# systemd-firstboot.service - Initialize basic system settings on or before... - man(1) - [phpMan] [_SYSTEMD-FIRSTBOOT_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/SYSTEMD-FIRSTBOOT/1/markdown) systemd-firstboot [_SYSTEMD-FIRSTBOOT_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/SYSTEMD-FIRSTBOOT/1/markdown) ## NAME systemd-firstboot, systemd-firstboot.service - Initialize basic system settings on or before the first boot-up of a system ## SYNOPSIS **systemd-firstboot **[OPTIONS...] systemd-firstboot.service ## DESCRIPTION **systemd-firstboot **initializes basic system settings interactively during the first boot, or non-interactively on an offline system image. The service is started during boot if _ConditionFirstBoot=yes_ is met, which essentially means that /etc/ is unpopulated, see [**systemd.unit**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/systemd.unit/5/markdown) for details. The following settings may be configured: • The machine ID of the system • The system locale, more specifically the two locale variables _LANG=_ and _LC_MESSAGES_ • The system keyboard map • The system time zone • The system hostname • The kernel command line used when installing kernel images • The root user's password and shell Each of the fields may either be queried interactively by users, set non-interactively on the tool's command line, or be copied from a host system that is used to set up the system image. If a setting is already initialized, it will not be overwritten and the user will not be prompted for the setting. Note that this tool operates directly on the file system and does not involve any running system services, unlike [**localectl**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/localectl/1/markdown), [**timedatectl**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/timedatectl/1/markdown) or [**hostnamectl**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/hostnamectl/1/markdown). This allows **systemd-firstboot **to operate on mounted but not booted disk images and in early boot. It is not recommended to use **systemd-firstboot **on the running system after it has been set up. ## OPTIONS The following options are understood: **--root=_**root_ Takes a directory path as an argument. All paths will be prefixed with the given alternate _root_ path, including config search paths. This is useful to operate on a system image mounted to the specified directory instead of the host system itself. Added in version 216. **--image=_**path_ Takes a path to a disk image file or block device node. If specified all operations are applied to file system in the indicated disk image. This is similar to **--root= **but operates on file systems stored in disk images or block devices. The disk image should either contain just a file system or a set of file systems within a GPT partition table, following the **Discoverable Partitions Specification**[1]. For further information on supported disk images, see [**systemd-nspawn**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/systemd-nspawn/1/markdown)'s switch of the same name. Added in version 246. **--locale=_**LOCALE_, **--locale-messages=_**LOCALE_ Sets the system locale, more specifically the _LANG=_ and _LC_MESSAGES_ settings. The argument should be a valid locale identifier, such as "de_DE.UTF-8". This controls the [**locale.conf**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/locale.conf/5/markdown) configuration file. Added in version 216. **--keymap=_**KEYMAP_ Sets the system keyboard layout. The argument should be a valid keyboard map, such as "de-latin1". This controls the "KEYMAP" entry in the [**vconsole.conf**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/vconsole.conf/5/markdown) configuration file. Added in version 236. **--timezone=_**TIMEZONE_ Sets the system time zone. The argument should be a valid time zone identifier, such as "Europe/Berlin". This controls the [**localtime**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/localtime/5/markdown) symlink. Added in version 216. **--hostname=_**HOSTNAME_ Sets the system hostname. The argument should be a hostname, compatible with DNS. This controls the [**hostname**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/hostname/5/markdown) configuration file. Added in version 216. ### --setup-machine-id Initialize the system's machine ID to a random ID. This controls the [**machine-id**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/machine-id/5/markdown) file. This option only works in combination with **--root= **or **--image=**. On a running system, machine-id is written by the manager with help from [**systemd-machine-id-commit.service**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/systemd-machine-id-commit.service/8/markdown). Added in version 216. **--machine-id=_**ID_ Set the system's machine ID to the specified value. The same restrictions apply as to **--setup-machine-id**. Added in version 216. **--root-password=_**PASSWORD_, **--root-password-file=_**PATH_, **--root-password-hashed=_**HASHED_PASSWORD_ Sets the password of the system's root user. This creates/modifies the [**passwd**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/passwd/5/markdown) and [**shadow**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/shadow/5/markdown) files. This setting exists in three forms: **--root-password= **accepts the password to set directly on the command line, **--root-password-file= **reads it from a file and **--root-password-hashed= **accepts an already hashed password on the command line. See [**shadow**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/shadow/5/markdown) for more information on the format of the hashed password. Note that it is not recommended to specify plaintext passwords on the command line, as other users might be able to see them simply by invoking [**ps**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ps/1/markdown). Added in version 216. **--root-shell=_**SHELL_ Sets the shell of the system's root user. This creates/modifies the [**passwd**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/passwd/5/markdown) file. Added in version 246. **--kernel-command-line=_**CMDLINE_ Sets the system's kernel command line. This controls the /etc/kernel/cmdline file which is used by [**kernel-install**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/kernel-install/8/markdown). Added in version 246. **--prompt-locale**, **--prompt-keymap**, **--prompt-timezone**, **--prompt-hostname**, **--prompt-root-password**, **--prompt-root-shell** Prompt the user interactively for a specific basic setting. Note that any explicit configuration settings specified on the command line take precedence, and the user is not prompted for it. Added in version 216. ### --prompt Query the user for locale, keymap, timezone, hostname, root's password, and root's shell. This is equivalent to specifying **--prompt-locale**, **--prompt-keymap**, **--prompt-timezone**, **--prompt-hostname**, **--prompt-root-password**, **--prompt-root-shell **in combination. Added in version 216. **--copy-locale**, **--copy-keymap**, **--copy-timezone**, **--copy-root-password**, **--copy-root-shell** Copy a specific basic setting from the host. This only works in combination with **--root=** or **--image=**. Added in version 216. ### --copy Copy locale, keymap, time zone, root password and shell from the host. This is equivalent to specifying **--copy-locale**, **--copy-keymap**, **--copy-timezone**, **--copy-root-password**, **--copy-root-shell **in combination. Added in version 216. ### --force Write configuration even if the relevant files already exist. Without this option, **systemd-firstboot **doesn't modify or replace existing files. Note that when configuring the root account, even with this option, **systemd-firstboot **only modifies the entry of the "root" user, leaving other entries in /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow intact. Added in version 246. ### --reset If specified, all existing files that are configured by **systemd-firstboot **are removed. Note that the files are removed regardless of whether they'll be configured with a new value or not. This operation ensures that the next boot of the image will be considered a first boot, and **systemd-firstboot **will prompt again to configure each of the removed files. Added in version 254. ### --delete-root-password Removes the password of the system's root user, enabling login as root without a password unless the root account is locked. Note that this is extremely insecure and hence this option should not be used lightly. Added in version 246. ### --welcome= Takes a boolean argument. By default when prompting the user for configuration options a brief welcome text is shown before the first question is asked. Pass false to this option to turn off the welcome text. Added in version 246. ### -h --help Print a short help text and exit. ### --version Print a short version string and exit. ## CREDENTIALS **systemd-firstboot **supports the service credentials logic as implemented by _ImportCredential=_/_LoadCredential=_/_SetCredential=_ (see [**systemd.exec**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/systemd.exec/5/markdown) for details). The following credentials are used when passed in: _passwd.hashed-password.root_, _passwd.plaintext-password.root_ A hashed or plaintext version of the root password to use, in place of prompting the user. These credentials are equivalent to the same ones defined for the **systemd-** [**sysusers.service**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/sysusers.service/8/markdown) service. Added in version 249. _passwd.shell.root_ Specifies the shell binary to use for the specified account. Equivalent to the credential of the same name defined for the [**systemd-sysusers.service**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/systemd-sysusers.service/8/markdown) service. Added in version 249. _firstboot.locale_, _firstboot.locale-messages_ These credentials specify the locale settings to set during first boot, in place of prompting the user. Added in version 249. _firstboot.keymap_ This credential specifies the keyboard setting to set during first boot, in place of prompting the user. Note the relationship to the _vconsole.keymap_ credential understood by **systemd-vconsole-** [**setup.service**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/setup.service/8/markdown): both ultimately affect the same setting, but _firstboot.keymap_ is written into /etc/vconsole.conf on first boot (if not already configured), and then read from there by **systemd-vconsole-setup**, while _vconsole.keymap_ is read on every boot, and is not persisted to disk (but any configuration in vconsole.conf will take precedence if present). Added in version 249. _firstboot.timezone_ This credential specifies the system timezone setting to set during first boot, in place of prompting the user. Added in version 249. Note that by default the systemd-firstboot.service unit file is set up to inherit the listed credentials from the service manager. Thus, when invoking a container with an unpopulated /etc/ for the first time it is possible to configure the root user's password to be "systemd" like this: # systemd-nspawn --image=... --set-credential=firstboot.locale:de_DE.UTF-8 ... Note that these credentials are only read and applied during the first boot process. Once they are applied they remain applied for subsequent boots, and the credentials are not considered anymore. ## EXIT STATUS On success, 0 is returned, a non-zero failure code otherwise. ## KERNEL COMMAND LINE _systemd.firstboot=_ Takes a boolean argument, defaults to on. If off, systemd-firstboot.service won't interactively query the user for basic settings at first boot, even if those settings are not initialized yet. Added in version 233. ## SEE ALSO [**systemd**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/systemd/1/markdown), [**locale.conf**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/locale.conf/5/markdown), [**vconsole.conf**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/vconsole.conf/5/markdown), [**localtime**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/localtime/5/markdown), [**hostname**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/hostname/5/markdown), [**machine-id**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/machine-id/5/markdown), [**shadow**(5)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/shadow/5/markdown), [**systemd-machine-id-setup**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/systemd-machine-id-setup/1/markdown), [**localectl**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/localectl/1/markdown), [**timedatectl**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/timedatectl/1/markdown), [**hostnamectl**(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/hostnamectl/1/markdown) ## NOTES 1. Discoverable Partitions Specification systemd 255 [_SYSTEMD-FIRSTBOOT_(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/SYSTEMD-FIRSTBOOT/1/markdown)