WATCHDOGCTL(1)

💅 WATCHDOGCTL(1) — the system manager's manual bestie edition 🎀

Okay so picture this: it's watchdogctl, from the System Manager's Manual section 1, and it's literally the little remote control for watchdogd 🐕✨

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✨ NAME ✨

watchdogctl — the status-and-control tool for watchdogd, aka your new bestie for asking the watchdog "hey girl how are we doing" and telling it what to do 🫶

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

watchdogctl [-hjvV] [-c CODE] [-p PID] [clear] [disable | enable]
            [debug] [loglevel LEVEL] [list-clients] [reload]
            [reset [MSEC] [MSG]] [fail [MSEC] [MSG]] [status]

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

watchdogctl gives you a safe way of querying status and controlling watchdogd(8). Safe like, you're not poking the watchdog with a stick, you're having a civilized little chat 💖

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👑 OPTIONS 👑

• -c, --code CODE — sets the reset reason code for the fail command. Here's the whole menu, no cap:
  1. System OK
  2. PID failed subscribing
  3. PID failed kick
  4. PID failed unsubscribing
  5. PID failed to meet its deadline
  6. Forced reset
  7. Failed, unknown
  8. File descriptor leak
  9. Memory leak
  10. CPU overload

And plot twist, you can also list the codes at runtime with -c help 🔥

• -h, --help — shows the help message. classic.
• -j, --json — outputs in JSON format for the commands that support it. Currently supported by list-clients and status. scripting girlies rise up 🙈
• -p, --pid PID — the PID to use for the fail and reset commands.
• -v, --verbose — enables verbose mode, otherwise commands are silent 🤫 (lowkey spooky, but ok)
• -V, --version — shows version information. iconique.

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💜 COMMANDS 💜

Short forms of the commands below are allowed — as long as it's unique ✨ (yes that's a vibe check on your abbreviations, choose wisely)

• clear — clears the reset reason, including the reset counter.
• counter — shows the reset counter, i.e. the number of reboots since power-on.
• debug — toggles the daemon debug log level. See also the loglevel command.
• disable | enable — temporarily disables, or enables, the daemon. on and off era 💅
• loglevel LEVEL — adjusts the daemon log level. Your options are: none, err, warn, notice, info, debug.
• list-clients — lists the currently subscribed clients to the process supervisor. Shows each client's ID, name (label), process ID, configured timeout, and time remaining until timeout. Use the -j, --json option for JSON output that's suitable for scripting and monitoring 📊
• reload — reloads the daemon configuration file, like sending SIGHUP, except the command does not return until watchdogd has completed. patient queen behavior 👑
• reboot [MSEC] [MSG] — alias to reset.
• reset [MSEC] [MSG] — performs a system reset, with an optional millisecond delay and an optional message to store as the reset reason label (usually the process name). A zero MSEC argument is the same as omitting the argument, leading to an immediate reset 😭 On systems with finit(8), watchdogd will ask Finit to do an orderly shutdown (stop services, sync and unmount all file systems) before performing the WDT reset. so polite.
• fail [MSEC] [MSG] — like the reset command, records the reset reason (see the -c -CODE above) but does not reboot unless MSEC is given. I.e., omitting the MSEC argument does not have the same effect as in the reset command. read that twice, bestie, it's giving trap 🪤
• status — shows daemon status and reason of last reset, and it's the default command. Displays device information, capabilities, and reset history in a formatted table. Use the -j, --json option to output raw JSON format. The JSON output shows all configured devices and their status, including capability flags. main character command fr fr ⭐
• version — shows the program version.

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🎀 FILES 🎀

• /etc/watchdogd.conf — the daemon configuration file. Read once when starting up and on SIGHUP or the reload command.
• /run/watchdogd/pid — process ID. Touched as a response to SIGHUP or the reload command.
• /run/watchdogd/status — read to present WDT status and reset reason.
• /run/watchdogd/sock — used to connect to watchdogd.

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

watchdogd(8) watchdogd.conf(5)

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🧚 AUTHORS 🧚

watchdogd is an improved version of the original, created by Michele d'Amico and adapted to uClinux-dist by Mike Frysinger. It is maintained by Joachim Wiberg at GitHub: https://github.com/troglobit/watchdogd.

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💖 okay that's the whole thing bestie, go forth and watchdog responsibly 🫶✨

Debian · Nov 23, 2025 · that's the source, version and date, iykyk 💅🎀