tmpfiles: initctl command or native cleanup-age time

[aanderse]

i took a quick look and it doesn't seem like i can explicitly call tmpfiles functionality - no separate binary or invocation like initctl tmpfiles --clean/--create or whatever

i also didn't see any documentation for how often/when cleanup and creation functionality runs automatically...

maybe i missed documentation? and would it be possible to explicitly run tmpfiles, either as a separate executable or an initctl sub command?

thank you for your time and consideration 🙇‍♂

[troglobit]

You didn't miss anything. The Finit implementation of tmpfiles does not have any separate invocation to clean at runtime other than at system bootstrap, which is handled by the bootmisc plugin.

The tmpfiles support was mainly added to replace homegrown similar functionality to create package specific files, directories, etc. (also during bootstrap) with a more generic system.

[aanderse]

right, the tmpfiles spec has proven to be immensely useful... so would you be ok with exposing the functionality as something we can explicitly call? i think a long running system would benefit from adding to a cron job so old files get cleaned up, etc...

[troglobit]

Well sure, but the current implementation has no code for cleaning, the x/X flags are ignored, so it's a bit of work to get it in place, debugged, tested, and released. I have no need for this myself atm, but if someone steps up to submit a patch I'm willing to consider it. If it's a cleanup command to initctl or native support in Finit for cleanup-age, doesn't matter, but I think the latter would be better for embedded systems that don't necessarily have crond.

[aanderse]

ahh my mistake! i thought there was cleanup functionality. yes, i agree this doesn't make much sense. thanks for clarifying.

[troglobit]

Reopening, because there might be other people who'd like to contribute.