.d directories

djk44883 · 09-22-2010, 04:41 PM

I'm trying to find information explaining directories ending with .d

Chuck56 · 09-22-2010, 04:53 PM

http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Run_Levels

djk44883 · 09-22-2010, 07:07 PM

thanks greatly... But what of directories
/etc/apt/sources.list.d or /etc/grub.d and others

Chuck56 · 09-22-2010, 07:42 PM

I use Slackware and it doesn't have those directories. Usually *.d directories have startup/shutdown scripts but that's not written in stone.

djk44883 · 09-23-2010, 04:52 AM

I find these in ubuntu and debian systems. They appear to supplement configuration files. Or at least are associated with configurations.

I haven't been able to find any documentation or explanation as to how they actually work.

Thanks again
DJ

jschiwal · 09-23-2010, 05:12 AM

The .d directories contain configuration files that used to be contained in a single configuration file.

Code:

/etc/aliases.d/          /etc/cron.d/    /etc/ld.so.conf.d/   /etc/named.d/        /etc/pptp.d/      /etc/reader.conf.d/  /etc/susehelp.d/
/etc/ant.d/              /etc/depmod.d/  /etc/logrotate.d/    /etc/netconfig.d/    /etc/products.d/  /etc/rsyslog.d/      /etc/tmpdirs.d/
/etc/apparmor.d/         /etc/gre.d/     /etc/lsb-release.d/  /etc/pam.d/          /etc/profile.d/   /etc/sane.d/         /etc/usb_modeswitch.d/
/etc/bash_completion.d/  /etc/init.d/    /etc/modprobe.d/     /etc/permissions.d/  /etc/rc.d/        /etc/slp.reg.d/      /etc/xinetd.d/

A service you install would previously edit the configuration file, such as xinetd.conf using sed or awk. There is a risk that the install script may modify it improperly changing the items for other services. Now the install script simply needs to drop it's part of configuration in the directory.

On recent distributions, this is even true for the xorg.conf file which is replaced with a file for each section in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/.
10-evdev.conf 11-mouse.conf 20-synaptics.conf 20-wacom.conf 50-device.conf 50-monitor.conf 50-screen.conf 50-vmmouse.conf 90-keytable.conf

MTK358 · 09-23-2010, 07:47 AM

Why do they end with .d?

jschiwal · 09-23-2010, 02:04 PM

I don't know if the .d stands for daemon or directory. I think this naming started with /etc/xinetd.d and became the conventional way of naming directories of configuration files for a single service. This naming convention may be given in one of the many Unix standards that Linux aims to comply with.

djk44883 · 10-08-2010, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jschiwal

The .d directories contain configuration files that used to be contained in a single configuration file.

A service you install would previously edit the configuration file, such as xinetd.conf using sed or awk. There is a risk that the install script may modify it improperly changing the items for other services. Now the install script simply needs to drop it's part of configuration in the directory.

Thanks greatly for your respons! I haven't really been able to find any documentation beyond your post.

For unknown reasons I split each line in sources.list into individual files in sources.list.d and functions as expected.
DJ

carltm · 10-08-2010, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jschiwal

I don't know if the .d stands for daemon or directory. I think this naming started with /etc/xinetd.d and became the conventional way of naming directories of configuration files for a single service. This naming convention may be given in one of the many Unix standards that Linux aims to comply with.

Yes, and the main reason is that it makes it easier for a distro
or an administrator to add a new configuration safely. When
everything is written to a single file, it's possible that an
installation or uninstallation will have unintended effects on
other entries. When each entry is in its own file, adding or
removing an entry will have no effect on other entries.

I've always assumed the .d stands for directory, since the old
rc.d directories weren't for an individual daemon. I haven't
seen this in print, so it's just a guess.