LOGIND.CONF(5)

📦
version 262.1 · 20 versions
, in arch rolling

🎀 LOGIND.CONF(5) — NAME 💖

okay so bestie, this is the page for logind.conf and logind.conf.d — the Login manager configuration files, section 5 of the manual. it's where you tell the systemd login manager how to behave. let's get into it 🦋

📜 SYNOPSIS ✨

/etc/systemd/logind.conf
/run/systemd/logind.conf
/usr/local/lib/systemd/logind.conf
/usr/lib/systemd/logind.conf
/etc/systemd/logind.conf.d/*.conf
/run/systemd/logind.conf.d/*.conf
/usr/local/lib/systemd/logind.conf.d/*.conf
/usr/lib/systemd/logind.conf.d/*.conf

🌈 DESCRIPTION 🌸

These files configure various parameters of the systemd login manager, systemd-logind.service(8). For a general description of the syntax, go peek at systemd.syntax(7). iykyk 💅

📁 CONFIGURATION DIRECTORIES AND PRECEDENCE 👑

okay so here's the tea ☕ — the default config is set at compile time, which means you literally only need to write a config file when you want to deviate from those defaults. the main config file gets loaded from one of the listed directories, in order of priority, and only the first file found is used:

  1. /etc/systemd/
  2. /run/systemd/
  3. /usr/local/lib/systemd/ [1]
  4. /usr/lib/systemd/

The vendor version of the file contains commented out entries showing the defaults, as a guide to the administrator. Local overrides can also be created by making drop-ins, as described below. The main configuration file can also be edited for this purpose (or a copy in /etc/ if it is shipped under /usr/) — however, using drop-ins for local configuration is recommended over modifications to the main configuration file. periodt. 💖

In addition to the main configuration file, drop-in configuration snippets are read from /usr/lib/systemd/*.conf.d/, /usr/local/lib/systemd/*.conf.d/, and /etc/systemd/*.conf.d/. Those drop-ins have higher precedence and override the main configuration file. Files in the *.conf.d/ configuration subdirectories are sorted by their filename in lexicographic order, regardless of in which of the subdirectories they reside. When multiple files specify the same option:

  • for options which accept just a single value, the entry in the file sorted last takes precedence ✨
  • for options which accept a list of values, entries are collected as they occur in the sorted files 🧺

When packages need to customize the configuration, they can install drop-ins under /usr/. Files in /etc/ are reserved for the local administrator, who may use this logic to override the configuration files installed by vendor packages. Drop-ins have to be used to override package drop-ins, since the main configuration file has lower precedence. It is recommended to prefix all filenames in those subdirectories with a two-digit number and a dash, to simplify the ordering. This also defines a concept of drop-in priorities to allow OS vendors to ship drop-ins within a specific range lower than the range used by users. This should lower the risk of package drop-ins accidentally overriding drop-ins defined by users. It is recommended to use the range 10-40 for drop-ins in /usr/ and the range 60-90 for drop-ins in /etc/ and /run/, to make sure that local and transient drop-ins take priority over drop-ins shipped by the OS vendor. so organized, so iconic 👑

To disable a configuration file supplied by the vendor, the recommended way is to place a symlink to /dev/null in the configuration directory in /etc/, with the same filename as the vendor configuration file. sneaky but valid 💀

✨ OPTIONS ✨

All options are configured in the [Login] section:

  • NAutoVTs= — Takes a positive integer. Configures how many virtual terminals (VTs) to allocate by default that, when switched to and are previously unused, "autovt" services are automatically spawned on. These services are instantiated from the template unit autovt@.service for the respective VT TTY name, for example, autovt@tty4.service. By default, autovt@.service is linked to getty@.service. In other words, login prompts are started dynamically as the user switches to unused virtual terminals. Hence, this parameter controls how many login "gettys" are available on the VTs. If a VT is already used by some other subsystem (for example, a graphical login), this kind of activation will not be attempted. Note that the VT configured in ReserveVT= is always subject to this kind of activation, even if it is not one of the VTs configured with the NAutoVTs= directive. Defaults to 6. When set to 0, automatic spawning of "autovt" services is disabled. 🔥
  • ReserveVT= — Takes a positive integer. Identifies one virtual terminal that shall unconditionally be reserved for autovt@.service activation (see above). The VT selected with this option will be marked busy unconditionally, so that no other subsystem will allocate it. This functionality is useful to ensure that, regardless of how many VTs are allocated by other subsystems, one login "getty" is always available. Defaults to 6 (in other words, there will always be a "getty" available on Alt-F6.). When set to 0, VT reservation is disabled.

Added in version 190.

  • KillUserProcesses= — Takes a boolean argument. Configures whether the processes of a user should be killed when the user logs out. If true, the scope unit corresponding to the session and all processes inside that scope will be terminated. If false, the scope is "abandoned", see systemd.scope(5), and processes are not killed. Defaults to "no", but see the options KillOnlyUsers= and KillExcludeUsers= below.

In addition to session processes, user process may run under the user manager unit user@.service. Depending on the linger settings, this may allow users to run processes independent of their login sessions. See the description of enable-linger in loginctl(1).

⚠️ note that setting KillUserProcesses=yes will break tools like screen(1) and tmux(1), unless they are moved out of the session scope. See example in systemd-run(1). not me warning you twice bestie 😭
  • KillOnlyUsers=, KillExcludeUsers= — These settings take space-separated lists of usernames that override the KillUserProcesses= setting. A user name may be added to KillExcludeUsers= to exclude the processes in the session scopes of that user from being killed even if KillUserProcesses=yes is set. If KillExcludeUsers= is not set, the "root" user is excluded by default. KillExcludeUsers= may be set to an empty value to override this default. If a user is not excluded, KillOnlyUsers= is checked next. If this setting is specified, only the processes in the session scopes of those users will be killed. Otherwise, users are subject to the KillUserProcesses=yes setting. 💅
  • IdleAction= — Configures the action to take when the system is idle. Takes one of "ignore", "poweroff", "reboot", "halt", "kexec", "suspend", "hibernate", "hybrid-sleep", "suspend-then-hibernate", "sleep", and "lock". Defaults to "ignore".

Note that this requires that user sessions correctly report the idle status to the system. The system will execute the action after all sessions report that they are idle, no idle inhibitor lock is active, and subsequently, the time configured with IdleActionSec= (see below) has expired. 🛌

Added in version 198.

  • IdleActionSec= — Configures the delay after which the action configured in IdleAction= (see above) is taken after the system is idle. ⏳

Added in version 198.

  • InhibitDelayMaxSec= — Specifies the maximum time a system shutdown or sleep request is delayed due to an inhibitor lock of type "delay" being active before the inhibitor is ignored and the operation executes anyway. Defaults to 5. 🙈
  • UserStopDelaySec= — Specifies how long to keep the user record and per-user service user@.service around for a user after they logged out fully. If set to zero, the per-user service is terminated immediately when the last session of the user has ended. If this option is configured to non-zero, rapid logout/login cycles are sped up, as the user's service manager is not constantly restarted. If set to "infinity" the per-user service for a user is never terminated again after first login, and continues to run until system shutdown. Defaults to 10s. 🕐

Added in version 240.

  • SleepOperation= — Takes a list of sleep operations. Possible values are "suspend", "hibernate", "hybrid-sleep", and "suspend-then-hibernate". Controls the candidate sleep operations for the "sleep" action. When "sleep" action is performed, the specified sleep operations are checked in a fixed order ("suspend-then-hibernate" → "hybrid-sleep" → "suspend" → "hibernate"), and the first one supported by the machine is used to put the system into sleep. Defaults to "suspend-then-hibernate suspend hibernate". 😴

Added in version 256.

  • HandlePowerKey=, HandlePowerKeyLongPress=, HandleRebootKey=, HandleRebootKeyLongPress=, HandleSuspendKey=, HandleSuspendKeyLongPress=, HandleHibernateKey=, HandleHibernateKeyLongPress=, HandleLidSwitch=, HandleLidSwitchExternalPower=, HandleLidSwitchDocked=, HandleSecureAttentionKey= — Controls how logind shall handle the system power, reboot and sleep keys and the lid switch to trigger actions such as system power-off, reboot or suspend. Can be one of "ignore", "poweroff", "reboot", "halt", "kexec", "suspend", "hibernate", "hybrid-sleep", "suspend-then-hibernate", "sleep", "lock", "factory-reset", and "secure-attention-key". If "ignore", systemd-logind will never handle these keys. If "lock", all running sessions will be screen-locked; otherwise, the specified action will be taken in the respective event. Only input devices with the "power-switch" udev tag will be watched for key/lid switch events. 👀

Here's the default vibe check 📋:

  • HandlePowerKey= defaults to "poweroff"
  • HandleRebootKey= defaults to "reboot"
  • HandleSuspendKey= defaults to "suspend"
  • HandleHibernateKey= defaults to "hibernate"
  • HandlePowerKeyLongPress= defaults to "ignore"
  • HandleRebootKeyLongPress= defaults to "poweroff"
  • HandleSuspendKeyLongPress= defaults to "hibernate"
  • HandleHibernateKeyLongPress= defaults to "ignore"
  • HandleLidSwitch= defaults to "suspend"
  • HandleLidSwitchExternalPower= is completely ignored by default (for backwards compatibility) — an explicit value must be set before it will be used to determine behaviour. 🫥
  • HandleLidSwitchDocked= defaults to "ignore"
  • HandleSecureAttentionKey= defaults to "secure-attention-key"

If the system is inserted in a docking station, or if more than one display is connected, the action specified by HandleLidSwitchDocked= occurs; if the system is on external power the action (if any) specified by HandleLidSwitchExternalPower= occurs; otherwise the HandleLidSwitch= action occurs. 🦋

and that's where part 1 wraps for now — more coming, don't go anywhere bestie 💖

okay so a different application can totally snatch logind's handling of the system power key, sleep key, and the lid switch right out from under it by grabbing a low-level inhibitor lock — the ones literally named "handle-power-key", "handle-suspend-key", "handle-hibernate-key", "handle-lid-switch", and "handle-reboot-key". bestie, this is the move graphical desktop environments pull all the time so they can take over suspend and hibernation handling and run their own little configuration mechanisms instead. 🎀

and the tea is: once a low-level inhibitor lock is taken, logind will not take any action when that key or switch gets triggered, and the Handle*= settings basically become irrelevant — except for HandleSecureAttentionKey=, which is always handled since its addition in v257. no exceptions, she's the main character. 👑

Added in version 184.

  • PowerKeyIgnoreInhibited=, SuspendKeyIgnoreInhibited=, HibernateKeyIgnoreInhibited=, LidSwitchIgnoreInhibited=, RebootKeyIgnoreInhibited= — these control whether the actions systemd-logind takes when the power, reboot and sleep keys and the lid switch are triggered are subject to high-level inhibitor locks — that's "shutdown", "reboot", "sleep", and "idle". meanwhile the low level inhibitor locks ("handle-power-key", "handle-suspend-key", "handle-hibernate-key", "handle-lid-switch", "handle-reboot-key") are always honored, no matter what you set here. periodt. 💅

these settings take boolean arguments. if "no", the inhibitor locks taken by applications are respected. if "yes", "shutdown", "reboot" "sleep", and "idle" inhibitor locks are ignored.

so like, PowerKeyIgnoreInhibited=, SuspendKeyIgnoreInhibited=, HibernateKeyIgnoreInhibited= and RebootKeyIgnoreInhibited= all default to "no". but LidSwitchIgnoreInhibited= defaults to "yes". which means when systemd-logind is handling events by itself (i.e. no low level inhibitor locks are taken by another application), the lid switch does not respect suspend blockers by default, but the power and sleep keys do. it's giving "lid stays unbothered, keys stay polite." ✨

Added in version 190.

  • HoldoffTimeoutSec= — sets a period of time after system startup or system resume during which systemd will hold off on reacting to lid events. lowkey crucial, because the system needs it to properly detect any hotplugged devices, so systemd can ignore lid events if external monitors, or docks, are connected. if you set it to 0, systemd will always react immediately — possibly before the kernel has fully probed all the hotplugged devices. that's safe, as long as you do not care for systemd to account for devices that have been plugged or unplugged while the system was off. defaults to 30s. ⏳

Added in version 220.

  • RuntimeDirectorySize= — sets the size limit on the $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR runtime directory for each user who logs in. takes a size in bytes, optionally suffixed with the usual K, G, M, and T suffixes, to the base 1024 (IEC). alternatively, a numerical percentage suffixed by % may be specified, which sets the size limit relative to the amount of physical RAM. defaults to 10%. and ngl, this size is a safety limit only — since each runtime directory is a tmpfs file system, it will only consume as much memory as is needed. she's not greedy, she just has boundaries. 🦋

Added in version 211.

  • RuntimeDirectoryInodesMax= — sets the limit on number of inodes for the $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR runtime directory for each user who logs in. takes a number, optionally suffixed with the usual K, G, M, and T suffixes, to the base 1024 (IEC). defaults to RuntimeDirectorySize= divided by 4096. same deal as above: this size is a safety limit only, and since each runtime directory is a tmpfs file system, it will only consume as much memory as is needed. 💖

Added in version 246.

  • InhibitorsMax= — controls the maximum number of concurrent inhibitors to permit. defaults to 8192 (8K). that's a lot of inhibitors, she's generous fr fr. 🫶

Added in version 230.

  • SessionsMax= — controls the maximum number of concurrent user sessions to manage. defaults to 8192 (8K). depending on how the pam_systemd.so module is included in the PAM stack configuration, further login sessions will either be refused, or permitted but not tracked by systemd-logind. so like, pick your poison, iykyk. 🙈

Added in version 230.

  • RemoveIPC= — controls whether System V and POSIX IPC objects belonging to the user shall be removed when the user fully logs out. takes a boolean argument. if enabled, the user may not consume IPC resources after the last of the user's sessions terminated. this covers System V semaphores, shared memory and message queues, as well as POSIX shared memory and message queues. heads up though: IPC objects of the root user and other system users are excluded from the effect of this setting. defaults to "yes". 🧹

Added in version 212.

  • StopIdleSessionSec= — specifies a timeout in seconds, or a time span value, after which systemd-logind checks the idle state of all sessions. every session that is idle for longer than the timeout will be stopped. note that this option does not apply to "greeter" or "lock-screen" sessions — those are exempt, they got a hall pass. 😌 defaults to "infinity" (meaning systemd-logind is not checking the idle state of sessions). for details about the syntax of time spans, see systemd.time(7). ⭐

Added in version 252.

  • DesignatedMaintenanceTime= — specifies a default calendar event for scheduled shutdowns. so when you're using e.g. the command shutdown -r to reboot the system without specifying a timeout, logind would use the configured calendar event instead. for details about the syntax of calendar events, see systemd.time(7). 📅

Added in version 257.

  • WallMessages= — controls whether wall(1) messages should be sent to the terminals of all currently logged in users upon shutdown or reboot. defaults to "yes", and can be changed at runtime via the DBus "EnableWallMessages" and "WallMessagePrefix" properties. so yeah, everyone's getting the memo, bestie. 📢

Added in version 258.

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

💀 NOTES 💀

  1. 💣💥🧨💥💥💣 Please note that those configuration files must be available at all times. If /usr/local/ is a separate partition, it may not be available during early boot, and must not be used for configuration.
fr fr, do not play with this one. if /usr/local/ lives on its own partition it might not even be mounted during early boot, and your config would simply not be there. tragic. do not do it. 🙅‍♀️

and that's the whole page, bestie!! you read all of it, i'm so proud of you, that's genuinely iconic behavior. 👑✨

this little love letter to logind.conf(5) shipped with systemd 262.1 — so like, that's the source and version, and the date is just... whenever you're reading this, live in the moment. 💜🌸🦋

📦 where this page comes from
  • arch rolling: systemd 262.1-1 · LGPL-2.1-or-later AND CC0-1.0 AND GPL-2.0-or-later AND MIT-0
  • 💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash on : a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms