## Name

SystemServer - services configuration

## Synopsis

`/etc/SystemServer.ini`

## Description

SystemServer configuration consists of a list of *services* for it to spawn.

Each service is configured as a section in the configuration file, where the
section name is the service name and the keys inside the section are the options
describing how to launch and manage this service.

## Options

* `Executable` - an executable to spawn. If no explicit executable is specified, SystemServer assumes `/bin/{service name}` (for example, `/bin/WindowServer` for a service named `WindowServer`).
* `Arguments` - a space-separated list of arguments to pass to the service as `argv` (excluding `argv[0]`). By default, SystemServer does not pass any arguments other than `argv[0]`.
* `StdIO` - a path to a file to be passed as standard I/O streams to the service. By default, services run with `/dev/null` for standard I/O.
* `Priority` - the scheduling priority to set for the service, either "low", "normal", or "high". The default is "normal".
* `KeepAlive` - whether the service should be restarted if it exits or crashes. For lazy services, this means the service will get respawned once a new connection is attempted on their socket after they exit or crash.
* `Lazy` - whether the service should only get spawned once a client attempts to connect to their socket.
* `Socket` - a path to a socket to create on behalf of the service. For lazy services, SystemServer will actually watch the socket for new connection attempts. An open file descriptor to this socket will be passed as fd 3 to the service.
* `SocketPermissions` - (octal) file system permissions for the socket file. The default permissions are 0600.
* `User` - a name of the user to run the service as. This impacts what UID, GID (and extra GIDs) the service processes have. By default, services are run as root.
* `WorkingDirectory` - the working directory in which the service is spawned. By default, services are spawned in the root (`"/"`) directory.
* `BootModes` - a comma-separated list of boot modes the service should be enabled in. By default, services are only enabled in the "graphical" mode. The current boot mode is read from the kernel command line, and is assumed to be "graphical" if not specified there.
* `Environment` - a space-separated list of "variable=value" pairs to set in the environment for the service.
* `MultiInstance` - whether multiple instances of the service can be running simultaneously.
* `AcceptSocketConnections` - whether SystemServer should accept connections on the socket, and spawn an instance of the service for each client connection.

Note that:
* `Lazy` requires a `Socket`.
* `SocketPermissions` require a `Socket`.
* `MultiInstance` conflicts with `KeepAlive`.
* `AcceptSocketConnections` requires `Socket`, `Lazy`, and `MultiInstance`.

## Environment

* `SOCKET_TAKEOVER` - set by the SystemServer for a service if the service is being passed a socket.

## Examples

```ini
# Spawn the terminal as user anon once on startup.
[Terminal]
User=anon

# Set up a socket at /tmp/portal/lookup; once a connection attempt
# is made spawn the LookupServer as user anon with a low priority.
# If it exits or crashes, repeat.
[LookupServer]
Socket=/tmp/portal/lookup
Lazy=1
Priority=low
KeepAlive=1
User=anon

# Launch the Shell on /dev/tty0 on startup when booting in text mode.
[Shell@tty0]
Executable=/bin/Shell
StdIO=/dev/tty0
Environment=TERM=xterm
KeepAlive=1
BootModes=text
```

## See also

* [`SystemServer`(7)](../man7/SystemServer.md)