summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/man/pulse-daemon.conf.5.xml.in
blob: b5c9e9219f35a6547ef76e909b700aba6942a141 (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
<?xml version="1.0"?><!--*-nxml-*-->
<!DOCTYPE manpage SYSTEM "xmltoman.dtd">
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="xmltoman.xsl" ?>

<!--
This file is part of PulseAudio.

PulseAudio is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as
published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the
License, or (at your option) any later version.

PulseAudio is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General
Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
License along with PulseAudio; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307
USA.
-->

<manpage name="pulse-daemon.conf" section="5" desc="PulseAudio daemon configuration file">

  <synopsis>
    <p><file>~/.pulse/daemon.conf</file></p>

    <p><file>@pulseconfdir@/daemon.conf</file></p>
  </synopsis>

  <description>
    <p>The PulseAudio sound server reads configuration directives from
    a file <file>~/.pulse/daemon.conf</file> on startup and when that
    file doesn't exist from
    <file>@pulseconfdir@/daemon.conf</file>. Please note that the
    server also reads a configuration script on startup
    <file>default.pa</file> which also contains runtime configuration
    directives.</p>

    <p>The configuration file is a simple collection of variable
    declarations. If the configuration file parser encounters either ;
    or # it ignores the rest of the line until its end.</p>

    <p>For the settings that take a boolean argument the values
    <opt>true</opt>, <opt>yes</opt>, <opt>on</opt> and <opt>1</opt>
    are equivalent, resp. <opt>false</opt>, <opt>no</opt>,
    <opt>off</opt>, <opt>0</opt>.</p>

  </description>

  <section name="General Directives">

    <option>
      <p><opt>daemonize= </opt> Daemonize after startup. Takes a
      boolean value, defaults to <opt>no</opt>. The <opt>--daemonize</opt>
      command line option takes precedence.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>fail=</opt> Fail to start up if any of the directives
      in the configuration script <file>default.pa</file>
      fail. Takes a boolean argument, defaults to <opt>yes</opt>. The <opt>--fail</opt> command line
      option takes precedence.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>allow-module-loading=</opt> Allow/disallow module
      loading after startup. This is a security feature that if
      dsabled makes sure that no further modules may be loaded into
      the PulseAudio server after startup completed. It is recommended
      to disable this when <opt>system-instance</opt> is
      enabled. Please note that certain features like automatic
      hot-plug support will not work if this option is enabled. Takes
      a boolean argument, defaults to <opt>yes</opt>. The
      <opt>--disallow-module-loading</opt> command line option takes
      precedence.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>allow-exit=</opt> Allow/disallow exit on user
      request. Defaults to <opt>yes</opt>.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>resample-method=</opt> The resampling algorithm to
      use. Use one of <opt>src-sinc-best-quality</opt>,
      <opt>src-sinc-medium-quality</opt>, <opt>src-sinc-fastest</opt>,
      <opt>src-zero-order-hold</opt>, <opt>src-linear</opt>,
      <opt>trivial</opt>, <opt>speex-float-N</opt>,
      <opt>speex-fixed-N</opt>, <opt>ffmpeg</opt>. See the
      documentation of libsamplerate for an explanation for the
      different src- methods. The method <opt>trivial</opt> is the most basic
      algorithm implemented. If you're tight on CPU consider using
      this. On the other hand it has the worst quality of them
      all. The Speex resamplers take an integer quality setting in the
      range 0..9 (bad...good). They exist in two flavours: <opt>fixed</opt> and
      <opt>float</opt>. The former uses fixed point numbers, the latter relies on
      floating point numbers. On most desktop CPUs the float point
      resmampler is a lot faster, and it also offers slightly better
      quality. See the output of <opt>dump-resample-methods</opt> for
      a complete list of all available resamplers. Defaults to
      <opt>speex-float-3</opt>. The <opt>--resample-method</opt>
      command line option takes precedence. Note that some modules
      overwrite or allow overwriting of the resampler to use.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>enable-remixing=</opt> If disabled never upmix or
      downmix channels to different channel maps. Instead, do a simple
      name-based matching only. Defaults to <opt>yes.</opt></p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>enable-lfe-remixing=</opt> if disabeld when upmixing or
      downmixing ignore LFE channels. When this option is dsabled the
      output LFE channel will only get a signal when an input LFE
      channel is available as well. If no input LFE channel is
      available the output LFE channel will always be 0. If no output
      LFE channel is available the signal on the input LFE channel
      will be ignored. Defaults to <opt>no</opt>.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>use-pid-file=</opt> Create a PID file in
      <file>/tmp/pulse-$USER/pid</file>. Of this is enabled you may
      use commands like <opt>--kill</opt> or <opt>--check</opt>. If
      you are planning to start more than one PulseAudio process per
      user, you better disable this option since it effectively
      disables multiple instances. Takes a boolean argument, defaults
      to <opt>yes</opt>. The <opt>--no-cpu-limit</opt> command line
      option takes precedence.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>cpu-limit=</opt> If disabled do not install the CPU load
      limiter, even on platforms where it is supported. This option is
      useful when debugging/profiling PulseAudio to disable disturbing
      SIGXCPU signals. Takes a boolean argument, defaults to
      <opt>no</opt>. The <opt>--no-cpu-limit</opt> command line
      argument takes precedence.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>system-instance=</opt> Run the daemon as system-wide
      instance, requires root priviliges. Takes a boolean argument,
      defaults to <opt>no</opt>. The <opt>--system</opt> command line
      argument takes precedence.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>enable-shm=</opt> Enable data transfer via POSIX
      shared memory. Takes a boolean argument, defaults to
      <opt>yes</opt>. The <opt>--disable-shm</opt> command line
      argument takes precedence.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>shm-size-bytes=</opt> Sets the shared memory segment
      size for the daemon, in bytes. If left unspecified or is set to 0
      it will default to some system-specific default, usually 64
      MiB. Please note that usually there is no need to change this
      value, unless you are running an OS kernel that does not do
      memory overcommit.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>lock-memory=</opt> Locks the entire PulseAudio process
      into memory. While this might increase drop-out safety when used
      in conjunction with real-time scheduling this takes away a lot
      of memory from other processes and might hence considerably slow
      down your system. Defaults to <opt>no</opt>.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>flat-volumes=</opt> Enable 'flat' volumes, i.e. where
      possible let the sink volume equal the maximum of the volumes of
      the inputs connected to it. Takes a boolean argument, defaults
      to <opt>yes</opt>.</p>
    </option>

  </section>

  <section name="Scheduling">

    <option>
      <p><opt>high-priority=</opt> Renice the daemon after startup to
      become a high-priority process. This a good idea if you
      experience drop-outs during playback. However, this is a certain
      security issue, since it works when called SUID root only, or
      RLIMIT_NICE is used. root is dropped immediately after gaining
      the nice level on startup, thus it is presumably safe. See
      <manref section="1" name="pulseaudio"/> for more
      information. Takes a boolean argument, defaults to <opt>yes</opt>. The <opt>--high-priority</opt>
      command line option takes precedence.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>realtime-scheduling=</opt> Try to acquire SCHED_FIFO
      scheduling for the IO threads. The same security concerns as
      mentioned above apply. However, if PA enters an endless loop,
      realtime scheduling causes a system lockup. Thus, realtime
      scheduling should only be enabled on trusted machines for
      now. Please not that only the IO threads of PulseAudio are made
      real-time. The controlling thread is left a normally scheduled
      thread. Thus enabling the high-priority option is orthogonal.
      See <manref section="1" name="pulseaudio"/> for more
      information. Takes a boolean argument, defaults to <opt>yes</opt>. The
      <opt>--realtime</opt> command line option takes precedence.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>realtime-priority=</opt> The realtime priority to
      acquire, if <opt>realtime-scheduling</opt> is enabled. Note: JACK uses 10
      by default, 9 for clients. Thus it is recommended to choose the
      PulseAudio real-time priorities lower. Some PulseAudio threads
      might choose a priority a little lower or higher than the
      specified value. Defaults to <opt>5</opt>.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>nice-level=</opt> The nice level to acquire for the
      daemon, if <opt>high-priority</opt> is enabled. Note: on some
      distributions X11 uses -10 by default. Defaults to -11.</p>
    </option>

  </section>

  <section name="Idle Times">

    <option>
      <p><opt>exit-idle-time=</opt> Terminate the daemon after the
      last client quit and this time in seconds passed. Use a negative value to
      disable this feature. Defaults to 20. The
      <opt>--exit-idle-time</opt> command line option takes
      precedence.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>scache-idle-time=</opt> Unload autoloaded sample cache
      entries after being idle for this time in seconds. Defaults to
      20. The <opt>--scache-idle-time</opt> command line option takes
      precedence.</p>
    </option>

  </section>

  <section name="Paths">

    <option>
      <p><opt>dl-search-path=</opt> The path were to look for dynamic
      shared objects (DSOs/plugins). You may specify more than one
      path seperated by colons. The default path depends on compile
      time settings. The <opt>--dl-search-path</opt> command line
      option takes precedence. </p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>default-script-file=</opt> The default configuration
      script file to load. Specify an empty string for not loading a
      default script file. The default behaviour is to load
      <file>~/.pulse/default.pa</file>, and if that file does not
      exist fall back to the system wide installed version
      <file>@pulseconfdir@/default.pa</file>. If run in system-wide
      mode the file <file>@pulseconfdir@/system.pa</file> is used
      instead. If <opt>-n</opt> is passed on the command line
      or <opt>default-script-file=</opt> is disabled the default
      configuration script is ignored.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>load-default-script-file=</opt> Load the default
      configuration script file as specified
      in <opt>default-script-file=</opt>. Defaults to <opt>yes</opt>.</p>
    </option>

  </section>

  <section name="Logging">

    <option>
      <p><opt>log-target=</opt> The default log target. Use either
      <opt>stderr</opt>, <opt>syslog</opt> or <opt>auto</opt>. The
      latter is equivalent to <opt>sylog</opt> in case
      <opt>daemonize</opt> is enabled, otherwise to
      <opt>stderr</opt>. Defaults to <opt>auto</opt>. The
      <opt>--log-target</opt> command line option takes
      precedence.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>log-level=</opt> Log level, one of <opt>debug</opt>,
      <opt>info</opt>, <opt>notice</opt>, <opt>warning</opt>,
      <opt>error</opt>. Log messages with a lower log level than
      specified here are not logged. Defaults to
      <opt>notice</opt>. The <opt>--log-level</opt> command line
      option takes precedence. The <opt>-v</opt> command line option
      might alter this setting.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>log-meta=</opt> With each logged message log the code
      location the message was generated from. Defaults to
      <opt>no</opt>.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>log-time=</opt> With each logged messages log the
      relative time since startup. Defaults to <opt>no</opt>.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>log-backtrace=</opt> When greater than 0, with each
      logged message log a code stack trace up the the specified
      number of stack frames. Defaults to <opt>0</opt>.</p>
    </option>

  </section>

  <section name="Resource Limits">

    <p>See <manref name="getrlimit" section="2"/> for
    more information. Set to -1 if PulseAudio shall not touch the resource
    limit. Not all resource limits are available on all operating
    systems.</p>

    <option>
      <p><opt>rlimit-as</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
    </option>
    <option>
      <p><opt>rlimit-rss</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
    </option>
    <option>
      <p><opt>rlimit-core</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
    </option>
    <option>
      <p><opt>rlimit-data</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
    </option>
    <option>
      <p><opt>rlimit-fsize</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
    </option>
    <option>
      <p><opt>rlimit-nofile</opt> Defaults to 256.</p>
    </option>
    <option>
      <p><opt>rlimit-stack</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
    </option>
    <option>
      <p><opt>rlimit-nproc</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
    </option>
    <option>
      <p><opt>rlimit-locks</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
    </option>
    <option>
      <p><opt>rlimit-sigpending</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
    </option>
    <option>
      <p><opt>rlimit-msgqueue</opt> Defaults to -1.</p>
    </option>
    <option>
      <p><opt>rlimit-memlock</opt> Defaults to 16 KiB. Please note
      that the JACK client libraries may require more locked
      memory.</p>
    </option>
    <option>
      <p><opt>rlimit-nice</opt> Defaults to 31. Please make sure that
      the default nice level as configured with <opt>nice-level</opt>
      fits in this resource limit, if <opt>high-priority</opt> is
      enabled.</p>
    </option>
    <option>
      <p><opt>rlimit-rtprio</opt> Defaults to 9. Please make sure that
      the default real-time priority level as configured with
      <opt>realtime-priority=</opt> fits in this resource limit, if
      <opt>realtime-scheduling</opt> is enabled. The JACK client
      libraries require a real-time prority of 9 by default. </p>
    </option>
    <option>
      <p><opt>rlimit-rttime</opt> Defaults to 1000000.</p>
    </option>

  </section>

  <section name="Default Device Settings">

    <p>Most drivers try to open the audio device with these settings
    and then fall back to lower settings. The default settings are CD
    quality: 16bit native endian, 2 channels, 44100 Hz sampling.</p>

    <option>
      <p><opt>default-sample-format=</opt> The default sampling
      format. Specify one of <opt>u8</opt>, <opt>s16le</opt>,
      <opt>s16be</opt>, <opt>s24le</opt>, <opt>s24be</opt>,
      <opt>s24-32le</opt>, <opt>s24-32be</opt>, <opt>s32le</opt>,
      <opt>s32be</opt> <opt>float32le</opt>, <opt>float32be</opt>,
      <opt>ulaw</opt>, <opt>alaw</opt>. Depending on the endianess of
      the CPU the formats <opt>s16ne</opt>, <opt>s16re</opt>,
      <opt>s24ne</opt>, <opt>s24re</opt>, <opt>s24-32ne</opt>,
      <opt>s24-32re</opt>, <opt>s32ne</opt>, <opt>s32re</opt>,
      <opt>float32ne</opt>, <opt>float32re</opt> (for native,
      resp. reverse endian) are available as aliases.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>default-sample-rate=</opt> The default sample frequency.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>default-sample-channels</opt> The default number of channels.</p>
    </option>

    <option>
      <p><opt>default-channel-map</opt> The default channel map.</p>
    </option>

  </section>

  <section name="Default Fragment Settings">

    <p>Some hardware drivers require the hardware playback buffer to
    be subdivided into several fragments. It is possible to change
    these buffer metrics for machines with high scheduling
    latencies. Not all possible values that may be configured here are
    available in all hardware. The driver will to find the nearest
    setting supported. Modern drivers that support timer-based
    scheduling ignore these options.</p>

    <option>
      <p><opt>default-fragments=</opt> The default number of
      fragments. Defaults to 4.</p>
    </option>
    <option>
      <p><opt>default-fragment-size-msec=</opt>The duration of a
      single fragment. Defaults to 25ms (i.e. the total buffer is thus
      100ms long).</p>
    </option>

  </section>

  <section name="Authors">
    <p>The PulseAudio Developers &lt;@PACKAGE_BUGREPORT@&gt;; PulseAudio is available from <url href="@PACKAGE_URL@"/></p>
  </section>

  <section name="See also">
    <p>
      <manref name="pulse-client.conf" section="5"/>, <manref name="default.pa" section="5"/>, <manref name="pulseaudio" section="1"/>, <manref name="pacmd" section="1"/>
    </p>
  </section>

</manpage>