1<?xml version='1.0'?>
2<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
3  "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
4<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later -->
5
6<refentry id="sysupdate.d" conditional='ENABLE_SYSUPDATE'
7          xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
8
9  <refentryinfo>
10    <title>sysupdate.d</title>
11    <productname>systemd</productname>
12  </refentryinfo>
13
14  <refmeta>
15    <refentrytitle>sysupdate.d</refentrytitle>
16    <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
17  </refmeta>
18
19  <refnamediv>
20    <refname>sysupdate.d</refname>
21    <refpurpose>Transfer Definition Files for Automatic Updates</refpurpose>
22  </refnamediv>
23
24  <refsynopsisdiv>
25    <para><literallayout><filename>/etc/sysupdate.d/*.conf</filename>
26<filename>/run/sysupdate.d/*.conf</filename>
27<filename>/usr/lib/sysupdate.d/*.conf</filename>
28    </literallayout></para>
29  </refsynopsisdiv>
30
31  <refsect1>
32    <title>Description</title>
33
34    <para><filename>sysupdate.d/*.conf</filename> files describe how specific resources on the local system
35    shall be updated from a remote source. Each such file defines one such transfer: typically a remote
36    HTTP/HTTPS resource as source; and a local file, directory or partition as target. This may be used as a
37    simple, automatic, atomic update mechanism for the OS itself, for containers, portable services or system
38    extension images — but in fact may be used to update any kind of file from a remote source.</para>
39
40    <para>The
41    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-sysupdate</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
42    command reads these files and uses them to determine which local resources should be updated, and then
43    executes the update.</para>
44
45    <para>Both the remote HTTP/HTTPS source and the local target typically exist in multiple, concurrent
46    versions, in order to implement flexible update schemes, e.g. A/B updating (or a superset thereof,
47    e.g. A/B/C, A/B/C/D, …).</para>
48
49    <para>Each <filename>*.conf</filename> file defines one transfer, i.e. describes one resource to
50    update. Typically, multiple of these files (i.e. multiple of such transfers) are defined together, and
51    are bound together by a common version identifier in order to update multiple resources at once on each
52    update operation, for example to update a kernel, a root file system and a Verity partition in a single,
53    combined, synchronized operation, so that only a combined update of all three together constitutes a
54    complete update.</para>
55
56    <para>Each <filename>*.conf</filename> file contains three sections: [Transfer], [Source] and [Target].</para>
57  </refsect1>
58
59  <refsect1>
60    <title>Basic Mode of Operation</title>
61
62    <para>Disk-image based OS updates typically consist of multiple different resources that need to be
63    updated together, for example a secure OS update might consist of a root file system image to drop into a
64    partition, a matching Verity integrity data partition image, and a kernel image prepared to boot into the
65    combination of the two partitions. The first two resources are files that are downloaded and placed in a
66    disk partition, the latter is a file that is downloaded and placed in a regular file in the boot file
67    system (e.g. EFI system partition). Hence, during an update of a hypothetical operating system "foobarOS"
68    to a hypothetical version 47 the following operations should take place:</para>
69
70    <orderedlist>
71      <listitem><para>A file <literal>https://download.example.com/foobarOS_47.root.xz</literal> should be
72      downloaded, decompressed and written to a previously unused partition with GPT partition type UUID
73      4f68bce3-e8cd-4db1-96e7-fbcaf984b709 for x86-64, as per <ulink
74      url="https://systemd.io/DISCOVERABLE_PARTITIONS">Discoverable Partitions
75      Specification</ulink>.</para></listitem>
76
77      <listitem><para>Similarly, a file <literal>https://download.example.com/foobarOS_47.verity.xz</literal>
78      should be downloaded, decompressed and written to a previously empty partition with GPT partition type
79      UUID of 2c7357ed-ebd2-46d9-aec1-23d437ec2bf5 (i.e the partition type for Verity integrity information
80      for x86-64 root file systems).</para></listitem>
81
82      <listitem><para>Finally, a file <literal>https://download.example.com/foobarOS_47.efi.xz</literal> (a
83      unified kernel, as per <ulink url="https://systemd.io/BOOT_LOADER_SPECIFICATION">Boot Loader
84      Specification</ulink> Type #2) should be downloaded, decompressed and written to the ESP file system,
85      i.e. to <filename>EFI/Linux/foobarOS_47.efi</filename> in the ESP.</para></listitem>
86    </orderedlist>
87
88    <para>The version-independent generalization of this would be (using the special marker
89    <literal>@v</literal> as wildcard for the version identifier):</para>
90
91    <orderedlist>
92      <listitem><para>A transfer of a file <literal>https://download.example.com/foobarOS_@v.root.xz</literal>
93      → a local, previously empty GPT partition of type 4f68bce3-e8cd-4db1-96e7-fbcaf984b709, with the label to
94      be set to <literal>foobarOS_@v</literal>.</para></listitem>
95
96      <listitem><para>A transfer of a file <literal>https://download.example.com/foobarOS_@v.verity.xz</literal>
97      → a local, previously empty GPT partition of type 2c7357ed-ebd2-46d9-aec1-23d437ec2bf5, with the label to be
98      set to <literal>foobarOS_@v_verity</literal>.</para></listitem>
99
100      <listitem><para>A transfer of a file <literal>https://download.example.com/foobarOS_@v.efi.xz</literal>
101      → a local file <filename>/efi/EFI/Linux/foobarOS_@v.efi</filename>.</para></listitem>
102    </orderedlist>
103
104    <para>An update can only complete if the relevant URLs provide their resources for the same version,
105    i.e. for the same value of <literal>@v</literal>.</para>
106
107    <para>The above may be translated into three <filename>*.conf</filename> files in
108    <filename>sysupdate.d/</filename>, one for each resource to transfer. The <filename>*.conf</filename>
109    files configure the type of download, and what place to write the download to (i.e. whether to a
110    partition or a file in the file system). Most importantly these files contain the URL, partition name and
111    filename patterns shown above that describe how these resources are called on the source and how they
112    shall be called on the target.</para>
113
114    <para>In order to enumerate available versions and figuring out candidates to update to, a mechanism is
115    necessary to list suitable files:</para>
116
117    <itemizedlist>
118      <listitem><para>For partitions: the surrounding GPT partition table contains a list of defined
119      partitions, including a partition type UUID and a partition label (in this scheme the partition label
120      plays a role for the partition similar to the filename for a regular file)</para></listitem>
121
122      <listitem><para>For regular files: the directory listing of the directory the files are contained in
123      provides a list of existing files in a straightforward way.</para></listitem>
124
125      <listitem><para>For HTTP/HTTPS sources a simple scheme is used: a manifest file
126      <filename>SHA256SUMS</filename>, following the format defined by <citerefentry
127      project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>sha256sum</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
128      lists file names and their SHA256 hashes.</para></listitem>
129    </itemizedlist>
130
131    <para>Transfers are done in the alphabetical order of the <filename>.conf</filename> file names they are
132    defined in. First, the resource data is downloaded directly into a target file/directory/partition. Once
133    this is completed for all defined transfers, in a second step the files/directories/partitions are
134    renamed to their final names as defined by the target <varname>MatchPattern=</varname>, again in the
135    order the <filename>.conf</filename> transfer file names dictate. This step is not atomic, however it is
136    guaranteed to be executed strictly in order with suitable disk synchronization in place. Typically, when
137    updating an OS one of the transfers defines the entry point when booting. Thus it is generally a good idea
138    to order the resources via the transfer configuration file names so that the entry point is written
139    last, ensuring that any abnormal termination does not leave an entry point around whose backing is not
140    established yet. In the example above it would hence make sense to establish the EFI kernel image last
141    and thus give its transfer configuration file the alphabetically last name.</para>
142
143    <para>See below for an extended, more specific example based on the above.</para>
144  </refsect1>
145
146  <refsect1>
147    <title>Resource Types</title>
148
149    <para>Each transfer file defines one source resource to transfer to one target resource. The following
150    resource types are supported:</para>
151
152    <orderedlist>
153
154      <listitem><para>Resources of type <literal>url-file</literal> encapsulate a file on a web server,
155      referenced via a HTTP or HTTPS URL. When an update takes place, the file is downloaded and decompressed
156      and then written to the target file or partition. This resource type is only available for sources, not
157      for targets. The list of available versions of resources of this type is encoded in
158      <filename>SHA256SUMS</filename> manifest files, accompanied by
159      <filename>SHA256SUMS.gpg</filename> detached signatures.</para></listitem>
160
161      <listitem><para>The <literal>url-tar</literal> resource type is similar, but the file must be a
162      <filename>.tar</filename> archive. When an update takes place, the file is decompressed and unpacked
163      into a directory or btrfs subvolume. This resource type is only available for sources, not for
164      targets. Just like <literal>url-file</literal>, <literal>url-tar</literal> version enumeration makes
165      use of <filename>SHA256SUMS</filename> files, authenticated via
166      <filename>SHA256SUMS.gpg</filename>.</para></listitem>
167
168      <listitem><para>The <literal>regular-file</literal> resource type encapsulates a local regular file on
169      disk. During updates the file is uncompressed and written to the target file or partition. This
170      resource type is available both as source and as target. When updating no integrity or authentication
171      verification is done for resources of this type.</para></listitem>
172
173      <listitem><para>The <literal>partition</literal> resource type is similar to
174      <literal>regular-file</literal>, and encapsulates a GPT partition on disk. When updating, the partition
175      must exist already, and have the correct GPT partition type. A partition whose GPT partition label is
176      set to <literal>_empty</literal> is considered empty, and a candidate to place a newly downloaded
177      resource in. The GPT partition label is used to store version information, once a partition is
178      updated. This resource type is only available for target resources.</para></listitem>
179
180      <listitem><para>The <literal>tar</literal> resource type encapsulates local <filename>.tar</filename>
181      archive files. When an update takes place, the files are uncompressed and unpacked into a target
182      directory or btrfs subvolume. Behaviour of <literal>tar</literal> and <literal>url-tar</literal> is
183      generally similar, but the latter downloads from remote sources, and does integrity and authentication
184      checks while the former does not. The <literal>tar</literal> resource type is only available for source
185      resources.</para></listitem>
186
187      <listitem><para>The <literal>directory</literal> resource type encapsulates local directory trees. This
188      type is available both for source and target resources. If an update takes place on a source resource
189      of this type, a recursive copy of the directory is done.</para></listitem>
190
191      <listitem><para>The <literal>subvolume</literal> resource type is identical to
192      <literal>directory</literal>, except when used as the target, in which case the file tree is placed in
193      a btrfs subvolume instead of a plain directory, if the backing file system supports it (i.e. is
194      btrfs).</para></listitem>
195    </orderedlist>
196
197    <para>As already indicated, only a subset of source and target resource type combinations are
198    supported:</para>
199
200    <table>
201      <title>Resource Types</title>
202
203      <tgroup cols='3' align='left' colsep='1' rowsep='1'>
204        <colspec colname="name" />
205        <colspec colname="explanation" />
206
207        <thead>
208          <row>
209            <entry>Identifier</entry>
210            <entry>Description</entry>
211            <entry>Usable as Source</entry>
212            <entry>When Used as Source: Compatible Targets</entry>
213            <entry>When Used as Source: Integrity + Authentication</entry>
214            <entry>When Used as Source: Decompression</entry>
215            <entry>Usable as Target</entry>
216            <entry>When Used as Target: Compatible Sources</entry>
217          </row>
218        </thead>
219
220        <tbody>
221          <row>
222            <entry><constant>url-file</constant></entry>
223            <entry>HTTP/HTTPS files</entry>
224            <entry>yes</entry>
225            <entry><constant>regular-file</constant>, <constant>partition</constant></entry>
226            <entry>yes</entry>
227            <entry>yes</entry>
228            <entry>no</entry>
229            <entry>-</entry>
230          </row>
231
232          <row>
233            <entry><constant>url-tar</constant></entry>
234            <entry>HTTP/HTTPS <filename>.tar</filename> archives</entry>
235            <entry>yes</entry>
236            <entry><constant>directory</constant>, <constant>subvolume</constant></entry>
237            <entry>yes</entry>
238            <entry>yes</entry>
239            <entry>no</entry>
240            <entry>-</entry>
241          </row>
242
243          <row>
244            <entry><constant>regular-file</constant></entry>
245            <entry>Local files</entry>
246            <entry>yes</entry>
247            <entry><constant>regular-file</constant>, <constant>partition</constant></entry>
248            <entry>no</entry>
249            <entry>yes</entry>
250            <entry>yes</entry>
251            <entry><constant>url-file</constant>, <constant>regular-file</constant></entry>
252          </row>
253
254          <row>
255            <entry><constant>partition</constant></entry>
256            <entry>Local GPT partitions</entry>
257            <entry>no</entry>
258            <entry>-</entry>
259            <entry>-</entry>
260            <entry>-</entry>
261            <entry>yes</entry>
262            <entry><constant>url-file</constant>, <constant>regular-file</constant></entry>
263          </row>
264
265          <row>
266            <entry><constant>tar</constant></entry>
267            <entry>Local <filename>.tar</filename> archives</entry>
268            <entry>yes</entry>
269            <entry><constant>directory</constant>, <constant>subvolume</constant></entry>
270            <entry>no</entry>
271            <entry>yes</entry>
272            <entry>no</entry>
273            <entry>-</entry>
274          </row>
275
276          <row>
277            <entry><constant>directory</constant></entry>
278            <entry>Local directories</entry>
279            <entry>yes</entry>
280            <entry><constant>directory</constant>, <constant>subvolume</constant></entry>
281            <entry>no</entry>
282            <entry>no</entry>
283            <entry>yes</entry>
284            <entry><constant>url-tar</constant>, <constant>tar</constant>, <constant>directory</constant>, <constant>subvolume</constant></entry>
285          </row>
286
287          <row>
288            <entry><constant>subvolume</constant></entry>
289            <entry>Local btrfs subvolumes</entry>
290            <entry>yes</entry>
291            <entry><constant>directory</constant>, <constant>subvolume</constant></entry>
292            <entry>no</entry>
293            <entry>no</entry>
294            <entry>yes</entry>
295            <entry><constant>url-tar</constant>, <constant>tar</constant>, <constant>directory</constant>, <constant>subvolume</constant></entry>
296          </row>
297
298        </tbody>
299      </tgroup>
300    </table>
301  </refsect1>
302
303  <refsect1>
304    <title>Match Patterns</title>
305
306    <para>Both the source and target resources typically exist in multiple versions concurrently. An update
307    operation is done whenever the newest of the source versions is newer than the newest of the target
308    versions. To determine the newest version of the resources a directory listing, partition listing or
309    manifest listing is used, a subset of qualifying entries selected from that, and the version identifier
310    extracted from the file names or partition labels of these selected entries. Subset selection and
311    extraction of the version identifier (plus potentially other metadata) is done via match patterns,
312    configured in <varname>MatchPattern=</varname> in the [Source] and [Target] sections. These patterns are
313    strings that describe how files or partitions are named, with named wildcards for specific fields such as
314    the version identifier. The following wildcards are defined:</para>
315
316    <table>
317      <title>Match Pattern Wildcards</title>
318
319      <tgroup cols='2' align='left' colsep='1' rowsep='1'>
320        <colspec colname="name" />
321        <colspec colname="explanation" />
322
323        <thead>
324          <row>
325            <entry>Wildcard</entry>
326            <entry>Description</entry>
327            <entry>Format</entry>
328            <entry>Notes</entry>
329          </row>
330        </thead>
331
332        <tbody>
333          <row>
334            <entry><literal>@v</literal></entry>
335            <entry>Version identifier</entry>
336            <entry>Valid version string</entry>
337            <entry>Mandatory</entry>
338          </row>
339
340          <row>
341            <entry><literal>@u</literal></entry>
342            <entry>GPT partition UUID</entry>
343            <entry>Valid 128-Bit UUID string</entry>
344            <entry>Only relevant if target resource type chosen as <constant>partition</constant></entry>
345          </row>
346
347          <row>
348            <entry><literal>@f</literal></entry>
349            <entry>GPT partition flags</entry>
350            <entry>Formatted hexadecimal integer</entry>
351            <entry>Only relevant if target resource type chosen as <constant>partition</constant></entry>
352          </row>
353
354          <row>
355            <entry><literal>@a</literal></entry>
356            <entry>GPT partition flag NoAuto</entry>
357            <entry>Either <literal>0</literal> or <literal>1</literal></entry>
358            <entry>Controls NoAuto bit of the GPT partition flags, as per <ulink url="https://systemd.io/DISCOVERABLE_PARTITIONS">Discoverable Partitions Specification</ulink>; only relevant if target resource type chosen as <constant>partition</constant></entry>
359          </row>
360
361          <row>
362            <entry><literal>@g</literal></entry>
363            <entry>GPT partition flag GrowFileSystem</entry>
364            <entry>Either <literal>0</literal> or <literal>1</literal></entry>
365            <entry>Controls GrowFileSystem bit of the GPT partition flags, as per <ulink url="https://systemd.io/DISCOVERABLE_PARTITIONS">Discoverable Partitions Specification</ulink>; only relevant if target resource type chosen as <constant>partition</constant></entry>
366          </row>
367
368          <row>
369            <entry><literal>@r</literal></entry>
370            <entry>Read-only flag</entry>
371            <entry>Either <literal>0</literal> or <literal>1</literal></entry>
372            <entry>Controls ReadOnly bit of the GPT partition flags, as per <ulink url="https://systemd.io/DISCOVERABLE_PARTITIONS">Discoverable Partitions Specification</ulink> and other output read-only flags, see <varname>ReadOnly=</varname> below.</entry>
373          </row>
374
375          <row>
376            <entry><literal>@t</literal></entry>
377            <entry>File modification time</entry>
378            <entry>Formatted decimal integer, µs since UNIX epoch Jan 1st 1970</entry>
379            <entry>Only relevant if target resource type chosen as <constant>regular-file</constant></entry>
380          </row>
381
382          <row>
383            <entry><literal>@m</literal></entry>
384            <entry>File access mode</entry>
385            <entry>Formatted octal integer, in UNIX fashion</entry>
386            <entry>Only relevant if target resource type chosen as <constant>regular-file</constant></entry>
387          </row>
388
389          <row>
390            <entry><literal>@s</literal></entry>
391            <entry>File size after decompression</entry>
392            <entry>Formatted decimal integer</entry>
393            <entry>Useful for measuring progress and to improve partition allocation logic</entry>
394          </row>
395
396          <row>
397            <entry><literal>@d</literal></entry>
398            <entry>Tries done</entry>
399            <entry>Formatted decimal integer</entry>
400            <entry>Useful when operating with kernel image files, as per <ulink url="https://systemd.io/AUTOMATIC_BOOT_ASSESSMENT">Automatic Boot Assessment</ulink></entry>
401          </row>
402
403          <row>
404            <entry><literal>@l</literal></entry>
405            <entry>Tries left</entry>
406            <entry>Formatted decimal integer</entry>
407            <entry>Useful when operating with kernel images, as per <ulink url="https://systemd.io/AUTOMATIC_BOOT_ASSESSMENT">Automatic Boot Assessment</ulink></entry>
408          </row>
409
410          <row>
411            <entry><literal>@h</literal></entry>
412            <entry>SHA256 hash of compressed file</entry>
413            <entry>64 hexadecimal characters</entry>
414            <entry>The SHA256 hash of the compressed file; not useful for <constant>url-file</constant> or <constant>url-tar</constant> where the SHA256 hash is already included in the manifest file anyway.</entry>
415          </row>
416        </tbody>
417      </tgroup>
418    </table>
419
420    <para>Of these wildcards only <literal>@v</literal> must be present in a valid pattern, all other
421    wildcards are optional. Each wildcard may be used at most once in each pattern. A typical wildcard
422    matching a file system source image could be <literal>MatchPattern=foobar_@v.raw.xz</literal>, i.e. any file
423    whose name begins with <literal>foobar_</literal>, followed by a version ID and suffixed by
424    <literal>.raw.xz</literal>.</para>
425
426    <para>Do not confuse the <literal>@</literal> pattern matching wildcard prefix with the
427    <literal>%</literal> specifier expansion prefix. The former encapsulate a variable part of a match
428    pattern string, the latter are simple shortcuts that are expanded while the drop-in files are
429    parsed. For details about specifiers, see below.</para>
430  </refsect1>
431
432  <refsect1>
433    <title>[Transfer] Section Options</title>
434
435    <para>This section defines general properties of this transfer.</para>
436
437    <variablelist>
438      <varlistentry>
439        <term><varname>MinVersion=</varname></term>
440
441        <listitem><para>Specifies the minimum version to require for this transfer to take place. If the
442        source or target patterns in this transfer definition match files older than this version they will
443        be considered obsolete, and never be considered for the update operation.</para></listitem>
444      </varlistentry>
445
446      <varlistentry>
447        <term><varname>ProtectVersion=</varname></term>
448
449        <listitem><para>Takes one or more version strings to mark as "protected". Protected versions are
450        never removed while making room for new, updated versions. This is useful to ensure that the
451        currently booted OS version (or auxiliary resources associated with it) is not replaced/overwritten
452        during updates, in order to avoid runtime file system corruptions.</para>
453
454        <para>Like many of the settings in these configuration files this setting supports specifier
455        expansion. It's particularly useful to set this setting to one of the <literal>%A</literal>,
456        <literal>%B</literal> or <literal>%w</literal> specifiers to automatically refer to the current OS
457        version of the running system. See below for details on supported specifiers.</para></listitem>
458      </varlistentry>
459
460      <varlistentry>
461        <term><varname>Verify=</varname></term>
462
463        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean, defaults to yes. Controls whether to cryptographically verify
464        downloaded resources (specifically: validate the GPG signatures for downloaded
465        <filename>SHA256SUMS</filename> manifest files, via their detached signature files
466        <filename>SHA256SUMS.gpg</filename> in combination with the system keyring
467        <filename>/usr/lib/systemd/import-pubring.gpg</filename> or
468        <filename>/etc/systemd/import-pubring.gpg</filename>).</para>
469
470        <para>This option is essential to provide integrity guarantees for downloaded resources and thus
471        should be left enabled, outside of test environments.</para>
472
473        <para>Note that the downloaded payload files are unconditionally checked against the SHA256 hashes
474        listed in the manifest. This option only controls whether the signatures of these manifests are
475        verified.</para>
476
477        <para>This option only has an effect if the source resource type is selected as
478        <constant>url-file</constant> or <constant>url-tar</constant>, as integrity and authentication
479        checking is only available for transfers from remote sources.</para></listitem>
480      </varlistentry>
481
482    </variablelist>
483  </refsect1>
484
485  <refsect1>
486    <title>[Source] Section Options</title>
487
488    <para>This section defines properties of the transfer source:</para>
489
490    <variablelist>
491      <varlistentry>
492        <term><varname>Type=</varname></term>
493
494        <listitem><para>Specifies the resource type of the source for the transfer. Takes one of
495        <constant>url-file</constant>, <constant>url-tar</constant>, <constant>tar</constant>,
496        <constant>regular-file</constant>, <constant>directory</constant> or
497        <constant>subvolume</constant>. For details about the resource types, see above. This option is
498        mandatory.</para>
499
500        <para>Note that only some combinations of source and target resource types are supported, see
501        above.</para></listitem>
502      </varlistentry>
503    </variablelist>
504
505    <variablelist>
506      <varlistentry>
507        <term><varname>Path=</varname></term>
508
509        <listitem><para>Specifies where to find source versions of this resource.</para>
510
511        <para>If the source type is selected as <constant>url-file</constant> or
512        <constant>url-tar</constant> this must be a HTTP/HTTPS URL. The URL is suffixed with
513        <filename>/SHA256SUMS</filename> to acquire the manifest file, with
514        <filename>/SHA256SUMS.gpg</filename> to acquire the detached signature file for it, and with the file
515        names listed in the manifest file in case an update is executed and a resource shall be
516        downloaded.</para>
517
518        <para>For all other source resource types this must be a local path in the file system, referring to
519        a local directory to find the versions of this resource in.</para></listitem>
520      </varlistentry>
521
522      <varlistentry>
523        <term><varname>MatchPattern=</varname></term>
524
525        <listitem><para>Specifies one or more file name match patterns that select the subset of files that
526        are update candidates as source for this transfer. See above for details on match patterns.</para>
527
528        <para>This option is mandatory. Any pattern listed must contain at least the <literal>@v</literal>
529        wildcard, so that a version identifier may be extracted from the filename. All other wildcards are
530        optional.</para></listitem>
531      </varlistentry>
532    </variablelist>
533  </refsect1>
534
535  <refsect1>
536    <title>[Target] Section Options</title>
537
538    <para>This section defines properties of the transfer target:</para>
539
540    <variablelist>
541      <varlistentry>
542        <term><varname>Type=</varname></term>
543
544        <listitem><para>Specifies the resource type of the target for the transfer. Takes one of
545        <constant>partition</constant>, <constant>regular-file</constant>, <constant>directory</constant> or
546        <constant>subvolume</constant>. For details about the resource types, see above. This option is
547        mandatory.</para>
548
549        <para>Note that only some combinations of source and target resource types are supported, see above.</para></listitem>
550      </varlistentry>
551
552      <varlistentry>
553        <term><varname>Path=</varname></term>
554
555        <listitem><para>Specifies a file system path where to look for already installed versions or place
556        newly downloaded versions of this configured resource. If <varname>Type=</varname> is set to
557        <constant>partition</constant>, expects a path to a (whole) block device node, or the special string
558        <literal>auto</literal> in which case the block device the root file system of the currently booted
559        system is automatically determined and used. If <varname>Type=</varname> is set to
560        <constant>regular-file</constant>, <constant>directory</constant> or <constant>subvolume</constant>,
561        must refer to a path in the local file system referencing the directory to find or place the version
562        files or directories under.</para>
563
564        <para>Note that this mechanism cannot be used to create or remove partitions, in case
565        <varname>Type=</varname> is set to <constant>partition</constant>. Partitions must exist already, and
566        a special partition label <literal>_empty</literal> is used to indicate empty partitions. To
567        automatically generate suitable partitions on first boot, use a tool such as
568        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-repart</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para></listitem>
569      </varlistentry>
570
571      <varlistentry>
572        <term><varname>MatchPattern=</varname></term>
573
574        <listitem><para>Specifies one or more file name or partition label match patterns that select the
575        subset of files or partitions that are update candidates as targets for this transfer. See above for
576        details on match patterns.</para>
577
578        <para>This option is mandatory. Any pattern listed must contain at least the <literal>@v</literal>
579        wildcard, so that a version identifier may be extracted from the filename. All other wildcards are
580        optional.</para>
581
582        <para>This pattern is both used for matching existing installed versions and for determining the name
583        of new versions to install. If multiple patterns are specified, the first specified is used for
584        naming newly installed versions.</para></listitem>
585      </varlistentry>
586
587      <varlistentry>
588        <term><varname>MatchPartitionType=</varname></term>
589
590        <listitem><para>When the target <varname>Type=</varname> is chosen as <constant>partition</constant>,
591        specifies the GPT partition type to look for. Only partitions of this type are considered, all other
592        partitions are ignored. If not specified, the GPT partition type <constant>linux-generic</constant>
593        is used. Accepts either a literal type UUID or a symbolic type identifier. For a list of supported
594        type identifiers, see the <varname>Type=</varname> setting in
595        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>repart.d</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para></listitem>
596      </varlistentry>
597
598      <varlistentry>
599        <term><varname>PartitionUUID=</varname></term>
600        <term><varname>PartitionFlags=</varname></term>
601        <term><varname>PartitionNoAuto=</varname></term>
602        <term><varname>PartitionGrowFileSystem=</varname></term>
603
604        <listitem><para>When the target <varname>Type=</varname> is picked as <constant>partition</constant>,
605        selects the GPT partition UUID and partition flags to use for the updated partition. Expects a valid
606        UUID string, a hexadecimal integer, or booleans, respectively. If not set, but the source match
607        pattern includes wildcards for these fields (i.e. <literal>@u</literal>, <literal>@f</literal>,
608        <literal>@a</literal>, or <literal>@g</literal>), the values from the patterns are used. If neither
609        configured with wildcards or these explicit settings, the values are left untouched. If both the
610        overall <varname>PartitionFlags=</varname> flags setting and the individual flag settings
611        <varname>PartitionNoAuto=</varname> and <varname>PartitionGrowFileSystem=</varname> are used (or the
612        wildcards for them), then the latter override the former, i.e. the individual flag bit overrides the
613        overall flags value. See <ulink url="https://systemd.io/DISCOVERABLE_PARTITIONS">Discoverable
614        Partitions Specification</ulink> for details about these flags.</para>
615
616        <para>Note that these settings are not used for matching, they only have effect on newly written
617        partitions in case a transfer takes place.</para></listitem>
618      </varlistentry>
619
620      <varlistentry>
621        <term><varname>ReadOnly=</varname></term>
622
623        <listitem><para>Controls whether to mark the resulting file, subvolume or partition read-only. If the
624        target type is <constant>partition</constant> this controls the ReadOnly partition flag, as per
625        <ulink url="https://systemd.io/DISCOVERABLE_PARTITIONS">Discoverable Partitions
626        Specification</ulink>, similar to the <varname>PartitionNoAuto=</varname> and
627        <varname>PartitionGrowFileSystem=</varname> flags described above. If the target type is
628        <constant>regular-file</constant>, the writable bit is removed from the access mode. If the the
629        target type is <constant>subvolume</constant>, the subvolume will be marked read-only as a
630        whole. Finally, if the target <varname>Type=</varname> is selected as <constant>directory</constant>,
631        the "immutable" file attribute is set, see <citerefentry
632        project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>chattr</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
633        details.</para></listitem>
634      </varlistentry>
635
636      <varlistentry>
637        <term><varname>Mode=</varname></term>
638
639        <listitem><para>The UNIX file access mode to use for newly created files in case the target resource
640        type is picked as <constant>regular-file</constant>. Expects an octal integer, in typical UNIX
641        fashion. If not set, but the source match pattern includes a wildcard for this field
642        (i.e. <literal>@t</literal>), the value from the pattern is used.</para>
643
644        <para>Note that this setting is not used for matching, it only has an effect on newly written
645        files when a transfer takes place.</para></listitem>
646      </varlistentry>
647
648      <varlistentry>
649        <term><varname>TriesDone=</varname></term>
650        <term><varname>TriesLeft=</varname></term>
651
652        <listitem><para>These options take positive, decimal integers, and control the number of attempts
653        done and left for this file. These settings are useful for managing kernel images, following the
654        scheme defined in <ulink url="https://systemd.io/AUTOMATIC_BOOT_ASSESSMENT">Automatic Boot
655        Assessment</ulink>, and only have an effect if the target pattern includes the <literal>@d</literal>
656        or <literal>@l</literal> wildcards.</para></listitem>
657      </varlistentry>
658
659      <varlistentry>
660        <term><varname>InstancesMax=</varname></term>
661
662        <listitem><para>Takes a decimal integer equal to or greater than 2. This configures how many concurrent
663        versions of the resource to keep. Whenever a new update is initiated it is made sure that no more
664        than the number of versions specified here minus one exist in the target. Any excess versions are
665        deleted (in case the target <varname>Type=</varname> of <constant>regular-file</constant>,
666        <constant>directory</constant>, <constant>subvolume</constant> is used) or emptied (in case the
667        target <varname>Type=</varname> of <constant>partition</constant> is used; emptying in this case
668        simply means to set the partition label to the special string <literal>_empty</literal>; note that no
669        partitions are actually removed). After an update is completed the number of concurrent versions of
670        the target resources is equal to or below the number specified here.</para>
671
672        <para>Note that this setting may be set differently for each transfer. However, it generally is
673        advisable to keep this setting the same for all transfers, since otherwise incomplete combinations of
674        files or partitions will be left installed.</para>
675
676        <para>If the target <varname>Type=</varname> is selected as <constant>partition</constant>, the number
677        of concurrent versions to keep is additionally restricted by the number of partition slots of the
678        right type in the partition table. i.e. if there are only 2 partition slots for the selected
679        partition type, setting this value larger than 2 is without effect, since no more than 2 concurrent
680        versions could be stored in the image anyway.</para></listitem>
681      </varlistentry>
682
683      <varlistentry>
684        <term><varname>RemoveTemporary=</varname></term>
685
686        <listitem><para>Takes a boolean argument. If this option is enabled (which is the default) before
687        initiating an update, all left-over, incomplete updates from a previous attempt are removed from the
688        target directory. This only has an effect if the target resource <varname>Type=</varname> is selected
689        as <constant>regular-file</constant>, <constant>directory</constant> or
690        <constant>subvolume</constant>.</para></listitem>
691      </varlistentry>
692
693      <varlistentry>
694        <term><varname>CurrentSymlink=</varname></term>
695
696        <listitem><para>Takes a symlink name as argument. If this option is used, as the last step of the
697        update a symlink under the specified name is created/updated pointing to the completed update. This
698        is useful in to provide a stable name always pointing to the newest version of the resource. This is
699        only supported if the target resource <varname>Type=</varname> is selected as
700        <constant>regular-file</constant>, <constant>directory</constant> or
701        <constant>subvolume</constant>.</para></listitem>
702      </varlistentry>
703
704    </variablelist>
705  </refsect1>
706
707  <refsect1>
708    <title>Specifiers</title>
709
710    <para>Specifiers may be used in the <varname>MinVersion=</varname>, <varname>ProtectVersion=</varname>,
711    <varname>Path=</varname>, <varname>MatchPattern=</varname> and <varname>CurrentSymlink=</varname>
712    settings. The following expansions are understood:</para>
713      <table class='specifiers'>
714        <title>Specifiers available</title>
715        <tgroup cols='3' align='left' colsep='1' rowsep='1'>
716          <colspec colname="spec" />
717          <colspec colname="mean" />
718          <colspec colname="detail" />
719          <thead>
720            <row>
721              <entry>Specifier</entry>
722              <entry>Meaning</entry>
723              <entry>Details</entry>
724            </row>
725          </thead>
726          <tbody>
727            <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="a"/>
728            <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="A"/>
729            <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="b"/>
730            <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="B"/>
731            <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="H"/>
732            <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="l"/>
733            <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="m"/>
734            <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="M"/>
735            <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="o"/>
736            <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="v"/>
737            <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="w"/>
738            <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="W"/>
739            <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="T"/>
740            <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="V"/>
741            <xi:include href="standard-specifiers.xml" xpointer="percent"/>
742          </tbody>
743        </tgroup>
744      </table>
745
746    <para>Do not confuse the <literal>%</literal> specifier expansion prefix with the <literal>@</literal>
747    pattern matching wildcard prefix. The former are simple shortcuts that are expanded while the drop-in
748    files are parsed, the latter encapsulate a variable part of a match pattern string. For details about
749    pattern matching wildcards, see above.</para>
750  </refsect1>
751
752  <refsect1>
753    <title>Examples</title>
754
755    <example>
756      <title>Updates for a Verity Enabled Secure OS</title>
757
758      <para>With the following three files we define a root file system partition, a matching Verity
759      partition, and a unified kernel image to update as one. This example is an extension of the example
760      discussed earlier in this man page.</para>
761
762      <para><programlisting># /usr/lib/sysupdate.d/50-verity.conf
763[Transfer]
764ProtectVersion=%A
765
766[Source]
767Type=url-file
768Path=https://download.example.com/
769MatchPattern=foobarOS_@v_@u.verity.xz
770
771[Target]
772Type=partition
773Path=auto
774MatchPattern=foobarOS_@v_verity
775MatchPartitionType=root-verity
776PartitionFlags=0
777PartitionReadOnly=1</programlisting></para>
778
779      <para>The above defines the update mechanism for the Verity partition of the root file system. Verity
780      partition images are downloaded from
781      <literal>https://download.example.com/foobarOS_@v_@u.verity.xz</literal> and written to a suitable
782      local partition, which is marked read-only. Under the assumption this update is run from the image
783      itself the current image version (i.e. the <literal>%A</literal> specifier) is marked as protected, to
784      ensure it is not corrupted while booted. Note that the partition UUID for the target partition is
785      encoded in the source file name. Fixating the partition UUID can be useful to ensure that
786      <literal>roothash=</literal> on the kernel command line is sufficient to pinpoint both the Verity and
787      root file system partition, and also encode the Verity root level hash (under the assumption the UUID
788      in the file names match their top-level hash, the way
789      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-gpt-auto-generator</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
790      suggests).</para>
791
792      <para><programlisting># /usr/lib/sysupdate.d/60-root.conf
793[Transfer]
794ProtectVersion=%A
795
796[Source]
797Type=url-file
798Path=https://download.example.com/
799MatchPattern=foobarOS_@v_@u.root.xz
800
801[Target]
802Type=partition
803Path=auto
804MatchPattern=foobarOS_@v
805MatchPartitionType=root
806PartitionFlags=0
807PartitionReadOnly=1</programlisting></para>
808
809      <para>The above defines a matching transfer definition for the root file system.</para>
810
811      <para><programlisting># /usr/lib/sysupdate.d/70-kernel.conf
812[Transfer]
813ProtectVersion=%A
814
815[Source]
816Type=url-file
817Path=https://download.example.com/
818MatchPattern=foobarOS_@v.efi.xz
819
820[Target]
821Type=file
822Path=/efi/EFI/Linux
823MatchPattern=foobarOS_@v+@l-@d.efi \
824             foobarOS_@v+@l.efi \
825             foobarOS_@v.efi
826Mode=0444
827TriesLeft=3
828TriesDone=0
829InstancesMax=2</programlisting></para>
830
831        <para>The above installs a unified kernel image into the ESP (which is mounted to
832        <filename>/efi/</filename>), as per <ulink url="https://systemd.io/BOOT_LOADER_SPECIFICATION">Boot
833        Loader Specification</ulink> Type #2. This defines three possible patterns for the names of the
834        kernel images images, as per <ulink url="https://systemd.io/AUTOMATIC_BOOT_ASSESSMENT">Automatic Boot
835        Assessment</ulink>, and ensures when installing new kernels, they are set up with 3 tries left. No
836        more than two parallel kernels are kept.</para>
837
838        <para>With this setup the web server would serve the following files, for a hypothetical version 7 of
839        the OS:</para>
840
841        <itemizedlist>
842          <listitem><para><filename>SHA256SUMS</filename> – The manifest file, containing available files and their SHA256 hashes</para></listitem>
843          <listitem><para><filename>SHA256SUMS.gpg</filename> – The detached cryptographic signature for the manifest file</para></listitem>
844          <listitem><para><filename>foobarOS_7_8b8186b1-2b4e-4eb6-ad39-8d4d18d2a8fb.verity.xz</filename> – The Verity image for version 7</para></listitem>
845          <listitem><para><filename>foobarOS_7_f4d1234f-3ebf-47c4-b31d-4052982f9a2f.root.xz</filename> – The root file system image for version 7</para></listitem>
846          <listitem><para><filename>foobarOS_7_efi.xz</filename> – The unified kernel image for version 7</para></listitem>
847        </itemizedlist>
848
849        <para>For each new OS release a new set of the latter three files would be added, each time with an
850        updated version. The <filename>SHA256SUMS</filename> manifest should then be updated accordingly,
851        listing all files for all versions that shall be offered for download.</para>
852    </example>
853
854    <example>
855      <title>Updates for Plain Directory Container Image</title>
856
857      <para><programlisting>
858[Source]
859Type=url-tar
860Path=https://download.example.com/
861MatchPattern=myContainer_@v.tar.gz
862
863[Target]
864Type=subvolume
865Path=/var/lib/machines
866MatchPattern=myContainer_@v
867CurrentSymlink=myContainer</programlisting></para>
868
869      <para>On updates this downloads <literal>https://download.example.com/myContainer_@v.tar.gz</literal>
870      and decompresses/unpacks it to <filename>/var/lib/machines/myContainer_@v</filename>. After each update
871      a symlink <filename>/var/lib/machines/myContainer</filename> is created/updated always pointing to the
872      most recent update.</para>
873    </example>
874  </refsect1>
875
876  <refsect1>
877    <title>See Also</title>
878    <para>
879      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
880      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-sysupdate</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
881      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-repart</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
882    </para>
883  </refsect1>
884
885</refentry>
886