Who creates subdirs under `/run`?

A system daemon needs to create several files under /run/program-name/ (and possibly other subdirs of that). They are the PID file, and at least one Unix socket file (but maybe more). The FHS specifies that those files go there, under a /run subdir: https://refspecs.linuxfoundation.org/FHS_3.0/fhs/ch03s15.html#runRequirements. (In some Unix systems, it would still be /var/run instead of /run, but the same question applies.)

But who is responsible for the creation of the dir(s)? Should the daemon call the equivalent of mkdir -p right before open(..., O_CREAT) or bind(2)? Or should the sysadmin make sure that the directory exists before the daemon runs, by configuring systemd-tmpfiles(8) or equivalent (e.g., an rc script, or the docker entrypoint), and the daemon assume that the directory exists (and fail if it doesn't)? Or both (i.e., the sysadmin makes sure the dir exists, but the daemon still calls mkdir(2) just in case to avoid failing)?

posted over 2 years ago

CC BY-SA 4.0

2y ago

alx‭

367 reputation 8 16 42 109