systemd-tmpfiles

Manage temporary files and directories

TLDR

Create files and directories as specified in configuration

$ systemd-tmpfiles --create

Clean up files and directories with age parameters

$ systemd-tmpfiles --clean

Remove files and directories as specified in configuration

$ systemd-tmpfiles --remove

Apply operations for user-specific configurations

$ systemd-tmpfiles --create --user

Execute lines marked for early boot

$ systemd-tmpfiles --create --boot

Apply only to paths under a specific prefix

$ systemd-tmpfiles --create --prefix=[/tmp]

Create, clean, and remove in a single invocation

$ systemd-tmpfiles --create --clean --remove

SYNOPSIS

systemd-tmpfiles [options] [configfile...]

systemd-tmpfiles creates, deletes, and cleans up volatile and temporary files and directories. Configuration files in /etc/tmpfiles.d/, /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/, and related directories define what actions to take.The tool is automatically invoked during system boot by systemd services. Manual execution is typically only needed for testing configurations or one-time cleanup operations.

PARAMETERS

--create

Create files and directories as configured

--clean

Clean up files older than configured age

--remove

Remove files and directories

--user

Apply user configuration

--boot

Execute boot-time entries

--purge

Delete all files and directories created by the specified configuration files

--prefix path

Only apply rules with paths starting with specified prefix (repeatable)

--exclude-prefix path

Ignore rules with paths starting with specified prefix (repeatable)

-E

Shortcut for excluding /dev, /proc, /run, and /sys hierarchies

--root path

Prefix all paths with the given alternate root directory

--replace path

Use command-line arguments instead of the specified configuration file

--cat-config

Print the contents of configuration files to stdout

--no-pager

Do not pipe output into a pager

-h, --help

Print help text and exit

CAVEATS

Running manually is usually not needed as systemd handles this automatically. It is possible to combine --create, --clean, and --remove in one invocation. Configuration syntax errors may prevent proper cleanup. Age-based cleanup requires properly configured time values. Part of the systemd suite.