Comments on: Writing udev rules, short notes

By: toxic

toxic — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:12:29 +0000

Zoobave, replace PROGRAM==”/path/to/prog” with RUN+=”/path/to/prog” and it should work given that your other matching rules are in place. Don’t forget to reload the config either.

By: Walt R

Walt R — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 04:44:06 +0000

I have been fighting udev for a while, and can not figure out how to write a udev rule that works with ppp0. In order to access the Internet, I manually entered: ln -s /dev/ppp /dev/ppp0

Thank you, Walt

By: Zoobave

Zoobave — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 06:24:48 +0000

finally, i put the following entry in “/etc/udev/rules.d/01-local.rules” file.

SUBSYSTEM==”usb_device”, ACTION==”add”, ATTRS{manufacturer}==”JetFlash”, PROGRAM=”/usr/bin/nautilus ”, NAME=”%c”, MODE=”0777″

if i test using then following command, the nautilus starts

dvm@dvm-desktop:~$ udevtest /sys/class/usb_device/usbdev4.5/

parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/00- init.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/01-local.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/05-options.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/10- myrule.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/20-names.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/25-dmsetup.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/25- iftab.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/30-cdrom_id.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/40-permissions.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/45- fuse.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/45-hplip.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/45-libgphoto2.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/45- libsane.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/50-xserver-xorg-input-wacom.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/60-libpisock.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/60- symlinks.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/65-persistent-input.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/65-persistent-storage.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/80-programs.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/85-alsa.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/85-brltty.rules ‘ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/85-hdparm.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/85-hplj10xx.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/85-hwclock.rules ‘ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/85-ifupdown.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/85-pcmcia.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/90- modprobe.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/95-hal.rules’ as rules file
parse_file: reading ‘/etc/udev/rules.d/99-udevmonitor.rules’ as rules file
This program is for debugging only, it does not run any program,
specified by a RUN key. It may show incorrect results, if rules
match against subsystem specfic kernel event variables.

main: looking at device ‘/class/usb_device/usbdev4.5′ from subsystem ‘usb_device’
run_program: ‘/usr/bin/nautilus ‘
run_program: ‘/usr/bin/nautilus’ returned with status 0
udev_rules_get_name: rule applied, ‘usbdev4.5′ becomes ‘’
run_program: ‘usb_device_name –export usbdev4.5′
run_program: ‘/lib/udev/usb_device_name’ (stdout) ‘USB_BUS=004′
run_program: ‘/lib/udev/usb_device_name’ (stdout) ‘USB_DEV=005′
run_program: ‘/lib/udev/usb_device_name’ returned with status 0
run_program: ‘check_ptp_camera 06/01/01′
run_program: ‘/lib/udev/check_ptp_camera’ returned with status 1
udev_device_event: device node creation supressed
main: run: ’socket:/org/freedesktop/hal/udev_event’
main: run: ’socket:/org/kernel/udev/monitor’

but, when i insert the same device, it will not run the program automatically. How can i modify the above entry to run the nautilus (or any program) automatically?

By: Fred

Fred — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:52:13 +0000

The rules files live in /etc/udev/rules.d, as written in the “files” part of the howto.

And yes you will need to reload the udev rules (or reboot if you like), which they describe in the testing section. Hope this helps!

By: Zoobave

Zoobave — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 12:39:07 +0000

i did, but, i couldn’t understand where to write . my program is in “/usr/local/zoobave/start”.
i want to start this application, whenever i insert any USB devices. Where i put these entries? is their any need to restart or reload udev?

By: Fred

Fred — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 09:40:51 +0000

Zoobave: You want to read the udev howto to find that out. It is very detailed and shows you what udev can do and how you can make it do what you want.

By: Zoobave

Zoobave — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 09:29:29 +0000

if i want to run a particular application whenever an USB is plugged, what i have to do with udev and how can i write its rules?

By: Fred

Fred — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 21:41:24 +0000

Dan, thanks for the additional info. I like the idea to use device labels. While udev rules are perfect for USB printers / scanners etc., for mounting block devices instead, the label solution seems to be much easier.

By: Dan

Dan — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 21:20:29 +0000

Another (possibly easier) way to get at the disk you want is to use ext2 labels. You give a filesystem a label, and then refer to it during mounting via the label instead of the device name. This also survives if you have to replace the machine/OS; the label info is stored in the filesystem itself, whereas the udev conf is specific to that OS instance.

Of course, if you’re not using ext2 (or ext3), you can’t use ext2 labels.

Yet another way to overcome devices switching about might be to use LVM. This isn’t quite as transparent as ext2 labels, tho. You’ll have to activate volume groups when you plug in drives. It’ll be transparent across reboots and OS’s, though.

– Dan