man/pulse-daemon.conf.5.xml.in

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  23
  24 <manpage name="pulse-daemon.conf" section="5" desc="PulseAudio daemon configuration file">
  25
  26   <synopsis>
  27     <p><file>~/.pulse/daemon.conf</file></p>
  28
  29     <p><file>@PA_DEFAULT_CONFIG_DIR@/daemon.conf</file></p>
  30   </synopsis>
  31
  32   <description>
  33     <p>The PulseAudio sound server reads configuration directives from
  34     a file <file>~/.pulse/daemon.conf</file> on startup and when that
  35     file doesn't exist from
  36     <file>@PA_DEFAULT_CONFIG_DIR@/daemon.conf</file>. Please note that the
  37     server also reads a configuration script on startup
  38     <file>default.pa</file> which also contains runtime configuration
  39     directives.</p>
  40
  41     <p>The configuration file is a simple collection of variable
  42     declarations. If the configuration file parser encounters either ;
  43     or # it ignores the rest of the line until its end.</p>
  44
  45     <p>For the settings that take a boolean argument the values
  46     <opt>true</opt>, <opt>yes</opt>, <opt>on</opt> and <opt>1</opt>
  47     are equivalent, resp. <opt>false</opt>, <opt>no</opt>,
  48     <opt>off</opt>, <opt>0</opt>.</p>
  49
  50   </description>
  51
  52   <section name="General Directives">
  53
  54     <option>
  55       <p><opt>daemonize= </opt> Daemonize after startup. Takes a
  56       boolean value, defaults to <opt>no</opt>. The <opt>--daemonize</opt>
  57       command line option takes precedence.</p>
  58     </option>
  59
  60     <option>
  61       <p><opt>fail=</opt> Fail to start up if any of the directives
  62       in the configuration script <file>default.pa</file>
  63       fail. Takes a boolean argument, defaults to <opt>yes</opt>. The <opt>--fail</opt> command line
  64       option takes precedence.</p>
  65     </option>
  66
  67     <option>
  68       <p><opt>allow-module-loading=</opt> Allow/disallow module
  69       loading after startup. This is a security feature that if
  70       dsabled makes sure that no further modules may be loaded into
  71       the PulseAudio server after startup completed. It is recommended
  72       to disable this when <opt>system-instance</opt> is
  73       enabled. Please note that certain features like automatic
  74       hot-plug support will not work if this option is enabled. Takes
  75       a boolean argument, defaults to <opt>yes</opt>. The
  76       <opt>--disallow-module-loading</opt> command line option takes
  77       precedence.</p>
  78     </option>
  79
  80     <option>
  81       <p><opt>allow-exit=</opt> Allow/disallow exit on user
  82       request. Defaults to <opt>yes</opt>.</p>
  83     </option>
  84
  85     <option>
  86       <p><opt>resample-method=</opt> The resampling algorithm to
  87       use. Use one of <opt>src-sinc-best-quality</opt>,
  88       <opt>src-sinc-medium-quality</opt>, <opt>src-sinc-fastest</opt>,
  89       <opt>src-zero-order-hold</opt>, <opt>src-linear</opt>,
  90       <opt>trivial</opt>, <opt>speex-float-N</opt>,
  91       <opt>speex-fixed-N</opt>, <opt>ffmpeg</opt>. See the
  92       documentation of libsamplerate and speex for explanations of the
  93       different src- and speex- methods, respectively. The method
  94       <opt>trivial</opt> is the most basic algorithm implemented. If
  95       you're tight on CPU consider using this. On the other hand it has
  96       the worst quality of them all. The Speex resamplers take an
  97       integer quality setting in the range 0..10 (bad...good). They
  98       exist in two flavours: <opt>fixed</opt> and <opt>float</opt>. The former uses fixed point
  99       numbers, the latter relies on floating point numbers. On most
 100       desktop CPUs the float point resampler is a lot faster, and it
 101       also offers slightly better quality. See the output of
 102       <opt>dump-resample-methods</opt> for a complete list of all
 103       available resamplers. Defaults to <opt>speex-float-3</opt>. The
 104       <opt>--resample-method</opt> command line option takes precedence.
 105       Note that some modules overwrite or allow overwriting of the
 106       resampler to use.</p>
 107     </option>
 108
 109     <option>
 110       <p><opt>enable-remixing=</opt> If disabled never upmix or
 111       downmix channels to different channel maps. Instead, do a simple
 112       name-based matching only. Defaults to <opt>yes.</opt></p>
 113     </option>
 114
 115     <option>
 116       <p><opt>enable-lfe-remixing=</opt> if disabeld when upmixing or
 117       downmixing ignore LFE channels. When this option is dsabled the
 118       output LFE channel will only get a signal when an input LFE
 119       channel is available as well. If no input LFE channel is
 120       available the output LFE channel will always be 0. If no output
 121       LFE channel is available the signal on the input LFE channel
 122       will be ignored. Defaults to <opt>no</opt>.</p>
 123     </option>
 124
 125     <option>
 126       <p><opt>use-pid-file=</opt> Create a PID file in the runtime directory
 127       (<file>$HOME/.pulse/*-runtime/pid</file>). If this is enabled you may
 128       use commands like <opt>--kill</opt> or <opt>--check</opt>. If
 129       you are planning to start more than one PulseAudio process per
 130       user, you better disable this option since it effectively
 131       disables multiple instances. Takes a boolean argument, defaults
 132       to <opt>yes</opt>. The <opt>--use-pid-file</opt> command line
 133       option takes precedence.</p>
 134     </option>
 135
 136     <option>
 137       <p><opt>cpu-limit=</opt> If disabled do not install the CPU load
 138       limiter, even on platforms where it is supported. This option is
 139       useful when debugging/profiling PulseAudio to disable disturbing
 140       SIGXCPU signals. Takes a boolean argument, defaults to
 141       <opt>no</opt>. The <opt>--no-cpu-limit</opt> command line
 142       argument takes precedence.</p>
 143     </option>
 144
 145     <option>
 146       <p><opt>system-instance=</opt> Run the daemon as system-wide
 147       instance, requires root priviliges. Takes a boolean argument,
 148       defaults to <opt>no</opt>. The <opt>--system</opt> command line
 149       argument takes precedence.</p>
 150     </option>
 151
 152     <option>
 153       <p><opt>local-server-type=</opt> Please don't use this option if
 154       you don't have to! This option is currently only useful when you
 155       want D-Bus clients to use a remote server. This option may be
 156       removed in future versions. If you only want to run PulseAudio
 157       in the system mode, use the <opt>system-instance</opt> option.
 158       This option takes one of <opt>user</opt>, <opt>system</opt> or
 159       <opt>none</opt> as the argument. This is essentially a duplicate
 160       for the <opt>system-instance</opt> option. The difference is the
 161       <opt>none</opt> option, which is useful when you want to use a
 162       remote server with D-Bus clients. If both this and
 163       <opt>system-instance</opt> are defined, this option takes
 164       precedence. Defaults to whatever the <opt>system-instance</opt>
 165       is set.</p>
 166     </option>
 167
 168     <option>
 169       <p><opt>enable-shm=</opt> Enable data transfer via POSIX
 170       shared memory. Takes a boolean argument, defaults to
 171       <opt>yes</opt>. The <opt>--disable-shm</opt> command line
 172       argument takes precedence.</p>
 173     </option>
 174
 175     <option>
 176       <p><opt>shm-size-bytes=</opt> Sets the shared memory segment
 177       size for the daemon, in bytes. If left unspecified or is set to 0
 178       it will default to some system-specific default, usually 64
 179       MiB. Please note that usually there is no need to change this
 180       value, unless you are running an OS kernel that does not do
 181       memory overcommit.</p>
 182     </option>
 183
 184     <option>
 185       <p><opt>lock-memory=</opt> Locks the entire PulseAudio process
 186       into memory. While this might increase drop-out safety when used
 187       in conjunction with real-time scheduling this takes away a lot
 188       of memory from other processes and might hence considerably slow
 189       down your system. Defaults to <opt>no</opt>.</p>
 190     </option>
 191
 192     <option>
 193       <p><opt>flat-volumes=</opt> Enable 'flat' volumes, i.e. where
 194       possible let the sink volume equal the maximum of the volumes of
 195       the inputs connected to it. Takes a boolean argument, defaults
 196       to <opt>yes</opt>.</p>
 197     </option>
 198
 199   </section>
 200
 201   <section name="Scheduling">
 202
 203     <option>
 204       <p><opt>high-priority=</opt> Renice the daemon after startup to
 205       become a high-priority process. This a good idea if you
 206       experience drop-outs during playback. However, this is a certain
 207       security issue, since it works when called SUID root only, or
 208       RLIMIT_NICE is used. root is dropped immediately after gaining
 209       the nice level on startup, thus it is presumably safe. See
 210       <manref section="1" name="pulseaudio"/> for more
 211       information. Takes a boolean argument, defaults to <opt>yes</opt>. The <opt>--high-priority</opt>
 212       command line option takes precedence.</p>
 213     </option>
 214
 215     <option>
 216       <p><opt>realtime-scheduling=</opt> Try to acquire SCHED_FIFO
 217       scheduling for the IO threads. The same security concerns as
 218       mentioned above apply. However, if PA enters an endless loop,
 219       realtime scheduling causes a system lockup. Thus, realtime
 220       scheduling should only be enabled on trusted machines for
 221       now. Please not that only the IO threads of PulseAudio are made
 222       real-time. The controlling thread is left a normally scheduled
 223       thread. Thus enabling the high-priority option is orthogonal.
 224       See <manref section="1" name="pulseaudio"/> for more
 225       information. Takes a boolean argument, defaults to <opt>yes</opt>. The
 226       <opt>--realtime</opt> command line option takes precedence.</p>
 227     </option>
 228
 229     <option>
 230       <p><opt>realtime-priority=</opt> The realtime priority to
 231       acquire, if <opt>realtime-scheduling</opt> is enabled. Note: JACK uses 10
 232       by default, 9 for clients. Thus it is recommended to choose the
 233       PulseAudio real-time priorities lower. Some PulseAudio threads
 234       might choose a priority a little lower or higher than the
 235       specified value. Defaults to <opt>5</opt>.</p>
 236     </option>
 237
 238     <option>
 239       <p><opt>nice-level=</opt> The nice level to acquire for the
 240       daemon, if <opt>high-priority</opt> is enabled. Note: on some
 241       distributions X11 uses -10 by default. Defaults to -11.</p>
 242     </option>
 243
 244   </section>
 245
 246   <section name="Idle Times">
 247
 248     <option>
 249       <p><opt>exit-idle-time=</opt> Terminate the daemon after the
 250       last client quit and this time in seconds passed. Use a negative value to
 251       disable this feature. Defaults to 20. The
 252       <opt>--exit-idle-time</opt> command line option takes
 253       precedence.</p>
 254     </option>
 255
 256     <option>
 257       <p><opt>scache-idle-time=</opt> Unload autoloaded sample cache
 258       entries after being idle for this time in seconds. Defaults to
 259       20. The <opt>--scache-idle-time</opt> command line option takes
 260       precedence.</p>
 261     </option>
 262
 263   </section>
 264
 265   <section name="Paths">
 266
 267     <option>
 268       <p><opt>dl-search-path=</opt> The path were to look for dynamic
 269       shared objects (DSOs/plugins). You may specify more than one
 270       path seperated by colons. The default path depends on compile
 271       time settings. The <opt>--dl-search-path</opt> command line
 272       option takes precedence. </p>
 273     </option>
 274
 275     <option>
 276       <p><opt>default-script-file=</opt> The default configuration
 277       script file to load. Specify an empty string for not loading a
 278       default script file. The default behaviour is to load
 279       <file>~/.pulse/default.pa</file>, and if that file does not
 280       exist fall back to the system wide installed version
 281       <file>@PA_DEFAULT_CONFIG_DIR@/default.pa</file>. If run in system-wide
 282       mode the file <file>@PA_DEFAULT_CONFIG_DIR@/system.pa</file> is used
 283       instead. If <opt>-n</opt> is passed on the command line
 284       or <opt>default-script-file=</opt> is disabled the default
 285       configuration script is ignored.</p>
 286     </option>
 287
 288     <option>
 289       <p><opt>load-default-script-file=</opt> Load the default
 290       configuration script file as specified
 291       in <opt>default-script-file=</opt>. Defaults to <opt>yes</opt>.</p>
 292     </option>
 293
 294   </section>
 295
 296   <section name="Logging">
 297
 298     <option>
 299       <p><opt>log-target=</opt> The default log target. Use either
 300       <opt>stderr</opt>, <opt>syslog</opt> or <opt>auto</opt>. The
 301       latter is equivalent to <opt>sylog</opt> in case
 302       <opt>daemonize</opt> is enabled, otherwise to
 303       <opt>stderr</opt>. Defaults to <opt>auto</opt>. The
 304       <opt>--log-target</opt> command line option takes
 305       precedence.</p>
 306     </option>
 307
 308     <option>
 309       <p><opt>log-level=</opt> Log level, one of <opt>debug</opt>,
 310       <opt>info</opt>, <opt>notice</opt>, <opt>warning</opt>,
 311       <opt>error</opt>. Log messages with a lower log level than
 312       specified here are not logged. Defaults to
 313       <opt>notice</opt>. The <opt>--log-level</opt> command line
 314       option takes precedence. The <opt>-v</opt> command line option
 315       might alter this setting.</p>
 316     </option>
 317
 318     <option>
 319       <p><opt>log-meta=</opt> With each logged message log the code
 320       location the message was generated from. Defaults to
 321       <opt>no</opt>.</p>
 322     </option>
 323
 324     <option>
 325       <p><opt>log-time=</opt> With each logged messages log the
 326       relative time since startup. Defaults to <opt>no</opt>.</p>
 327     </option>
 328
 329     <option>
 330       <p><opt>log-backtrace=</opt> When greater than 0, with each
 331       logged message log a code stack trace up the specified
 332       number of stack frames. Defaults to <opt>0</opt>.</p>
 333     </option>
 334
 335   </section>
 336
 337   <section name="Resource Limits">
 338
 339     <p>See <manref name="getrlimit" section="2"/> for
 340     more information. Set to -1 if PulseAudio shall not touch the resource
 341     limit. Not all resource limits are available on all operating
 342     systems.</p>
 343
 344     <option>
 345       <p><opt>rlimit-as</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
 346     </option>
 347     <option>
 348       <p><opt>rlimit-rss</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
 349     </option>
 350     <option>
 351       <p><opt>rlimit-core</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
 352     </option>
 353     <option>
 354       <p><opt>rlimit-data</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
 355     </option>
 356     <option>
 357       <p><opt>rlimit-fsize</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
 358     </option>
 359     <option>
 360       <p><opt>rlimit-nofile</opt> Defaults to 256.</p>
 361     </option>
 362     <option>
 363       <p><opt>rlimit-stack</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
 364     </option>
 365     <option>
 366       <p><opt>rlimit-nproc</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
 367     </option>
 368     <option>
 369       <p><opt>rlimit-locks</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
 370     </option>
 371     <option>
 372       <p><opt>rlimit-sigpending</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
 373     </option>
 374     <option>
 375       <p><opt>rlimit-msgqueue</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
 376     </option>
 377     <option>
 378       <p><opt>rlimit-memlock</opt> Defaults to 16 KiB. Please note
 379       that the JACK client libraries may require more locked
 380       memory.</p>
 381     </option>
 382     <option>
 383       <p><opt>rlimit-nice</opt> Defaults to 31. Please make sure that
 384       the default nice level as configured with <opt>nice-level</opt>
 385       fits in this resource limit, if <opt>high-priority</opt> is
 386       enabled.</p>
 387     </option>
 388     <option>
 389       <p><opt>rlimit-rtprio</opt> Defaults to 9. Please make sure that
 390       the default real-time priority level as configured with
 391       <opt>realtime-priority=</opt> fits in this resource limit, if
 392       <opt>realtime-scheduling</opt> is enabled. The JACK client
 393       libraries require a real-time prority of 9 by default. </p>
 394     </option>
 395     <option>
 396       <p><opt>rlimit-rttime</opt> Defaults to 1000000.</p>
 397     </option>
 398
 399   </section>
 400
 401   <section name="Default Device Settings">
 402
 403     <p>Most drivers try to open the audio device with these settings
 404     and then fall back to lower settings. The default settings are CD
 405     quality: 16bit native endian, 2 channels, 44100 Hz sampling.</p>
 406
 407     <option>
 408       <p><opt>default-sample-format=</opt> The default sampling
 409       format. Specify one of <opt>u8</opt>, <opt>s16le</opt>,
 410       <opt>s16be</opt>, <opt>s24le</opt>, <opt>s24be</opt>,
 411       <opt>s24-32le</opt>, <opt>s24-32be</opt>, <opt>s32le</opt>,
 412       <opt>s32be</opt> <opt>float32le</opt>, <opt>float32be</opt>,
 413       <opt>ulaw</opt>, <opt>alaw</opt>. Depending on the endianess of
 414       the CPU the formats <opt>s16ne</opt>, <opt>s16re</opt>,
 415       <opt>s24ne</opt>, <opt>s24re</opt>, <opt>s24-32ne</opt>,
 416       <opt>s24-32re</opt>, <opt>s32ne</opt>, <opt>s32re</opt>,
 417       <opt>float32ne</opt>, <opt>float32re</opt> (for native,
 418       resp. reverse endian) are available as aliases.</p>
 419     </option>
 420
 421     <option>
 422       <p><opt>default-sample-rate=</opt> The default sample frequency.</p>
 423     </option>
 424
 425     <option>
 426       <p><opt>default-sample-channels</opt> The default number of channels.</p>
 427     </option>
 428
 429     <option>
 430       <p><opt>default-channel-map</opt> The default channel map.</p>
 431     </option>
 432
 433     <option>
 434       <p><opt>alternate-sample-rate</opt> The alternate sample
 435       frequency. Sinks and sources will use either the
 436       default-rate-rate value or this alternate value, typically 44.1
 437       or 48kHz. Switching between default and alternate values is
 438       enabled only when the sinks/sources are suspended. This option
 439       is ignored in passthrough mode where the stream rate will be used.
 440       If set to zero, this feature is disabled.</p>
 441     </option>
 442
 443   </section>
 444
 445   <section name="Default Fragment Settings">
 446
 447     <p>Some hardware drivers require the hardware playback buffer to
 448     be subdivided into several fragments. It is possible to change
 449     these buffer metrics for machines with high scheduling
 450     latencies. Not all possible values that may be configured here are
 451     available in all hardware. The driver will to find the nearest
 452     setting supported. Modern drivers that support timer-based
 453     scheduling ignore these options.</p>
 454
 455     <option>
 456       <p><opt>default-fragments=</opt> The default number of
 457       fragments. Defaults to 4.</p>
 458     </option>
 459     <option>
 460       <p><opt>default-fragment-size-msec=</opt>The duration of a
 461       single fragment. Defaults to 25ms (i.e. the total buffer is thus
 462       100ms long).</p>
 463     </option>
 464
 465   </section>
 466
 467   <section name="Default Deferred Volume Settings">
 468
 469     <p>With the flat volume feature enabled, the sink HW volume is set
 470     to the same level as the highest volume input stream. Any other streams
 471     (with lower volumes) have the appropriate adjustment applied in SW to
 472     bring them to the correct overall level. Sadly hadware mixer changes
 473     cannot be timed accurately and thus this change of volumes can somtimes
 474     cause the resulting output sound to be momentarily too loud or too soft.
 475     So to ensure SW and HW volumes are applied concurrently without any
 476     glitches, their application needs to be synchronized. The sink
 477     implementation needs to support deferred volumes. The following
 478     parameters can be used to refine the process.</p>
 479
 480     <option>
 481       <p><opt>enable-deferred-volume=</opt> Enable deferred volume for the sinks that
 482       support it. This feature is enabled by default.</p>
 483     </option>
 484     <option>
 485       <p><opt>deferred-volume-safety-margin-usec=</opt> The amount of time (in
 486       usec) by which the HW volume increases are delayed and HW volume
 487       decreases are advanced. Defaults to 8000 usec.</p>
 488     </option>
 489     <option>
 490       <p><opt>deferred-volume-extra-delay-usec=</opt> The amount of time (in usec)
 491       by which HW volume changes are delayed. Negative values are also allowed.
 492       Defaults to 0.</p>
 493     </option>
 494
 495   </section>
 496
 497   <section name="Authors">
 498     <p>The PulseAudio Developers &lt;@PACKAGE_BUGREPORT@&gt;; PulseAudio is available from <url href="@PACKAGE_URL@"/></p>
 499   </section>
 500
 501   <section name="See also">
 502     <p>
 503       <manref name="pulse-client.conf" section="5"/>, <manref name="default.pa" section="5"/>, <manref name="pulseaudio" section="1"/>, <manref name="pacmd" section="1"/>
 504     </p>
 505   </section>
 506
 507 </manpage>