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d6029680df
There is some inconsistency, partially caused by the awkward naming of the docs/ pages. But let's be consistent and use the "official" title. If we ever change plural↔singular, we should use the same form everywhere.
246 lines
14 KiB
XML
246 lines
14 KiB
XML
<?xml version='1.0'?> <!--*-nxml-*-->
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<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
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"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
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<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later -->
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<refentry id="systemd-sysext"
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xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
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<refentryinfo>
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<title>systemd-sysext</title>
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<productname>systemd</productname>
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</refentryinfo>
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<refmeta>
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<refentrytitle>systemd-sysext</refentrytitle>
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<manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
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</refmeta>
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<refnamediv>
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<refname>systemd-sysext</refname>
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<refname>systemd-sysext.service</refname>
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<refpurpose>Activates System Extension Images</refpurpose>
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</refnamediv>
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<refsynopsisdiv>
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<cmdsynopsis>
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<command>systemd-sysext</command>
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<arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">OPTIONS</arg>
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</cmdsynopsis>
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<para><literallayout><filename>systemd-sysext.service</filename></literallayout></para>
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</refsynopsisdiv>
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<refsect1>
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<title>Description</title>
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<para><command>systemd-sysext</command> activates/deactivates system extension images. System extension
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images may – dynamically at runtime — extend the <filename>/usr/</filename> and
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<filename>/opt/</filename> directory hierarchies with additional files. This is particularly useful on
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immutable system images where a <filename>/usr/</filename> and/or <filename>/opt/</filename> hierarchy
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residing on a read-only file system shall be extended temporarily at runtime without making any
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persistent modifications.</para>
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<para>System extension images should contain files and directories similar in fashion to regular
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operating system tree. When one or more system extension images are activated, their
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<filename>/usr/</filename> and <filename>/opt/</filename> hierarchies are combined via
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<literal>overlayfs</literal> with the same hierarchies of the host OS, and the host
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<filename>/usr/</filename> and <filename>/opt/</filename> overmounted with it ("merging"). When they are
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deactivated, the mount point is disassembled — again revealing the unmodified original host version of
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the hierarchy ("unmerging"). Merging thus makes the extension's resources suddenly appear below the
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<filename>/usr/</filename> and <filename>/opt/</filename> hierarchies as if they were included in the
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base OS image itself. Unmerging makes them disappear again, leaving in place only the files that were
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shipped with the base OS image itself.</para>
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<para>Files and directories contained in the extension images outside of the <filename>/usr/</filename>
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and <filename>/opt/</filename> hierarchies are <emphasis>not</emphasis> merged, and hence have no effect
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when included in a system extension image. In particular, files in the <filename>/etc/</filename> and
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<filename>/var/</filename> included in a system extension image will <emphasis>not</emphasis> appear in
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the respective hierarchies after activation.</para>
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<para>System extension images are strictly read-only, and the host <filename>/usr/</filename> and
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<filename>/opt/</filename> hierarchies become read-only too while they are activated.</para>
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<para>System extensions are supposed to be purely additive, i.e. they are supposed to include only files
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that do not exist in the underlying basic OS image. However, the underlying mechanism (overlayfs) also
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allows removing files, but it is recommended not to make use of this.</para>
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<para>System extension images may be provided in the following formats:</para>
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<orderedlist>
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<listitem><para>Plain directories or btrfs subvolumes containing the OS tree</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Disk images with a GPT disk label, following the <ulink
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url="https://systemd.io/DISCOVERABLE_PARTITIONS">Discoverable Partitions Specification</ulink></para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Disk images lacking a partition table, with a naked Linux file system (e.g. squashfs or ext4)</para></listitem>
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</orderedlist>
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<para>These image formats are the same ones that
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<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
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supports via it's <option>--directory=</option>/<option>--image=</option> switches and those that the
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service manager supports via <option>RootDirectory=</option>/<option>RootImage=</option>. Similar to
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them they may optionally carry Verity authentication information.</para>
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<para>System extensions are automatically looked for in the directories
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<filename>/etc/extensions/</filename>, <filename>/run/extensions/</filename>,
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<filename>/var/lib/extensions/</filename>, <filename>/usr/lib/extensions/</filename> and
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<filename>/usr/local/lib/extensions/</filename>. The first two listed directories are not suitable for
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carrying large binary images, however are still useful for carrying symlinks to them. The primary place
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for installing system extensions is <filename>/var/lib/extensions/</filename>. Any directories found in
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these search directories are considered directory based extension images, any files with the
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<filename>.raw</filename> suffix are considered disk image based extension images.</para>
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<para>During boot OS extension images are activated automatically, if the
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<filename>systemd-sysext.service</filename> is enabled. Note that this service runs only after the
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underlying file systems where system extensions are searched are mounted. This means they are not
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suitable for shipping resources that are processed by subsystems running in earliest boot. Specifically,
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OS extension images are not suitable for shipping system services or
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<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-sysusers</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
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definitions. See <ulink url="https://systemd.io/PORTABLE_SERVICES">Portable Services</ulink> for a simple
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mechanism for shipping system services in disk images, in a similar fashion to OS extensions. Note the
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different isolation on these two mechanisms: while system extension directly extend the underlying OS
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image with additional files that appear in a way very similar to as if they were shipped in the OS image
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itself and thus imply no security isolation, portable services imply service level sandboxing in one way
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or another. The <filename>systemd-sysext.service</filename> service is guaranteed to finish start-up
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before <filename>basic.target</filename> is reached; i.e. at the time regular services initialize (those
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which do not use <varname>DefaultDependencies=no</varname>), the files and directories system extensions
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provide are available in <filename>/usr/</filename> and <filename>/opt/</filename> and may be
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accessed.</para>
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<para>Note that there is no concept of enabling/disabling installed system extension images: all
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installed extension images are automatically activated at boot.</para>
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<para>A simple mechanism for version compatibility is enforced: a system extension image must carry a
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<filename>/usr/lib/extension-release.d/extension-release.<replaceable>$name</replaceable></filename>
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file, which must match its image name, that is compared with the host <filename>os-release</filename>
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file: the contained <varname>ID=</varname> fields have to match, as well as the
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<varname>SYSEXT_LEVEL=</varname> field (if defined). If the latter is not defined, the
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<varname>VERSION_ID=</varname> field has to match instead. System extensions should not ship a
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<filename>/usr/lib/os-release</filename> file (as that would be merged into the host
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<filename>/usr/</filename> tree, overriding the host OS version data, which is not desirable). The
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<filename>extension-release</filename> file follows the same format and semantics, and carries the same
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content, as the <filename>os-release</filename> file of the OS, but it describes the resources carried
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in the extension image.</para>
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</refsect1>
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<refsect1>
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<title>Uses</title>
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<para>The primary use case for system images are immutable environments where debugging and development
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tools shall optionally be made available, but not included in the immutable base OS image itself (e.g.
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<citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>strace</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
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and
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<citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>gdb</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
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shall be an optionally installable addition in order to make debugging/development easier). System
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extension images should not be misunderstood as a generic software packaging framework, as no dependency
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scheme is available: system extensions should carry all files they need themselves, except for those
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already shipped in the underlying host system image. Typically, system extension images are built at the
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same time as the base OS image — within the same build system.</para>
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<para>Another use case for the system extension concept is temporarily overriding OS supplied resources
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with newer ones, for example to install a locally compiled development version of some low-level
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component over the immutable OS image without doing a full OS rebuild or modifying the nominally
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immutable image. (e.g. "install" a locally built package with <command>DESTDIR=/var/lib/extensions/mytest
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make install && systemd-sysext refresh</command>, making it available in
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<filename>/usr/</filename> as if it was installed in the OS image itself.) This case works regardless if
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the underlying host <filename>/usr/</filename> is managed as immutable disk image or is a traditional
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package manager controlled (i.e. writable) tree.</para>
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</refsect1>
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<refsect1>
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<title>Commands</title>
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<para>The following commands are understood:</para>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><option>status</option></term>
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<listitem><para>When invoked without any command verb, or when <option>status</option> is specified
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the current merge status is shown, separately for both <filename>/usr/</filename> and
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<filename>/opt/</filename>.</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><option>merge</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Merges all currently installed system extension images into
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<filename>/usr/</filename> and <filename>/opt/</filename>, by overmounting these hierarchies with an
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<literal>overlayfs</literal> file system combining the underlying hierarchies with those included in
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the extension images. This command will fail if the hierarchies are already merged.</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><option>unmerge</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Unmerges all currently installed system extension images from
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<filename>/usr/</filename> and <filename>/opt/</filename>, by unmounting the
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<literal>overlayfs</literal> file systems created by <option>merge</option>
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prior.</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><option>refresh</option></term>
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<listitem><para>A combination of <option>unmerge</option> and <option>merge</option>: if already
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mounted the existing <literal>overlayfs</literal> instance is unmounted temporarily, and then
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replaced by a new version. This command is useful after installing/removing system extension images,
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in order to update the <literal>overlayfs</literal> file system accordingly. If no system extensions
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are installed when this command is executed, the equivalent of <option>unmerge</option> is
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executed, without establishing any new <literal>overlayfs</literal> instance. Note that currently
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there's a brief moment where neither the old nor the new <literal>overlayfs</literal> file system is
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mounted. This implies that all resources supplied by a system extension will briefly disappear — even
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if it exists continuously during the refresh operation.</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><option>list</option></term>
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<listitem><para>A brief list of installed extension images is shown.</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="help" />
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<xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="version" />
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</variablelist>
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</refsect1>
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<refsect1>
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<title>Options</title>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><option>--root=</option></term>
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<listitem><para>Operate relative to the specified root directory, i.e. establish the
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<literal>overlayfs</literal> mount not on the top-level host <filename>/usr/</filename> and
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<filename>/opt/</filename> hierarchies, but below some specified root directory.</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term><option>--force</option></term>
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<listitem><para>When merging system extensions into <filename>/usr/</filename> and
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<filename>/opt/</filename>, ignore version incompatibilities, i.e. force merging regardless of
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whether the version information included in the extension images matches the host or
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not.</para></listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="no-pager" />
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<xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="no-legend" />
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<xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="json" />
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</variablelist>
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</refsect1>
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<refsect1>
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<title>Exit status</title>
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<para>On success, 0 is returned.</para>
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</refsect1>
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<refsect1>
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<title>See Also</title>
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<para>
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<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
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<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
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</para>
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</refsect1>
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</refentry>
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