python-systemd
===============

Python module for native access to the systemd facilities. Functionality
is separated into a number of modules:
- systemd.journal supports sending of structured messages to the journal
  and reading journal files,
- systemd.daemon wraps parts of libsystemd useful for writing daemons
  and socket activation,
- systemd.id128 provides functions for querying machine and boot identifiers
  and a lists of message identifiers provided by systemd,
- systemd.login wraps parts of libsystemd used to query logged in users
  and available seats and machines.

Installation
============

This module should be packaged for almost all Linux distributions. Use

On Fedora/RHEL/CentOS

    dnf install python-systemd python3-systemd

On Debian/Ubuntu/Mint

    apt-get install python-systemd python3-systemd

On openSUSE and SLE

    zypper in python-systemd

To build from source

On Fedora 21+ with Python 2:

    dnf install git python-pip gcc python-devel systemd-devel
    pip install git+https://github.com/systemd/python-systemd.git#egg=systemd

On Fedora 21+ with Python 3:

    dnf install git python3-pip gcc python3-devel systemd-devel
    pip3 install git+https://github.com/systemd/python-systemd.git#egg=systemd

On Debian or Ubuntu with Python 2:

    apt-get install libsystemd-{journal,daemon,login,id128}-dev gcc python-dev pkg-config

On Debian or Ubuntu with Python 3:

    apt-get install libsystemd-{journal,daemon,login,id128}-dev gcc python3-dev pkg-config

The project is also available on pypi as `systemd-python`.

Usage
=====

Quick example:

    from systemd import journal
    journal.send('Hello world')
    journal.send('Hello, again, world', FIELD2='Greetings!', FIELD3='Guten tag')
    journal.send('Binary message', BINARY=b'\xde\xad\xbe\xef')

There is one required argument -- the message, and additional fields
can be specified as keyword arguments. Following the journald API, all
names are uppercase.

The journald sendv call can also be accessed directly:

    from systemd import journal
    journal.sendv('MESSAGE=Hello world')
    journal.sendv('MESSAGE=Hello, again, world', 'FIELD2=Greetings!',
                   'FIELD3=Guten tag')
    journal.sendv('MESSAGE=Binary message', b'BINARY=\xde\xad\xbe\xef')

The two examples should give the same results in the log.

Notes:

 * Unlike the native C version of journald's sd_journal_send(),
   printf-style substitution is not supported. Perform any
   substitution using Python's % operator or .format() capabilities
   first.
 * A ValueError is raised if sd_journald_sendv() results in an error.
   This might happen if there are no arguments or one of them is
   invalid.

Documentation
=============

Online documentation can be found at [freedesktop.org](https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/python-systemd/)

To build it locally run:

    make sphinx-html

Or use any other builder, see `man sphinx-build` for a list. The compiled docs will be e.g. in `docs/html`.

Viewing Output
==============

Quick way to view output with all fields as it comes in:

    sudo journalctl -f --output=json

Test Builds (for Development)
=============================

    python setup.py build_ext -i
    python
    >>> from systemd import journal
    >>> journal.send("Test")

[![Build Status](https://semaphoreci.com/api/v1/projects/42d43c62-f6e5-4fd5-a93a-2b165e6be575/530946/badge.svg)](https://semaphoreci.com/zbyszek/python-systemd)