nixos: add functions and documentation for escaping systemd Exec* directives

it's really easy to accidentally write the wrong systemd Exec* directive, ones
that works most of the time but fails when users include systemd metacharacters
in arguments that are interpolated into an Exec* directive. add a few functions
analogous to escapeShellArg{,s} and some documentation on how and when to use them.

pennae 40a35299 74f542c4

Changed files
+157
nixos
+42
nixos/doc/manual/development/writing-modules.chapter.md
···
`systemd.timers` (the list of commands to be executed periodically by
`systemd`).
::: {#locate-example .example}
::: {.title}
**Example: NixOS Module for the "locate" Service**
···
timerConfig.OnCalendar = cfg.interval;
};
};
}
```
:::
···
`systemd.timers` (the list of commands to be executed periodically by
`systemd`).
+
Care must be taken when writing systemd services using `Exec*` directives. By
+
default systemd performs substitution on `%<char>` specifiers in these
+
directives, expands environment variables from `$FOO` and `${FOO}`, splits
+
arguments on whitespace, and splits commands on `;`. All of these must be escaped
+
to avoid unexpected substitution or splitting when interpolating into an `Exec*`
+
directive, e.g. when using an `extraArgs` option to pass additional arguments to
+
the service. The functions `utils.escapeSystemdExecArg` and
+
`utils.escapeSystemdExecArgs` are provided for this, see [Example: Escaping in
+
Exec directives](#exec-escaping-example) for an example. When using these
+
functions system environment substitution should *not* be disabled explicitly.
+
::: {#locate-example .example}
::: {.title}
**Example: NixOS Module for the "locate" Service**
···
timerConfig.OnCalendar = cfg.interval;
};
};
+
}
+
```
+
:::
+
+
::: {#exec-escaping-example .example}
+
::: {.title}
+
**Example: Escaping in Exec directives**
+
:::
+
```nix
+
{ config, lib, pkgs, utils, ... }:
+
+
with lib;
+
+
let
+
cfg = config.services.echo;
+
echoAll = pkgs.writeScript "echo-all" ''
+
#! ${pkgs.runtimeShell}
+
for s in "$@"; do
+
printf '%s\n' "$s"
+
done
+
'';
+
args = [ "a%Nything" "lang=\${LANG}" ";" "/bin/sh -c date" ];
+
in {
+
systemd.services.echo =
+
{ description = "Echo to the journal";
+
wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
+
serviceConfig.Type = "oneshot";
+
serviceConfig.ExecStart = ''
+
${echoAll} ${utils.escapeSystemdExecArgs args}
+
'';
+
};
}
```
:::
+49
nixos/doc/manual/from_md/development/writing-modules.chapter.xml
···
services) and <literal>systemd.timers</literal> (the list of
commands to be executed periodically by <literal>systemd</literal>).
</para>
<anchor xml:id="locate-example" />
<para>
<emphasis role="strong">Example: NixOS Module for the
···
timerConfig.OnCalendar = cfg.interval;
};
};
}
</programlisting>
<xi:include href="option-declarations.section.xml" />
···
services) and <literal>systemd.timers</literal> (the list of
commands to be executed periodically by <literal>systemd</literal>).
</para>
+
<para>
+
Care must be taken when writing systemd services using
+
<literal>Exec*</literal> directives. By default systemd performs
+
substitution on <literal>%&lt;char&gt;</literal> specifiers in these
+
directives, expands environment variables from
+
<literal>$FOO</literal> and <literal>${FOO}</literal>, splits
+
arguments on whitespace, and splits commands on
+
<literal>;</literal>. All of these must be escaped to avoid
+
unexpected substitution or splitting when interpolating into an
+
<literal>Exec*</literal> directive, e.g. when using an
+
<literal>extraArgs</literal> option to pass additional arguments to
+
the service. The functions
+
<literal>utils.escapeSystemdExecArg</literal> and
+
<literal>utils.escapeSystemdExecArgs</literal> are provided for
+
this, see <link linkend="exec-escaping-example">Example: Escaping in
+
Exec directives</link> for an example. When using these functions
+
system environment substitution should <emphasis>not</emphasis> be
+
disabled explicitly.
+
</para>
<anchor xml:id="locate-example" />
<para>
<emphasis role="strong">Example: NixOS Module for the
···
timerConfig.OnCalendar = cfg.interval;
};
};
+
}
+
</programlisting>
+
<anchor xml:id="exec-escaping-example" />
+
<para>
+
<emphasis role="strong">Example: Escaping in Exec
+
directives</emphasis>
+
</para>
+
<programlisting language="bash">
+
{ config, lib, pkgs, utils, ... }:
+
+
with lib;
+
+
let
+
cfg = config.services.echo;
+
echoAll = pkgs.writeScript &quot;echo-all&quot; ''
+
#! ${pkgs.runtimeShell}
+
for s in &quot;$@&quot;; do
+
printf '%s\n' &quot;$s&quot;
+
done
+
'';
+
args = [ &quot;a%Nything&quot; &quot;lang=\${LANG}&quot; &quot;;&quot; &quot;/bin/sh -c date&quot; ];
+
in {
+
systemd.services.echo =
+
{ description = &quot;Echo to the journal&quot;;
+
wantedBy = [ &quot;multi-user.target&quot; ];
+
serviceConfig.Type = &quot;oneshot&quot;;
+
serviceConfig.ExecStart = ''
+
${echoAll} ${utils.escapeSystemdExecArgs args}
+
'';
+
};
}
</programlisting>
<xi:include href="option-declarations.section.xml" />
+20
nixos/lib/utils.nix
···
replaceChars ["/" "-" " "] ["-" "\\x2d" "\\x20"]
(removePrefix "/" s);
# Returns a system path for a given shell package
toShellPath = shell:
if types.shellPackage.check shell then
···
replaceChars ["/" "-" " "] ["-" "\\x2d" "\\x20"]
(removePrefix "/" s);
+
# Quotes an argument for use in Exec* service lines.
+
# systemd accepts "-quoted strings with escape sequences, toJSON produces
+
# a subset of these.
+
# Additionally we escape % to disallow expansion of % specifiers. Any lone ;
+
# in the input will be turned it ";" and thus lose its special meaning.
+
# Every $ is escaped to $$, this makes it unnecessary to disable environment
+
# substitution for the directive.
+
escapeSystemdExecArg = arg:
+
let
+
s = if builtins.isPath arg then "${arg}"
+
else if builtins.isString arg then arg
+
else if builtins.isInt arg || builtins.isFloat arg then toString arg
+
else throw "escapeSystemdExecArg only allows strings, paths and numbers";
+
in
+
replaceChars [ "%" "$" ] [ "%%" "$$" ] (builtins.toJSON s);
+
+
# Quotes a list of arguments into a single string for use in a Exec*
+
# line.
+
escapeSystemdExecArgs = concatMapStringsSep " " escapeSystemdExecArg;
+
# Returns a system path for a given shell package
toShellPath = shell:
if types.shellPackage.check shell then
+1
nixos/tests/all-tests.nix
···
systemd-boot = handleTest ./systemd-boot.nix {};
systemd-confinement = handleTest ./systemd-confinement.nix {};
systemd-cryptenroll = handleTest ./systemd-cryptenroll.nix {};
systemd-journal = handleTest ./systemd-journal.nix {};
systemd-networkd = handleTest ./systemd-networkd.nix {};
systemd-networkd-dhcpserver = handleTest ./systemd-networkd-dhcpserver.nix {};
···
systemd-boot = handleTest ./systemd-boot.nix {};
systemd-confinement = handleTest ./systemd-confinement.nix {};
systemd-cryptenroll = handleTest ./systemd-cryptenroll.nix {};
+
systemd-escaping = handleTest ./systemd-escaping.nix {};
systemd-journal = handleTest ./systemd-journal.nix {};
systemd-networkd = handleTest ./systemd-networkd.nix {};
systemd-networkd-dhcpserver = handleTest ./systemd-networkd-dhcpserver.nix {};
nixos/tests/empty-file

This is a binary file and will not be displayed.

+45
nixos/tests/systemd-escaping.nix
···
···
+
import ./make-test-python.nix ({ pkgs, ... }:
+
+
let
+
echoAll = pkgs.writeScript "echo-all" ''
+
#! ${pkgs.runtimeShell}
+
for s in "$@"; do
+
printf '%s\n' "$s"
+
done
+
'';
+
# deliberately using a local empty file instead of pkgs.emptyFile to have
+
# a non-store path in the test
+
args = [ "a%Nything" "lang=\${LANG}" ";" "/bin/sh -c date" ./empty-file 4.2 23 ];
+
in
+
{
+
name = "systemd-escaping";
+
+
machine = { pkgs, lib, utils, ... }: {
+
systemd.services.echo =
+
assert !(builtins.tryEval (utils.escapeSystemdExecArgs [ [] ])).success;
+
assert !(builtins.tryEval (utils.escapeSystemdExecArgs [ {} ])).success;
+
assert !(builtins.tryEval (utils.escapeSystemdExecArgs [ null ])).success;
+
assert !(builtins.tryEval (utils.escapeSystemdExecArgs [ false ])).success;
+
assert !(builtins.tryEval (utils.escapeSystemdExecArgs [ (_:_) ])).success;
+
{ description = "Echo to the journal";
+
serviceConfig.Type = "oneshot";
+
serviceConfig.ExecStart = ''
+
${echoAll} ${utils.escapeSystemdExecArgs args}
+
'';
+
};
+
};
+
+
testScript = ''
+
machine.wait_for_unit("multi-user.target")
+
machine.succeed("systemctl start echo.service")
+
# skip the first 'Starting <service> ...' line
+
logs = machine.succeed("journalctl -u echo.service -o cat").splitlines()[1:]
+
assert "a%Nything" == logs[0]
+
assert "lang=''${LANG}" == logs[1]
+
assert ";" == logs[2]
+
assert "/bin/sh -c date" == logs[3]
+
assert "/nix/store/ij3gw72f4n5z4dz6nnzl1731p9kmjbwr-empty-file" == logs[4]
+
assert "4.2" in logs[5] # toString produces extra fractional digits!
+
assert "23" == logs[6]
+
'';
+
})