SYSTEM.CONF(5)

NAME
system.conf - operating system service configuration

SYNOPSIS
/etc/system.conf

DESCRIPTION
The file /etc/system.conf is the global system configuration file that contains the configuration for all the primary system services. This is the file that the service utility uses by default. Custom configuration files with the same format can be specified on a per-service basis. See service(8) for more details. This page is a summary of all the elements that can be found in this configuration file.

The syntax used is that of the common configuration file described in configfile(5).

The service utility scans the configuration file from beginning to end to gather information about a specific system service when starting or updating the properties of a service. The file contains a collection of service entries of the form:
service <program_name>
{
	[option 1]
	[option 2]
	   ...
	[option N]
};

where <program_name> is the name of the program used to start the given system service. In each service entry, the following options can be used:

uid <uid|SELF|user name>;

    specifies the user id or the user name to use to run the system service. SELF can be used when the service has to start with the realuid of the user who's executing the service utility. Many system services run with root privileges (uid 0). The default user is service (uid 12).

ipc <ALL|ALL_SYS|NONE|name1 name2...nameN>;

    specifies the list of ipc targets (processes and kernel) the system service can talk to. ALL allows all the possible targets, ALL_SYS is similar but excludes user processes. When an explicit list is given, each target must be identified by its process (binary) name. Exceptions are user processes (use pseudo-name USER) and the kernel for kernel calls (use pseudo-name SYSTEM). The default is ALL_SYS.

system <ALL|BASIC|NONE|kcall1 kcall2...kcallN>;

    specifies the list of kernel calls the system service is allowed to call. ALL allows all the kernel calls, BASIC only allows basic kernel calls (see macro SYS_BASIC_CALLS in <minix/com.h>), NONE allows no kernel call. This option only makes sense if the option ipc includes the kernel as a valid target. The default is BASIC.

vm <ALL|BASIC|NONE|vmcall1 vmcall2...vmcallN>;

    specifies the list of VM calls the system service is allowed to call. ALL allows all the VM calls, BASIC only allows basic VM calls (see macro VM_BASIC_CALLS in <minix/com.h>), NONE allows no VM call. This option only makes sense if the option ipc includes VM as a valid target. The default is BASIC.

io <ALL|NONE|baseaddr1 baseaddr2:length2...baseaddrN>;

    specifies the list of I/O ranges the system service is allowed to use. ALL allows all the possible I/O ranges, NONE allows no I/O range at all. When an explicit list is given, each range is identified by a base address and an optional length. When no length is given, length 1 is assumed. The default is NONE.

irq <ALL|NONE|irq1 irq2...irqN>;

    specifies the list of IRQs the system service is allowed to use. ALL allows all the possible IRQs, NONE allows no IRQ at all. An explicit list of IRQ numbers may be given. The default is NONE.

sigmgr <SELF|label>;

    specifies the signal manager the system service is assigned to. The signal manager intercepts all the termination and non-termination signals (including signal generated by runtime exceptions, e.g. SIGSEGV) on behalf of the service and reacts accordingly. SELF allows the service to become its own signal manager. This option should be used with care, since a lethal signal for the service will immediately trigger a kernel panic. A separate system service that acts as the designated signal manager must be specified using its label. The default is specified in <minix/priv.h> (see macro DSRV_SM).

scheduler <KERNEL|label>;

    specifies the scheduler the system service is assigned to. The scheduler implements the scheduling policy for the system service. KERNEL allows the service to be scheduled directly by the kernel. A separate system service that acts as the designated scheduler must be specified using its label. The default is specified in <minix/priv.h> (see macro DSRV_SCH).

priority <priority_queue>;

    specifies the priority queue the scheduler must assign the service to. The default is specified in <minix/priv.h> (see macro DSRV_Q).

quantum <quantum_size_ms>;

    specifies the quantum size (ms) the scheduler must consider the service for. The default is specified in <minix/priv.h> (see macro DSRV_QT).

pci device <vid/did>;

    specifies the PCI device IDs the system service is allowed to use (only used for device drivers). The default is to allow no PCI device IDs.

pci class <class1/mask1 class2/mask2...classN/maskN>;

    specifies the PCI classes the system service is allowed to use (only used for device drivers). The default is to allow no PCI classes.

control <name1 name2...nameN>;

    specifies the list of system services (identified by their process names) that are allowed to control the system service. A controller service can ask RS to perform privileged actions like immediately restarting the service. The default is to allow no controller services.

SEE ALSO
configfile(5), service(8), boot(8).

AUTHOR
Cristiano Giuffrida <giuffrida@cs.vu.nl>