       │ Before leaving early  │ ✓              │ ✓              │
           │                 │ boot and regular      │                │                │
           │                 │ services start, i.e., │                │                │
           │                 │ before basic.target   │                │                │
           │                 │ is reached.           │                │                │
           ├─────────────────┼───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────┤
           │ pre-mount       │ Before the root       │ ✓              │ ✗              │
           │                 │ filesystem is         │                │                │
           │                 │ mounted, i.e., before │                │                │
           │                 │ sysroot.mount starts. │                │                │
           ├─────────────────┼───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────────┤
           │ pre-switch-root │ Before switching from │ ✓              │ ✗              │
           │                 │ the initrd to the     │                │                │
           │                 │ real root.            │                │                │
           └─────────────────┴───────────────────────┴────────────────┴────────────────┘

           Added in version 258.

SYSTEM CREDENTIALS         top

       systemd.extra-unit.*
           Credentials prefixed with "systemd.extra-unit."  specify
           additional units to add to the final system. Note that these
           additional units are added to both the initrd and the final
           system.  ConditionPathExists=!/etc/initrd-release can be used
           to make sure the unit is conditioned out in the initrd. Note
           that this can also be used to mask units, by simply specifying
           an empty value.

           Added in version 256.

       systemd.unit-dropin.*
           Credentials prefixed with "systemd.unit-dropin."  add drop-ins
           for the corresponding units in the final system. Each
           credential must be suffixed with the full unit name including
           the unit extension. Its contents must be a valid unit drop-in
           file. Optionally, the unit name may be followed with "~",
           followed by the drop-in name without the ".conf" suffix. If
           not specified, the name of the generated drop-in will be
           "50-credential.conf". Note that these additional drop-ins are
           added to both the initrd and the final system.

           Added in version 256.

SEE ALSO         top

       systemd(1), systemctl(1), kernel-command-line(7),
       systemd.system-credentials(7), bootup(7)

COLOPHON         top

       This page is part of the systemd (systemd system and service
       manager) project.  Information about the project can be found at
       ⟨http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd⟩.  If you have a
       bug report for this manual page, see
       ⟨http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/#bugreports⟩.
       This page was obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
       ⟨https://github.com/systemd/systemd.git⟩ on 2025-02-02.  (At that
       time, the date of the most recent commit that was found in the
       repository was 2025-02-02.)  If you discover any rendering
       problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there is
       a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
       corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON
       (which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail to
       man-pages@man7.org

systemd 258~devel                                 SYSTEMD-...GENERATOR(8)

Pages that refer to this page: kernel-command-line(7)systemd.directives(7)systemd.generator(7)systemd.index(7)systemd.system-credentials(7)