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NAME | INTRODUCTION | THE D-BUS API | SEMANTICS | RECOMMENDATIONS | EXAMPLES | VERSIONING | HISTORY | SEE ALSO | NOTES | COLOPHON |
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ORG.FRE...HOSTNAME1(5) org.freedesktop.hostname1 ORG.FRE...HOSTNAME1(5)
org.freedesktop.hostname1 - The D-Bus interface of
systemd-hostnamed
systemd-hostnamed.service(8) is a system service that can be used
to control the hostname and related machine metadata from user
programs. This page describes the hostname semantics and the D-Bus
interface.
The service exposes the following interfaces on the bus:
node /org/freedesktop/hostname1 {
interface org.freedesktop.hostname1 {
methods:
SetHostname(in s hostname,
in b interactive);
SetStaticHostname(in s hostname,
in b interactive);
SetPrettyHostname(in s hostname,
in b interactive);
SetIconName(in s icon,
in b interactive);
SetChassis(in s chassis,
in b interactive);
SetDeployment(in s deployment,
in b interactive);
SetLocation(in s location,
in b interactive);
GetProductUUID(in b interactive,
out ay uuid);
GetHardwareSerial(out s serial);
Describe(out s json);
properties:
readonly s Hostname = '...';
readonly s StaticHostname = '...';
readonly s PrettyHostname = '...';
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly s DefaultHostname = '...';
readonly s HostnameSource = '...';
readonly s IconName = '...';
readonly s Chassis = '...';
readonly s Deployment = '...';
readonly s Location = '...';
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly s KernelName = '...';
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly s KernelRelease = '...';
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly s KernelVersion = '...';
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly s OperatingSystemPrettyName = '...';
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly s OperatingSystemCPEName = '...';
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly t OperatingSystemSupportEnd = ...;
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly s HomeURL = '...';
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly s OperatingSystemImageID = '...';
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly s OperatingSystemImageVersion = '...';
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly s HardwareVendor = '...';
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly s HardwareModel = '...';
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly s HardwareSKU = '...';
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly s HardwareVersion = '...';
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly s FirmwareVersion = '...';
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly s FirmwareVendor = '...';
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly t FirmwareDate = ...;
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly ay MachineID = [...];
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly ay BootID = [...];
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly u VSockCID = ...;
@org.freedesktop.DBus.Property.EmitsChangedSignal("const")
readonly s ChassisAssetTag = '...';
};
interface org.freedesktop.DBus.Peer { ... };
interface org.freedesktop.DBus.Introspectable { ... };
interface org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties { ... };
};
Whenever the hostname or other metadata is changed via the daemon,
PropertyChanged signals are sent out to subscribed clients.
Changing a hostname using this interface is authenticated via
polkit[1].
The StaticHostname property exposes the "static" hostname
configured in /etc/hostname. It is not always in sync with the
current hostname as returned by the gethostname(3) system call. If
no static hostname is configured this property will be the empty
string.
When systemd(1) or systemd-hostnamed.service(8) set the hostname,
this static hostname has the highest priority.
The Hostname property exposes the actual hostname configured in
the kernel via sethostname(2). It can be different from the static
hostname. This property is never empty.
The PrettyHostname property exposes the pretty hostname which is a
free-form UTF-8 hostname for presentation to the user. User
interfaces should ensure that the pretty hostname and the static
hostname stay in sync. E.g. when the former is "Lennart’s
Computer" the latter should be "lennarts-computer". If no pretty
hostname is set this setting will be the empty string.
Applications should then find a suitable fallback, such as the
dynamic hostname.
The DefaultHostname property exposes the default hostname
(configured through os-release(5), or a fallback set at
compilation time).
The HostnameSource property exposes the origin of the currently
configured hostname. One of "static" (set from /etc/hostname),
"transient" (a non-permanent hostname from an external source),
"default" (the value from os-release or the compiled-in fallback).
The IconName property exposes the icon name following the XDG icon
naming spec. If not set, information such as the chassis type (see
below) is used to find a suitable fallback icon name (i.e.
"computer-laptop" vs. "computer-desktop" is picked based on the
chassis information). If no such data is available, the empty
string is returned. In that case an application should fall back
to a replacement icon, for example "computer". If this property is
set to the empty string, the automatic fallback name selection is
enabled again.
The Chassis property exposes a chassis type, one of the currently
defined chassis types: "desktop", "laptop", "server", "tablet",
"handset", as well as the special chassis types "vm" and
"container" for virtualized systems. Note that in most cases the
chassis type will be determined automatically from DMI/SMBIOS/ACPI
firmware information. Writing to this setting is hence useful only
to override misdetected chassis types, or to configure the chassis
type if it could not be auto-detected. Set this property to the
empty string to reenable the automatic detection of the chassis
type from firmware information.
Note that systemd-hostnamed starts only on request and terminates
after a short idle period. This effectively means that
PropertyChanged messages are not sent out for changes made
directly on the files (as in: administrator edits the files with
vi). This is the intended behavior: manual configuration changes
should require manual reloading.
The transient (dynamic) hostname exposed by the Hostname property
maps directly to the kernel hostname. This hostname should be
assumed to be highly dynamic, and hence should be watched
directly, without depending on PropertyChanged messages from
systemd-hostnamed. To accomplish this, open
/proc/sys/kernel/hostname and poll(3) for SIGHUP which is
triggered by the kernel every time the hostname changes. Again:
this is special for the transient (dynamic) hostname, and does not
apply to the configured (fixed) hostname.
Applications may read the hostname data directly if hostname
change notifications are not necessary. Use gethostname(2),
/etc/hostname (possibly with per-distribution fallbacks), and
machine-info(5) for that. For more information on these files and
syscalls see the respective man pages.
KernelName, KernelRelease, and KernelVersion expose the kernel
name (e.g. "Linux"), release (e.g. "5.0.0-11"), and version
(i.e. the build number, e.g. "#11") as reported by uname(2).
OperatingSystemPrettyName, OperatingSystemCPEName, and HomeURL
expose the PRETTY_NAME=, CPE_NAME= and HOME_URL= fields from
os-release(5). The purpose of those properties is to allow remote
clients to access this information over D-Bus. Local clients can
access the information directly.
MachineID expose the 128bit machine ID, see machine-id(5) for
details.
BootID expose the 128bit boot ID, as per
/proc/sys/kernel/random/boot_id.
VSockCID exposes the system's local AF_VSOCK CID (Context
Identifier, i.e. address) for the system, if one is available in
the virtual machine environment. Set to UINT32_MAX otherwise. See
vsock(7) for details.
OperatingSystemSupportEnd exposes when the OS' vendor support
ends, if this information is known. It's an unsigned 64bit value,
in µs since the UNIX epoch, UTC. If this information is not known
carries the value 2^64-1, i.e. UINT64_MAX.
OperatingSystemImageID and OperatingSystemImageVersion expose the
OS image name and version if available, or contain empty strings
otherwise. This mostly corresponds to the IMAGE_ID= and
IMAGE_VERSION= fields of the os-release file.
HardwareVendor, HardwareModel, HardwareSKU, and HardwareVersion
expose vendor information about the hardware of the system. The
stock keeping unit (SKU) describes a distinct type of hardware for
sale, purchase or inventory management. The SKU and version are
only available if they deviate from the model and among each
other. Thereby the version is more specific and only available if
it differs from the model and SKU. If no such information can be
determined these properties are set to empty strings.
FirmwareVersion and FirmwareVendor expose information about the
system's firmware, i.e. a version string and a vendor name. If no
such information can be determined these properties are set to
empty strings.
FirmwareDate exposes the firmware build date, if that information
is known. It's an unsigned 64bit value, in µs since the UNIX
epoch, UTC. If not known UNIT64_MAX.
ChassisAssetTag exposes an unique identifier of the system
chassis. If this information is not known this property is set to
an empty string.
Methods
SetHostname() sets the transient (dynamic) hostname, which is used
if no static hostname is set. This value must be an internet-style
hostname, 7-bit lowercase ASCII, no special chars/spaces. An empty
string will unset the transient hostname.
SetStaticHostname() sets the static hostname which is exposed by
the StaticHostname property. When called with an empty argument,
the static configuration in /etc/hostname is removed. Since the
static hostname has the highest priority, calling this function
usually affects also the Hostname property and the effective
hostname configured in the kernel.
SetPrettyHostname() sets the pretty hostname which is exposed by
the PrettyHostname property.
SetIconName(), SetChassis(), SetDeployment(), and SetLocation()
set the properties IconName (the name of the icon representing for
the machine), Chassis (the machine form factor), Deployment (the
system deployment environment), and Location (physical system
location), respectively.
PrettyHostname, IconName, Chassis, Deployment, and Location are
stored in /etc/machine-info. See machine-info(5) for the semantics
of those settings.
GetProductUUID() returns the "product UUID" as exposed by the
kernel based on DMI information in /sys/class/dmi/id/product_uuid.
Reading the file directly requires root privileges, and this
method allows access to unprivileged clients through the polkit
framework.
GetHardwareSerial() returns the "hardware serial" as exposed by
the kernel based on DMI information. Reading the file directly
requires root privileges, and this method allows access to
unprivileged clients through the polkit framework.
Describe() returns a JSON representation of all properties in one.
Security
The interactive boolean parameters can be used to control whether
polkit should interactively ask the user for authentication
credentials if required.
The polkit action for SetHostname() is
org.freedesktop.hostname1.set-hostname. For SetStaticHostname()
and SetPrettyHostname() it is
org.freedesktop.hostname1.set-static-hostname. For SetIconName(),
SetChassis(), SetDeployment() and SetLocation() it is
org.freedesktop.hostname1.set-machine-info.
Here are three examples that show how the pretty hostname and the
icon name should be used:
• When registering DNS-SD services: use the pretty hostname in
the service name, and pass the icon name in the TXT data, if
there is an icon name. Browsing clients can then show the
server icon on each service. This is especially useful for
WebDAV applications or UPnP media sharing.
• Set the bluetooth name to the pretty hostname.
• When your file browser has a "Computer" icon, replace the name
with the pretty hostname if set, and the icon with the icon
name, if it is set.
To properly handle name lookups with changing local hostnames
without having to edit /etc/hosts, we recommend using
systemd-hostnamed in combination with nss-myhostname(8).
Here are some recommendations to follow when generating a static
(internet) hostname from a pretty name:
• Generate a single DNS label only, not an FQDN. That means no
dots allowed. Strip them, or replace them with "-".
• It's probably safer to not use any non-ASCII chars, even if
DNS allows this in some way these days. In fact, restrict your
charset to "a-zA-Z0-9" and "-". Strip other chars, or try to
replace them in some smart way with chars from this set, for
example "ä" → "ae", and use "-" as the replacement for all
punctuation characters and whitespace.
• Try to avoid creating repeated "-", as well as "-" as the
first or last char.
• Limit the hostname to 63 chars, which is the length of a DNS
label.
• If after stripping special chars the empty string is the
result, you can pass this as-is to systemd-hostnamed in which
case it will automatically use a suitable fallback.
• Uppercase characters should be replaced with their lowercase
equivalents.
Note that while systemd-hostnamed applies some checks to the
hostname you pass they are much looser than the recommendations
above. For example, systemd-hostnamed will also accept "_" in the
hostname, but we recommend not using this to avoid clashes with
DNS-SD service types. Also systemd-hostnamed allows longer
hostnames, but because of the DNS label limitations, we recommend
not making use of this.
Here are a couple of example conversions:
• "Lennart's PC" → "lennarts-pc"
• "Müllers Computer" → "muellers-computer"
• "Voran!" → "voran"
• "Es war einmal ein Männlein" → "es-war-einmal-ein-maennlein"
• "Jawoll. Ist doch wahr!" → "jawoll-ist-doch-wahr"
• "レナート" → "localhost"
• "...zack!!! zack!..." → "zack-zack"
Of course, an already valid internet hostname label you enter and
pass through this conversion should stay unmodified, so that users
have direct control of it, if they want — by simply ignoring the
fact that the pretty hostname is pretty and just edit it as if it
was the normal internet name.
Example 1. Introspect org.freedesktop.hostname1 on the bus
$ gdbus introspect --system \
--dest org.freedesktop.hostname1 \
--object-path /org/freedesktop/hostname1
These D-Bus interfaces follow the usual interface versioning
guidelines[2].
The D-Bus API
FirmwareVersion and GetHardwareSerial() were added in version 251.
OperatingSystemSupportEnd, FirmwareVendor, and FirmwareDate were
added in version 253.
MachineID, BootID and VSockCID were added in version 256.
ChassisAssetTag, OperatingSystemImageID,
OperatingSystemImageVersion, HardwareSKU, and HardwareVersion were
added in version 258.
systemd(1), systemd-hostnamed.service(8), hostnamectl(1), David
Zeuthen's original Fedora Feature page about xdg-hostname[3]
1. polkit
https://www.freedesktop.org/software/polkit/docs/latest/
2. the usual interface versioning guidelines
https://0pointer.de/blog/projects/versioning-dbus.html
3. Feature page about xdg-hostname
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/BetterHostname
This page is part of the systemd (systemd system and service
manager) project. Information about the project can be found at
⟨http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd⟩. If you have a
bug report for this manual page, see
⟨http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/#bugreports⟩.
This page was obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
⟨https://github.com/systemd/systemd.git⟩ on 2025-08-11. (At that
time, the date of the most recent commit that was found in the
repository was 2025-08-11.) If you discover any rendering
problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there is
a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON
(which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail to
man-pages@man7.org
systemd 258~rc2 ORG.FRE...HOSTNAME1(5)
Pages that refer to this page: os-release(5), systemd.exec(5), systemd.directives(7), systemd.index(7), systemd-hostnamed.service(8)
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HTML rendering created 2025-09-06 by Michael Kerrisk, author of The Linux Programming Interface. For details of in-depth Linux/UNIX system programming training courses that I teach, look here. Hosting by jambit GmbH. |
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