[systemd-devel] why do we have aliases fro timedated, resolved, networkd, and what are they good for?

[Umut Tezduyar Lindskog]

Hi Michael,

On Sat, Sep 10, 2016 at 1:00 AM, Michael Biebl <mbiebl at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi
>
> I wonder why we have the following aliases/symlinks
>
> dbus-org.freedesktop.hostname1.service -> systemd-hostnamed.service
> dbus-org.freedesktop.import1.service -> systemd-importd.service
> dbus-org.freedesktop.locale1.service -> systemd-localed.service
> dbus-org.freedesktop.login1.service -> systemd-logind.service
> dbus-org.freedesktop.machine1.service -> systemd-machined.service
> dbus-org.freedesktop.network1.service -> systemd-networkd.service
> dbus-org.freedesktop.resolve1.service -> systemd-resolved.service
> dbus-org.freedesktop.timedate1.service -> systemd-timedated.service
>
> Those dbus-org.* aliases are used in the corresponding D-Bus system
> service files (SystemdService=dbus-org...)
> The symlinks/aliases are created statically in $libdir/systemd/system,
> so they can't be removed via systemctl disable.
>
> So, I'm asking myself what good those aliases are for?
> They actually have a downside:
> We just had a Debian bug report, where a user was masking
> systemd-resolved.service, but he was puzzled that he could still
> trigger the start of the service via systemd-resolve.
> This happened via D-Bus activation and the aliased name (which he had
> not masked).

AFAIK, that 2 step service file name is for providing a way to prevent
dbus activation. Masking resolved alias file should prevent dbus
activation. "systemctl mask dbus-org.freedesktop.resolve1.service".

UMUT

>
> So, should we add those aliases via
> [Install]
> Also=
> dynamically, so a user can actually disable the services or should we
> switch the D-Bus system service files to use the non-aliased names in
> SystemdService=?
> At which point we could stop shipping those symlinks altogether.
>
> Michael
>
>
> --
> Why is it that all of the instruments seeking intelligent life in the
> universe are pointed away from Earth?
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