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DEVD.CONF(5) File Formats Manual DEVD.CONF(5) NAME devd.conf -- configuration file format for devd(8) DESCRIPTION General Syntax A devd(8) configuration consists of two general features, statements and comments. All statements end with a semicolon. Many statements can contain substatements, which are also terminated with a semicolon. The following statements are supported: attach Specifies various matching criteria and actions to perform when a newly attached device matches said criteria. detach Specifies various matching criteria and actions to perform when a newly detached device matches said criteria. nomatch Specifies various matching criteria and actions to perform when no device driver currently loaded in the kernel claims a (new) device. notify Specifies various matching criteria and actions to perform when the kernel sends an event notification to userland. options Specifies various options and parameters for the operation of devd(8). Statements may occur in any order in the configuration file, and may be repeated as often as required. Further details on the syntax and mean- ing of each statement and their substatements are explained below. Each statement, except options has a priority (an arbitrary number) as- sociated with it, where `0' is defined as the lowest priority. If two statements match the same event, only the action of the statement with highest priority will be executed. In this way generic statements can be overridden for devices or notifications that require special atten- tion. The general syntax of a statement is: statement priority { substatement "value"; ... substatement "value"; }; Sub-statements The following sub-statements are supported within the options state- ment. directory "/some/path"; Adds the given directory to the list of directories from which devd(8) will read all files named "*.conf" as further configuration files. Any number of directory statements can be used. pid-file "/var/run/devd.pid"; Specifies PID file. set regexp-name "(some|regexp)"; Creates a regular expression and assigns it to the variable regexp-name. The variable is available throughout the rest of the configuration file. If the string begins with `!', it matches if the regular expression formed by the rest of the string does not match. All regular expressions have an implicit `^$' around them. The following sub-statements are supported within the attach and detach statements. action "command"; Command to execute upon a successful match. Example "/etc/pccard_ether $device-name start". class "string"; This is shorthand for "match "class" "string"". device-name "string"; This is shorthand for "match "device-name" "string"". This matches a device named string, which is allowed to be a reg- ular expression or a variable previously created containing a regular expression. The "device-name" variable is avail- able for later use with the action statement. match "variable" "value"; Matches the content of value against variable; the content of value may be a regular expression. Not required during attach nor detach events since the device-name statement takes care of all device matching. For a partial list of variables, see below. media-type "string"; For network devices, media-type will match devices that have the given media type. Valid media types are: "Ethernet", "802.11", and "ATM". subdevice "string"; This is shorthand for "match "subdevice" "string"". The following sub-statements are supported within the nomatch state- ment. action "command"; Same as above. match "variable" "value"; Matches the content of value against variable; the content of value may be a regular expression. For a partial list of variables, see below. The following sub-statements are supported within the notify statement. The "notify" variable is available inside this statement and contains, a value, depending on which system and subsystem that delivered the event. action "command"; Command to execute upon a successful match. Example "/etc/rc.d/power_profile $notify". match "system | subsystem | type | notify" "value"; Any number of match statements can exist within a notify statement; value can be either a fixed string or a regular expression. Below is a list of available systems, subsys- tems, and types. media-type "string"; See above. Variables that can be used with the match statement A partial list of variables and their possible values that can be used together with the match statement. The variables are published by the bus based on characteristics of the device that generated the event (for device events). Variables for other classes of events are depen- dent on those events. Variable Description * The entire message from the current event. _ The entire message from the current event, after the ini- tial type character. timestamp The time this event was processed, in seconds since 1970 dot fraction. bus Device name of parent bus. cdev Device node path if one is created by the devfs(5) filesystem. class Device class. comm Executable name (kernel). core Path to core file (kernel). device Device ID. devclass Device Class (USB). devsubclass Device Sub-class (USB). device-name Name of attached/detached device. endpoints Endpoint count (USB). function Card functions. interface Interface ID (USB). intclass Interface Class (USB). intprotocol Interface Protocol (USB). intsubclass Interface Sub-class (USB). jail Jail name for the process triggering the rule (RCTL). mode Peripheral mode (USB). notify Match the value of the "notify" variable. parent Parent device. pid PID of the process triggering the rule (RCTL). port Hub port number (USB). product Product ID (USB). release Hardware revision (USB). ruid Real UID of the process triggering the rule (RCTL). rule Rule (RCTL). sernum Serial Number (USB). slot Card slot. subvendor Sub-vendor ID (PCI). subdevice Sub-device ID (PCI). subsystem Matches a subsystem of a system, see below. system Matches a system type, see below. type Type of notification, see below. vendor Vendor ID. Notify matching A partial list of systems, subsystems, and types used within the notify mechanism. System Subsystem Type Description ACPI Events related to the ACPI Subsys- tem. ACPI ACAD AC line state ($notify=0x00 is of- fline, 0x01 is online). ACPI Button Button state ($notify=0x00 is power, 0x01 is sleep). ACPI CMBAT Battery events. ACPI Dock Dock state ($notify=0x00 is un- docked, 0x01 is docked). ACPI Lid Lid state ($notify=0x00 is closed, 0x01 is open). ACPI PROCESSOR Processor state/configuration ($no- tify=0x81 is a change in available Cx states). ACPI Resume Resume notification. ACPI Suspend Suspend notification. ACPI Thermal Thermal zone events. System Subsystem Type Description AEON power press The power button on an Amiga has been pressed. System Subsystem Type Description CAM Events related to the cam(4) system. CAM periph Events related to peripheral de- vices. CAM periph error Generic errors. CAM periph timeout Command timeouts. System Subsystem Type Description CARP Events related to the carp(4) proto- col. CARP vhid@inet The "subsystem" contains the actual CARP vhid and the name of the net- work interface on which the event took place. CARP vhid@inet MASTER Node become the master for a virtual host. CARP vhid@inet BACKUP Node become the backup for a virtual host. System Subsystem Type Description coretemp Events related to the coretemp(4) device. coretemp Thermal Notification that the CPU core has reached critical tempera- ture. coretemp Thermal temperature String containing the tempera- ture of the core that has be- come too hot. System Subsystem Type Description DEVFS DEVFS CDEV CREATE The devfs(5) node is created. DEVFS CDEV DESTROY The devfs(5) node is destroyed. System Subsystem Type Description ETHERNET inet IFATTACH Notification when the default VNET instance of the inet interface is attached. System Subsystem Type Description GEOM Events related to the geom(4) framework. The difference compared to DEVFS is that GEOM only includes disk-like de- vices. GEOM DEV CREATE A geom(4) provider is created. GEOM DEV DESTROY A geom(4) provider is de- stroyed. GEOM DEV GEOM::physpath The physical path of a device has changed. GEOM DEV GEOM::rotation_rate The rotation rate of the disk has changed. GEOM DEV MEDIACHANGE Physical media has changed. GEOM DEV SIZECHANGE A geom(4) provider size has changed. System Subsystem Type Description IFNET IFNET inet The "subsystem" is the actual name of the network interface on which the event took place. IFNET inet LINK_UP Carrier status changed to UP. IFNET inet LINK_DOWN Carrier status changed to DOWN. IFNET inet ATTACH The network interface is attached to the system. IFNET inet DETACH The network interface is detached from the system. IFNET inet RENAME The network interface is renamed. IFNET inet ADDR_ADD The network interface address added. IFNET inet ADDR_DEL The network interface address re- moved. System Subsystem Type Description kernel signal coredump Notification that a process has crashed and dumped core. kernel power resume Notification that the system has woken from the suspended state. System Subsystem Type Description nvme controller Controller events provide the controller name (for example, nvme0) in $name. nvme controller SMART_ERROR A SMART Critical Warning State change has happened. $state has a hex bitmask of the bits that changed, as defined in the NVMe Standard for Critical Warning field of log page 2 "SMART / Health Information Log": Bit Value Meaning 0x1 Spare capacity below threshold 0x2 Temperature outside acceptable range 0x4 Reliability of media degraded 0x8 Media placed into read-only mode 0x10 Volatime memory backup failure 0x20 Persistent memory read-only or degraded nvme controller RESET A controller reset event has hap- pened. $event is one of "start", "success", and "timed_out" repre- senting the start of a controller reset, the successful completion of a controller reset, or a time- out while waiting for the con- troller to reset, respectively. nvme controller RECONNECT An NVMe over Fabrics host has disconnected and is requesting a reconnect. System Subsystem Type Description PMU Notification of events from various types of Power Management Units. PMU AC Notifications of AC power related events. PMU AC overvoltage An over-voltage condition was detected on the AC power line. PMU AC plugged Power has been applied to the AC power line. PMU AC unplugged Power has been removed from the AC power line. PMU Battery PMU Battery absent Battery is no longer ab- sent. PMU Battery charged The battery has become charged. PMU Battery charging The battery has started charging. PMU Battery disconnected The battery has been dis- connected. PMU Battery high-temp The battery reported a temperature over the limit. PMU Battery low-temp The battery reported a temperature under the limit. PMU Battery plugged The battery has become plugged (eg connected). PMU Battery shutdown-threshold The power in the battery has fallen below the shut- down threshold. PMU Battery warning-threshold The power in the battery has fallen below the warn the user threshold. PMU Button pressed A button on a adb(4) or pmu(4) has been pressed. PMU keys One of the keys on the adb(4) keyboard has been pressed. PMU keys brightness A brightness level change has been requested. Di- rection is in the $notify variable. PMU keys mute The mute key PMU keys volume A volume level change has been requested. Direction is in the $notify vari- able. PMU keys eject An ejection has been re- quested. PMU lid close The pmc(4) device has de- tected the lid closing. PMU lid open The pmc(4) device has de- tected the lid openinging. PMU POWER ACLINE The pmc(4) device has de- tected an AC line state ($notify=0x00 is offline, 0x01 is online). PMU USB overvoltage An over-voltage condition on the power lines for the USB power pins. PMU USB plugged A device has been plugged into a USB device. PMU USB undervoltage An under-voltage condition on the power lines for the USB power pins. PMU USB unplugged A device has been un- plugged from a USB device. System Subsystem Type Description RCTL Events related to the rctl(8) frame- work. RCTL rule matched A rule with action specified as "de- vctl" was triggered. System Subsystem Type Description USB Events related to the USB subsystem. USB DEVICE ATTACH USB device is attached to the sys- tem. USB DEVICE DETACH USB device is detached to the sys- tem. USB INTERFACE ATTACH USB interface is attached to a de- vice. USB INTERFACE DETACH USB interface is detached from a de- vice. System Subsystem Type Description VFS Events from the vfs system. VFS FS Events that change what is mounted to the system. VFS FS MOUNT Notification of a filesystem is mounted for the first time. VFS FS REMOUNT Notification of a filesystem is re- mounted (whether or not the options actually change). VFS FS UNMOUNT Notification of a filesystem being unmounted. System Subsystem Type Description VT BELL RING Notification that the console bell has rung. See vt(4) for details. System Subsystem Type Description ZFS ZFS Events about the ZFS subsystem. See zfsd(8) and /etc/devd/zfs.conf for details. System Subsystem Type Description SND Events related to the sound(4) dri- ver. SND CONN IN Connected input device specified in cdev variable. SND CONN OUT Connected output device specified in cdev variable. A link state change to UP on the interface "fxp0" would result in the following notify event: system=IFNET subsystem=fxp0 type=LINK_UP An AC line state change to "offline" would result in the following event: system=ACPI subsystem=ACAD notify=0x00 Comments Comments may appear anywhere that whitespace may appear in a configura- tion file. To appeal to programmers of all kinds, they can be written in C, C++, or shell/Perl constructs. C-style comments start with the two characters `/*' (slash, star) and end with `*/' (star, slash). Because they are completely delimited with these characters, they can be used to comment only a portion of a line or to span multiple lines. C-style comments cannot be nested. For example, the following is not valid because the entire comment ends with the first `*/': /* This is the start of a comment. This is still part of the comment. /* This is an incorrect attempt at nesting a comment. */ This is no longer in any comment. */ C++-style comments start with the two characters `//' (slash, slash) and continue to the end of the physical line. They cannot be continued across multiple physical lines; to have one logical comment span multi- ple lines, each line must use the `//' pair. For example: // This is the start of a comment. The next line // is a new comment, even though it is logically // part of the previous comment. Notes on Variable Expansion Variables are expanded by preceding them by a "$" sign. Any text imme- diately following that sign, starting with a letter, a minus sign "-", an underscore "_", or an asterisk "*" is considered an internal vari- able, and expanded accordingly. If that variable does not exist, it silently expands to an empty string. Consequently, if the intention is to pass a sh(1) variable, it must be surrounded by braces to prevent it from being considered an internal variable. See "EXAMPLES" for a detailed example. To prevent issues with special shell characters, the following happens for each variable $foo. 1. The characters "$'" are inserted. 2. The string "$foo" is removed. 3. The value of the foo variable is inserted into the buffer with all single quote characters prefixed by a backslash. 4. A final "'" is inserted. See sh(1) for what this construct means. It is safe in all context, except one: inside single quotes. If foo=meta and bar=var, then a rule like the following: action "echo '$foo $bar'"; will be presented to the shell via system(3) as echo '$'meta' $'var'' which produces the following output: $meta $var as its output. This is an unanticipated result. A future version of this software will change this behavior. Users are discouraged from using single quotes inside action value without due care. The above should be written as action "echo $foo' '$bar" to produce a single argument to echo. Given the above expansion, jux- taposing bare variables with single quote expressions will produce the right output, regardless of the value of the variable. FILES /etc/devd.conf The devd(8) configuration file. /etc/devd A directory that devd searches for additional configu- ration files. /usr/local/etc/devd A directory that devd searches for additional configu- ration files. EXAMPLES # # This will catch link down events on the interfaces fxp0 and ath0 # notify 0 { match "system" "IFNET"; match "subsystem" "(fxp0|ath0)"; match "type" "LINK_DOWN"; action "logger $subsystem is DOWN"; }; # # Match lid open/close events # These can be combined to a single event, by passing the # value of $notify to the external script. # notify 0 { match "system" "ACPI"; match "subsystem" "Lid"; match "notify" "0x00"; action "logger Lid closed, we can sleep now!"; }; notify 0 { match "system" "ACPI"; match "subsystem" "Lid"; match "notify" "0x01"; action "logger Lid opened, the sleeper must awaken!"; }; # # Match a USB device type # notify 0 { match "system" "USB"; match "subsystem" "INTERFACE"; match "type" "ATTACH"; match "intclass" "0x0e"; action "logger USB video device attached"; }; # # Try to configure ath and iwn devices with pccard_ether # as they are attached. # attach 0 { device-name "(ath|iwn)[0-9]+"; action "/etc/pccard_ether $device-name start"; }; # # Stop ath and iwn devices as they are detached from # the system. # detach 0 { device-name "(ath|iwn)[0-9]+"; action "/etc/pccard_ether $device-name stop"; }; The following example illustrates the difference betwen internal and shell variables: attach 20 { device-name "umodem[0-9]+"; match "vendor" "0x2047"; match "product" "0x001(0|3|4)"; match "interface" "0"; action "cd /dev; p=$product; dn=$device-name; \ un=$(sysctl -n dev.umodem.${dn#umodem}.ttyname); \ chmod 666 cua${un}; ln -sf cua${un} mspfet${p#0x}"; }; "product", and "device-name" are internal variables. Their contents are initially assigned to shell variables "p", and "dn", respectively. Then, variable "dn" is used inside a shell command substitution, as- signing to shell variable "un". Finally, this shell variable is used in two other shell statements, where it needs to be wrapped in braces in order to prevent it from being considered in internal variable to devd. The installed /etc/devd.conf has many additional examples. SEE ALSO cam(4), coretemp(4), devfs(5), re_format(7), devd(8) BUGS The variable expansion's interaction with single quotes is suboptimal and surprising. FreeBSD 15.0 July 9, 2025 DEVD.CONF(5)
NAME | DESCRIPTION | FILES | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO | BUGS
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