gdbus
Tool for working with D -Bus objects
SYNOPSIS
gdbus introspect [--system | --session | --address address] --dest bus_name --object-path /path/to/object [--xml] [--recurse] [--only-properties]
gdbus monitor [--system | --session | --address address] --dest bus_name [--object-path /path/to/object]
gdbus call [--system | --session | --address address] --dest bus_name --object-path /path/to/object --method org.project.InterfaceName.MethodName [--timeout seconds | --interactive] ARG1 ARG2...
gdbus emit [--system | --session | --address address] --object-path /path/to/object --signal org.project.InterfaceName.SignalName [--dest unique_bus_name] ARG1 ARG2...
gdbus wait [--system | --session | --address address] --activate bus_name [--timeout seconds] bus_name
gdbus help
DESCRIPTION
gdbus is a simple tool for working with D-Bus objects.
COMMANDS
introspect
Prints out interfaces and property values for a remote object. For this to work, the owner of the object needs to implement the org.freedesktop.DBus.Introspectable interface. If the --xml option is used, the returned introspection XML is printed, otherwise a parsed pretty representation is printed. The --recurse option can be used to introspect children (and their children and so on) and the --only-properties option can be used to only print the interfaces with properties.
monitor
Monitors one or all objects owned by the owner of bus_name.
call
Invokes a method on a remote object. Each argument to pass to the method must be specified as a serialized GVariant except that strings do not need explicit quotes. The return values are printed out as serialized GVariant values.
emit
Emits a signal. Each argument to include in the signal must be specified as a serialized GVariant except that strings do not need explicit quotes.
wait
Waits until bus_name is owned by some process on the bus. If the --activate is specified, that bus name will be auto-started first. It may be the same as the bus name being waited for, or different.
help
Prints help and exit.
BASH COMPLETION
gdbus ships with a bash completion script to complete commands, destinations, bus names, object paths and interface/method names.
EXAMPLES
This shows how to introspect an object - note that the value of each property is displayed:
$ gdbus introspect --system \ --dest org.freedesktop.NetworkManager \ --object-path /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/0 node /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/0 { interface org.freedesktop.DBus.Introspectable { methods: Introspect(out s data); }; interface org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties { methods: Get(in s interface, in s propname, out v value); Set(in s interface, in s propname, in v value); GetAll(in s interface, out a{sv} props); }; interface org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.Device.Wired { signals: PropertiesChanged(a{sv} arg_0); properties: readonly b Carrier = false; readonly u Speed = 0; readonly s HwAddress = 00:1D:72:88:BE:97; }; interface org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.Device { methods: Disconnect(); signals: StateChanged(u arg_0, u arg_1, u arg_2); properties: readonly u DeviceType = 1; readonly b Managed = true; readwrite o Ip6Config = /; readwrite o Dhcp4Config = /; readwrite o Ip4Config = /; readonly u State = 2; readwrite u Ip4Address = 0; readonly u Capabilities = 3; readonly s Driver = e1000e; readwrite s Interface = eth0; readonly s Udi = /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:19.0/net/eth0; }; };
The --recurse and --only-properties options can be useful when wanting to inspect all objects owned by a particular process:
$ gdbus introspect --system --dest org.freedesktop.UPower --object-path / --recurse --only-properties node / { node /org { node /org/freedesktop { node /org/freedesktop/UPower { interface org.freedesktop.UPower { properties: readonly b IsDocked = true; readonly b LidForceSleep = false; readonly b LidIsPresent = false; readonly b LidIsClosed = false; readonly b OnLowBattery = false; readonly b OnBattery = false; readonly b CanHibernate = true; readonly b CanSuspend = true; readonly s DaemonVersion = 0.9.10; }; node /org/freedesktop/UPower/Policy { }; node /org/freedesktop/UPower/Wakeups { interface org.freedesktop.UPower.Wakeups { properties: readonly b HasCapability = true; }; }; }; }; }; };
In a similar fashion, the introspect command can be used to learn details about the Notify method:
[...] interface org.freedesktop.Notifications { methods: GetServerInformation(out s return_name, out s return_vendor, out s return_version, out s return_spec_version); GetCapabilities(out as return_caps); CloseNotification(in u id); Notify(in s app_name, in u id, in s icon, in s summary, in s body, in as actions, in a{sv} hints, in i timeout, out u return_id); }; [...]
With this information, its easy to use the call command to display a notification
$ gdbus call --session \ --dest org.freedesktop.Notifications \ --object-path /org/freedesktop/Notifications \ --method org.freedesktop.Notifications.Notify \ my_app_name \ 42 \ gtk-dialog-info \ "The Summary" \ "Heres the body of the notification" \ [] \ {} \ 5000 (uint32 12,)
Call a method with file handle argument:
$ gdbus call --session \ --dest org.example.foo \ --object-path /org/example/foo \ --method SendFDs \ 1 \ 10 \ 10<file.foo
Monitoring all objects on a service:
$ gdbus monitor --system --dest org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit Monitoring signals from all objects owned by org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit The name org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit is owned by :1.15 /org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session2: org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Session.ActiveChanged (false,) /org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Seat1: org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Seat.ActiveSessionChanged (,) /org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session2: org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Session.ActiveChanged (true,) /org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Seat1: org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Seat.ActiveSessionChanged (/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session2,)
Monitoring a single object on a service:
$ gdbus monitor --system --dest org.freedesktop.NetworkManager --object-path /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/AccessPoint/4141 Monitoring signals on object /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/AccessPoint/4141 owned by org.freedesktop.NetworkManager The name org.freedesktop.NetworkManager is owned by :1.5 /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/AccessPoint/4141: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.AccessPoint.PropertiesChanged ({Strength: <byte 0x5c>},) /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/AccessPoint/4141: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.AccessPoint.PropertiesChanged ({Strength: <byte 0x64>},) /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/AccessPoint/4141: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.AccessPoint.PropertiesChanged ({Strength: <byte 0x5e>},) /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/AccessPoint/4141: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.AccessPoint.PropertiesChanged ({Strength: <byte 0x64>},)
Emitting a signal:
$ gdbus emit --session --object-path /foo --signal org.bar.Foo "[foo, bar, baz]"
Emitting a signal to a specific process:
$ gdbus emit --session --object-path /bar --signal org.bar.Bar someString --dest :1.42
Waiting for a well-known name to be owned on the bus; this will not auto-start the service:
$ gdbus wait --session org.bar.SomeName
Auto-starting then waiting for a well-known name to be owned on the bus:
$ gdbus wait --session --activate org.bar.SomeName
Auto-starting a different service, then waiting for a well-known name to be owned on the bus. This is useful in situations where SomeName is not directly activatable:
$ gdbus wait --session --activate org.bar.PrerequisiteName org.bar.SomeName
Waiting for a well-known name and giving up after 30 seconds. By default, the timeout is disabled; or set --timeout to 0 to disable it:
$ gdbus wait --session --timeout 30 org.bar.SomeName
BUGS
Please send bug reports to either the distribution bug tracker or the upstream bug tracker at https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/glib/issues/new.
SEE ALSO
dbus-send(1)
