gdbus - Tool for working with D-Bus objects

NAME  SYNOPSIS  DESCRIPTION  COMMANDS  BASH COMPLETION  EXAMPLES  BUGS  SEE ALSO 

NAME

gdbus − Tool for working with D−Bus objects

SYNOPSIS

gdbus introspect [−−system | −−session | −−address address] −−dest bus_name −−object−path /path/to/object [−−xml] [−−recurse] [−−only−properties]

gdbus monitor [−−system | −−session | −−address address] −−dest bus_name [−−object−path /path/to/object]

gdbus call [−−system | −−session | −−address address] −−dest bus_name −−object−path /path/to/object −−method org.project.InterfaceName.MethodName [−−timeout seconds | −−interactive] ARG1 ARG2...

gdbus emit [−−system | −−session | −−address address] −−object−path /path/to/object −−signal org.project.InterfaceName.SignalName [−−dest unique_bus_name] ARG1 ARG2...

gdbus wait [−−system | −−session | −−address address] −−activate bus_name [−−timeout seconds] bus_name

gdbus help

DESCRIPTION

gdbus is a simple tool for working with D−Bus objects.

COMMANDS

introspect

Prints out interfaces and property values for a remote object. For this to work, the owner of the object needs to implement the org.freedesktop.DBus.Introspectable interface. If the −−xml option is used, the returned introspection XML is printed, otherwise a parsed pretty representation is printed. The −−recurse option can be used to introspect children (and their children and so on) and the −−only−properties option can be used to only print the interfaces with properties.

monitor

Monitors one or all objects owned by the owner of bus_name.

call

Invokes a method on a remote object. Each argument to pass to the method must be specified as a serialized GVariant except that strings do not need explicit quotes. The return values are printed out as serialized GVariant values.

emit

Emits a signal. Each argument to include in the signal must be specified as a serialized GVariant except that strings do not need explicit quotes.

wait

Waits until bus_name is owned by some process on the bus. If the −−activate is specified, that bus name will be auto−started first. It may be the same as the bus name being waited for, or different.

help

Prints help and exit.

BASH COMPLETION

gdbus ships with a bash completion script to complete commands, destinations, bus names, object paths and interface/method names.

EXAMPLES

This shows how to introspect an object − note that the value of each
property is displayed:

$ gdbus introspect −−system \
−−dest org.freedesktop.NetworkManager \
−−object−path /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/0
node /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/0 {
interface org.freedesktop.DBus.Introspectable {
methods:
Introspect(out s data);
};
interface org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties {
methods:
Get(in s interface,
in s propname,
out v value);
Set(in s interface,
in s propname,
in v value);
GetAll(in s interface,
out a{sv} props);
};
interface org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.Device.Wired {
signals:
PropertiesChanged(a{sv} arg_0);
properties:
readonly b Carrier = false;
readonly u Speed = 0;
readonly s HwAddress = '00:1D:72:88:BE:97';
};
interface org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.Device {
methods:
Disconnect();
signals:
StateChanged(u arg_0,
u arg_1,
u arg_2);
properties:
readonly u DeviceType = 1;
readonly b Managed = true;
readwrite o Ip6Config = '/';
readwrite o Dhcp4Config = '/';
readwrite o Ip4Config = '/';
readonly u State = 2;
readwrite u Ip4Address = 0;
readonly u Capabilities = 3;
readonly s Driver = 'e1000e';
readwrite s Interface = 'eth0';
readonly s Udi = '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:19.0/net/eth0';
};
};

The −−recurse and −−only−properties options can be useful when wanting to inspect all objects owned by a particular process:

$ gdbus introspect −−system −−dest org.freedesktop.UPower −−object−path / −−recurse −−only−properties
node / {
node /org {
node /org/freedesktop {
node /org/freedesktop/UPower {
interface org.freedesktop.UPower {
properties:
readonly b IsDocked = true;
readonly b LidForceSleep = false;
readonly b LidIsPresent = false;
readonly b LidIsClosed = false;
readonly b OnLowBattery = false;
readonly b OnBattery = false;
readonly b CanHibernate = true;
readonly b CanSuspend = true;
readonly s DaemonVersion = '0.9.10';
};
node /org/freedesktop/UPower/Policy {
};
node /org/freedesktop/UPower/Wakeups {
interface org.freedesktop.UPower.Wakeups {
properties:
readonly b HasCapability = true;
};
};
};
};
};
};

In a similar fashion, the introspect command can be used to learn details about the Notify method:

[...]
interface org.freedesktop.Notifications {
methods:
GetServerInformation(out s return_name,
out s return_vendor,
out s return_version,
out s return_spec_version);
GetCapabilities(out as return_caps);
CloseNotification(in u id);
Notify(in s app_name,
in u id,
in s icon,
in s summary,
in s body,
in as actions,
in a{sv} hints,
in i timeout,
out u return_id);
};
[...]

With this information, it's easy to use the call command to display a notification

$ gdbus call −−session \
−−dest org.freedesktop.Notifications \
−−object−path /org/freedesktop/Notifications \
−−method org.freedesktop.Notifications.Notify \
my_app_name \
42 \
gtk−dialog−info \
"The Summary" \
"Here's the body of the notification" \
[] \
{} \
5000
(uint32 12,)

Call a method with file handle argument:

$ gdbus call −−session \
−−dest org.example.foo \
−−object−path /org/example/foo \
−−method SendFDs \
1 \
10 \
10<file.foo

Monitoring all objects on a service:

$ gdbus monitor −−system −−dest org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit
Monitoring signals from all objects owned by org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit
The name org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit is owned by :1.15
/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session2: org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Session.ActiveChanged (false,)
/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Seat1: org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Seat.ActiveSessionChanged ('',)
/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session2: org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Session.ActiveChanged (true,)
/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Seat1: org.freedesktop.ConsoleKit.Seat.ActiveSessionChanged ('/org/freedesktop/ConsoleKit/Session2',)

Monitoring a single object on a service:

$ gdbus monitor −−system −−dest org.freedesktop.NetworkManager −−object−path /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/AccessPoint/4141
Monitoring signals on object /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/AccessPoint/4141 owned by org.freedesktop.NetworkManager
The name org.freedesktop.NetworkManager is owned by :1.5
/org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/AccessPoint/4141: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.AccessPoint.PropertiesChanged ({'Strength': <byte 0x5c>},)
/org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/AccessPoint/4141: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.AccessPoint.PropertiesChanged ({'Strength': <byte 0x64>},)
/org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/AccessPoint/4141: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.AccessPoint.PropertiesChanged ({'Strength': <byte 0x5e>},)
/org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/AccessPoint/4141: org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.AccessPoint.PropertiesChanged ({'Strength': <byte 0x64>},)

Emitting a signal:

$ gdbus emit −−session −−object−path /foo −−signal org.bar.Foo "['foo', 'bar', 'baz']"

Emitting a signal to a specific process:

$ gdbus emit −−session −−object−path /bar −−signal org.bar.Bar someString −−dest :1.42

Waiting for a well−known name to be owned on the bus; this will not auto−start the service:

$ gdbus wait −−session org.bar.SomeName

Auto−starting then waiting for a well−known name to be owned on the bus:

$ gdbus wait −−session −−activate org.bar.SomeName

Auto−starting a different service, then waiting for a well−known name to be owned on the bus. This is useful in situations where SomeName is not directly activatable:

$ gdbus wait −−session −−activate org.bar.PrerequisiteName org.bar.SomeName

Waiting for a well−known name and giving up after 30 seconds. By default, the timeout is disabled; or set −−timeout to 0 to disable it:

$ gdbus wait −−session −−timeout 30 org.bar.SomeName

BUGS

Please send bug reports to either the distribution bug tracker or the upstream bug tracker at https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/glib/issues/new.

SEE ALSO

dbus-send(1)


Updated 2024-01-29 - jenkler.se | uex.se