[systemd-devel] [PATCH] systemctl: clarify usage of "--all" versus list-unit-files

[harald at redhat.com]

From: Harald Hoyer <harald at redhat.com>

Novice users might think, that
 $ systemctl --all
is equal to
 $ systemctl list-unit-files

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=748512
---
 man/systemctl.xml         | 4 +++-
 src/systemctl/systemctl.c | 4 +++-
 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/man/systemctl.xml b/man/systemctl.xml
index 5656564..053d25c 100644
--- a/man/systemctl.xml
+++ b/man/systemctl.xml
@@ -132,10 +132,12 @@ along with systemd; If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
         <term><option>--all</option></term>
 
         <listitem>
-          <para>When listing units, show all units, regardless of
+          <para>When listing units, show all internally loaded units, regardless of
           their state, including inactive units. When showing
           unit/job/manager properties, show all properties regardless
           whether they are set or not.</para>
+          <para>To list all units installed on disk, use the command
+          <command>list-unit-files</command> instead.</para>
         </listitem>
       </varlistentry>
 
diff --git a/src/systemctl/systemctl.c b/src/systemctl/systemctl.c
index fd9f580..3373b88 100644
--- a/src/systemctl/systemctl.c
+++ b/src/systemctl/systemctl.c
@@ -4147,7 +4147,9 @@ static int systemctl_help(void) {
                "     --version        Show package version\n"
                "  -t --type=TYPE      List only units of a particular type\n"
                "  -p --property=NAME  Show only properties by this name\n"
-               "  -a --all            Show all units/properties, including dead/empty ones\n"
+               "  -a --all            Show all internally loaded units/properties,\n"
+               "                      including dead/empty ones. To list all units installed\n"
+               "                      on disk, use the command 'list-unit-files' instead.\n"
                "     --failed         Show only failed units\n"
                "     --full           Don't ellipsize unit names on output\n"
                "     --fail           When queueing a new job, fail if conflicting jobs are\n"
-- 
1.8.2