@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
.. SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-2.0-UK
+.. _device-manager:
+
Selecting a Device Manager
**************************
@@ -1,83 +1,102 @@
.. SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-2.0-UK
+.. _init-manager:
+
Selecting an Initialization Manager
***********************************
-By default, the Yocto Project uses SysVinit as the initialization
-manager. However, there is also support for systemd, which is a full
-replacement for init with parallel starting of services, reduced shell
-overhead and other features that are used by many distributions.
+By default, the Yocto Project uses :wikipedia:`SysVinit <Init#SysV-style>` as
+the initialization manager. There is also support for BusyBox init, a simpler
+implementation, as well as support for :wikipedia:`systemd <Systemd>`, which
+is a full replacement for init with parallel starting of services, reduced
+shell overhead, increased security and resource limits for services, and other
+features that are used by many distributions.
+
+Within the system, SysVinit and BusyBox init treat system components as
+services. These services are maintained as shell scripts stored in the
+``/etc/init.d/`` directory.
-Within the system, SysVinit treats system components as services. These
-services are maintained as shell scripts stored in the ``/etc/init.d/``
-directory. Services organize into different run levels. This
-organization is maintained by putting links to the services in the
-``/etc/rcN.d/`` directories, where `N/` is one of the following options:
-"S", "0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", or "6".
+SysVinit is more elaborate than BusyBox init and organizes services in
+different run levels. This organization is maintained by putting links
+to the services in the ``/etc/rcN.d/`` directories, where `N/` is one
+of the following options: "S", "0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", or "6".
.. note::
Each runlevel has a dependency on the previous runlevel. This
dependency allows the services to work properly.
+Both SysVinit and BusyBox init are configured through the ``/etc/inittab``
+file, with a very similar syntax, though of course BusyBox init features
+are more limited.
+
In comparison, systemd treats components as units. Using units is a
broader concept as compared to using a service. A unit includes several
-different types of entities. Service is one of the types of entities.
+different types of entities. ``Service`` is one of the types of entities.
The runlevel concept in SysVinit corresponds to the concept of a target
in systemd, where target is also a type of supported unit.
-In a SysVinit-based system, services load sequentially (i.e. one by one)
-during init and parallelization is not supported. With systemd, services
-start in parallel. Needless to say, the method can have an impact on
-system startup performance.
+In systems with SysVinit or BusyBox init, services load sequentially (i.e. one
+by one) during init and parallelization is not supported. With systemd, services
+start in parallel. This method can have an impact on the startup performance
+of a given service, though systemd will also provide more services by default,
+therefore increasing the total system boot time. systemd also substantially
+increases system size because of its multiple components and the extra
+dependencies it pulls.
-If you want to use SysVinit, you do not have to do anything. But, if you
-want to use systemd, you must take some steps as described in the
-following sections.
+On the contrary, BusyBox init is the simplest and the lightest solution and
+also comes with BusyBox mdev as device manager, a lighter replacement to
+:wikipedia:`udev <Udev>`, which SysVinit and systemd both use.
-Using systemd Exclusively
-=========================
+The :ref:`device-manager` chapter has more details about device managers.
-Set these variables in your distribution configuration file as follows::
+Using SysVinit with udev
+=========================
- DISTRO_FEATURES:append = " systemd"
- VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_init_manager = "systemd"
+SysVinit with the udev device manager corresponds to the
+default setting in Poky. This corresponds to setting::
-You can also prevent the SysVinit distribution feature from
-being automatically enabled as follows::
+ INIT_MANAGER = "sysvinit"
- DISTRO_FEATURES_BACKFILL_CONSIDERED = "sysvinit"
+Using BusyBox init with BusyBox mdev
+====================================
-Doing so removes any
-redundant SysVinit scripts.
+BusyBox init with BusyBox mdev is the simplest and lightest solution
+for small root filesystems. All you need is BusyBox, which most systems
+have anyway::
-To remove initscripts from your image altogether, set this variable
-also::
+ INIT_MANAGER = "mdev-busybox"
- VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_initscripts = ""
+Using systemd
+=============
-For information on the backfill variable, see
-:term:`DISTRO_FEATURES_BACKFILL_CONSIDERED`.
+The last option is to use systemd together with the udev device
+manager. This is the most powerful and versatile solution, especially
+for more complex systems::
-Using systemd for the Main Image and Using SysVinit for the Rescue Image
-========================================================================
+ INIT_MANAGER = "systemd"
-Set these variables in your distribution configuration file as follows::
+Controling systemd from the target command line
+-----------------------------------------------
- DISTRO_FEATURES:append = " systemd"
- VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_init_manager = "systemd"
+Here is a quick reference for controling systemd from the command line on the
+target. Instead of opening and sometimes modifying files, most interaction
+happens through the ``systemctl`` and ``journalctl`` commands:
-Doing so causes your main image to use the
-``packagegroup-core-boot.bb`` recipe and systemd. The rescue/minimal
-image cannot use this package group. However, it can install SysVinit
-and the appropriate packages will have support for both systemd and
-SysVinit.
+- ``systemctl status``: show the status of all services
+- ``systemctl status <service>``: show the status of one service
+- ``systemctl [start|stop] <service>``: start or stop a service
+- ``systemctl [enable|disable] <service>``: enable or disable a service at boot time
+- ``systemctl list-units``: list all available units
+- ``journalctl -a``: show all logs for all services
+- ``journalctl -f``: show only the last log entries, and keep printing updates as they arrive
+- ``journalctl -u``: show only logs from a particular service
Using systemd-journald without a traditional syslog daemon
-==========================================================
+----------------------------------------------------------
Counter-intuitively, ``systemd-journald`` is not a syslog runtime or provider,
-and the proper way to use systemd-journald as your sole logging mechanism is to
+and the proper way to use ``systemd-journald`` as your sole logging mechanism is to
effectively disable syslog entirely by setting these variables in your distribution
configuration file::
@@ -85,5 +104,5 @@ configuration file::
VIRTUAL-RUNTIME_base-utils-syslog = ""
Doing so will prevent ``rsyslog`` / ``busybox-syslog`` from being pulled in by
-default, leaving only ``journald``.
+default, leaving only ``systemd-journald``.
@@ -13,12 +13,12 @@ Init System Selection
Changing the init system manager previously required setting a number of
different variables. You can now change the manager by setting the
-``INIT_MANAGER`` variable and the corresponding include files (i.e.
+:term:`INIT_MANAGER` variable and the corresponding include files (i.e.
``conf/distro/include/init-manager-*.conf``). Include files are provided
for four values: "none", "sysvinit", "systemd", and "mdev-busybox". The
-default value, "none", for ``INIT_MANAGER`` should allow your current
+default value, "none", for :term:`INIT_MANAGER` should allow your current
settings to continue working. However, it is advisable to explicitly set
-``INIT_MANAGER``.
+:term:`INIT_MANAGER`.
.. _migration-3.0-lsb-support-removed:
@@ -3988,6 +3988,31 @@ system and gives an overview of their function and contents.
even if the toolchain's binaries are strippable, there are other files
needed for the build that are not strippable.
+ :term:`INIT_MANAGER`
+ This variable allows to choose the init manager for the system. Possible
+ values correspond to the ``init-manager-*.inc`` include files in
+ :yocto_git:`tree/meta/conf/distro/include/ </poky/tree/meta/conf/distro/include>`:
+ ``none``, ``sysvinit``, ``systemd``, and ``mdev-busybox``.
+
+ With ``sysvinit``, the init manager is set to
+ :wikipedia:`SysVinit <Init#SysV-style>`, the traditional UNIX init
+ system. This is the default choice in the Poky distribution, together with
+ the Udev device manager (see the ":ref:`device-manager`" section).
+
+ With ``none``, the init manager is also set to ``sysvinit``. This is the
+ default setting in OpenEmbedded-Core. This option also selects the
+ :wikipedia:`udev <Udev>` device manager.
+
+ With ``systemd``, the init manager becomes :wikipedia:`systemd <Systemd>`,
+ which comes with the :wikipedia:`udev <Udev>` device manager.
+
+ With ``mdev-busybox``, the init manager becomes the must simpler BusyBox
+ init, together with the BusyBox mdev device manager. This is the simplest
+ and lightest solution, and probably the best choice for low-end systems
+ with a rather slow CPU and a limited amount of RAM.
+
+ See the ":ref:`init-manager`" section for further details.
+
:term:`Initramfs`
An Initial RAM Filesystem (:term:`Initramfs`) is an optionally compressed
:wikipedia:`cpio <Cpio>` archive which is extracted