dbus-daemon
message bus daemon for inter-process communication
TLDR
SYNOPSIS
dbus-daemon [options]
DESCRIPTION
dbus-daemon is the D-Bus message bus daemon that enables inter-process communication (IPC) between applications on Linux and Unix systems. It acts as a message router, receiving messages from one application and delivering them to the appropriate destination based on bus names and object paths.Two main bus types exist: the session bus (per-user) for desktop applications and user services, and the system bus (system-wide) for system services and hardware events. The session bus is created when a user logs in and exists for the duration of their session. The system bus is started at boot and runs with elevated privileges.D-Bus is fundamental to modern Linux desktop environments and system services. Applications use it for everything from notification delivery to hardware management. For example, NetworkManager, systemd, PulseAudio, and most desktop applications communicate through D-Bus.The daemon enforces security policies defined in its configuration files, controlling which applications can own bus names, send messages to specific services, and receive broadcasts. This prevents unauthorized access to sensitive system functionality.
PARAMETERS
--config-file file
Use specified configuration file--session
Use session bus configuration--system
Use system bus configuration--address address
Listen address override--print-pid[=DESCRIPTOR]
Print PID to stdout, or to the given file descriptor--print-address[=DESCRIPTOR]
Print bus address to stdout, or to the given file descriptor--syslog
Enable syslog logging in addition to stderr--nofork
Do not fork into background, even if configured to do so--fork
Fork into background, even if not configured to do so--nopidfile
Do not write a PID file even if configured to do so--nosyslog
Force output to stderr only, do not use syslog--syslog-only
Force syslog logging only, do not duplicate messages to stderr--introspect
Print introspection information for all D-Bus internal interfaces and exit--systemd-activation
Enable systemd-style service activation--version
Print daemon version and exit
CONFIGURATION
/etc/dbus-1/system.conf
System bus configuration file controlling security policies and allowed services./etc/dbus-1/session.conf
Session bus configuration template defining per-user session settings.
CAVEATS
Usually started automatically by systemd or session managers. Direct invocation is rarely needed. System bus requires root privileges. Configuration affects security and available services.
SEE ALSO
dbus-send(1), dbus-monitor(1), dbus-launch(1), busctl(1)
