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gdbus - Tool for working with D-Bus objects

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] [ARG…]
gdbus emit [--system | --session | --address address] --object-path /path/to/object --signal org.project.InterfaceName.SignalName [--dest unique_bus_name] [ARG…]
gdbus wait [--system | --session | --address address] --activate bus_name [--timeout seconds] bus_name
gdbus help

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

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 exits.


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

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


Please send bug reports to either the distribution bug tracker or the upstream bug tracker.

dbus-send(1)

x86_64