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SysD Manager Proxy

Pier edited this page Mar 10, 2026 · 16 revisions

Why

SysD Manager has made the choice to use a Proxy to get full access to the systemd service manager.

Context

The /usr/share/dbus-1/system.d/org.freedesktop.systemd1.conf file is a D-Bus policy configuration file used by systemd, the system and service manager for Linux. It defines access permissions for the org.freedesktop.systemd1 D-Bus interface, which is central to controlling and monitoring systemd-managed units, jobs, and system state.

Key Features:

Root Access: The root user is granted full access, including the ability to own the bus name and perform all operations.

Default User Access: Non-root users are denied direct access to most org.freedesktop.systemd1.Manager methods by default, but are allowed to perform read-only queries such as: GetUnit, ListUnits, ListJobs, GetUnitFileState, GetDefaultTarget, and others.

Controlled Modifications: Certain actions like StartUnit, StopUnit, EnableUnitFiles, or SetDefaultTarget are restricted and typically require polkit authorization.

How the Proxy works

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