Query System and User Paths with systemd-path

systemd-path is the quiet little tool that stops you hardcoding ~/.config and getting it wrong on someone else's machine. It lists the directories systemd knows about, lets you query one for a script, and tells single directories apart from colon-separated search paths. Allow about ten minutes. Everything here is read-only: no root access, service restart or configuration edit is required.

The examples use systemd 255.4-1ubuntu8.17 from the installed systemd package. You need a shell and the systemd-path command.

1. Check the installed command

Confirm which executable is being used and which package supplied it:

$ command -v systemd-path
/usr/bin/systemd-path
$ dpkg-query -W -f='\${Package} \${Version}\n' systemd
systemd 255.4-1ubuntu8.17

The exact package revision will differ on another host. The command also reports the systemd version directly with --version, handy when comparing output between machines:

$ systemd-path --version
systemd 255 (255.4-1ubuntu8.17)

2. List the current system and user paths

With no path name, the command prints every known name and its current value. Use --no-pager so a script, terminal recording or remote session gets the complete output directly:

$ systemd-path --no-pager
temporary: /tmp
system-binaries: /usr/bin
system-configuration: /etc
system-runtime: /run
system-state-logs: /var/log
user-binaries: /home/alice/.local/bin
user-configuration: /home/alice/.config
user-runtime: /run/user/1000
user: /home/alice
search-binaries: /usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
systemd-system-unit: /usr/lib/systemd/system
systemd-user-unit: /usr/lib/systemd/user

This is representative output, not a portable list. Values depend on the user, architecture, runtime state and distribution layout: user-runtime is tied to the active session, while system-binaries describes a fixed system location.

3. Query one directory for a script

Pass one known name after the options. This is the useful form for a deployment check or diagnostic command:

$ systemd-path --no-pager system-configuration
/etc
$ systemd-path --no-pager systemd-system-unit
/usr/lib/systemd/system

Supply a name and the output is the value alone, without the name: label the full listing uses. Capture it as data, not as a command to execute:

config_dir=$(systemd-path --no-pager system-configuration) || exit $?
printf 'system configuration: %s\n' "$config_dir"

The command returns zero on success and non-zero on failure. Keep that status check: a missing or mistyped name must not silently turn into an empty directory variable.

4. Understand search paths

Names beginning with search- behave differently: they are an ordered, colon-separated list, not one directory.

$ systemd-path --no-pager search-binaries-default
/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
$ systemd-path --no-pager search-configuration
/home/alice/.config:/etc

Read the result with a path-list tool or shell loop when order matters. Do not join entries with spaces, and do not assume the first directory is writable: a search path is a lookup order, not a permission grant.

search_path=$(systemd-path --no-pager search-binaries-default) || exit $?
old_ifs=$IFS
IFS=:
for directory in $search_path; do
    printf 'candidate: %s\n' "$directory"
done
IFS=$old_ifs

That loop is fine for the ordinary absolute directories shown here. If you are handling untrusted input or paths with unusual shell characters, use a language with an explicit path-list parser instead of expanding a variable in the shell.

5. Add a suffix without changing anything

--suffix= appends text to printed paths. It is useful for inspecting a predictable child path, but it does not create the result and does not check that the result exists:

$ systemd-path --no-pager --suffix=/example system-binaries user-binaries
/usr/bin/example
/home/alice/.local/bin/example

6. Diagnose a name or version mismatch

A tempting mistake is inventing a name from a phrase in a script. The installed command recognises documented names such as system-binaries and search-binaries-default; similar-looking names are not automatically aliases:

$ systemd-path --no-pager search-paths-default
Path 'search-paths-default' not known.

The exact error text and exit status can vary with the systemd build, so check the status directly when scripting:

if value=$(systemd-path --no-pager system-binaries); then
    printf 'system binaries: %s\n' "$value"
else
    status=$?
    printf 'systemd-path query failed with status %s\n' "$status" >&2
    exit "$status"
fi

If two hosts disagree, compare systemd-path --version, the logged-in user, the architecture and the relevant environment. The tool exposes the current machine's paths; it is not a compatibility database for another distribution.