Runtime Switches

From MtdWiki

Runtime Switches

Following is a brief description of the available runtime switches for mt-daapd and what they enable/disable. Note that these configure flags represent those present in the current version of mt-daapd with the exception of -D, -P and -s, which are only available in developmental nightlies. Other versions may vary somewhat from this.


-c <string>

This switch is used to designate a config file other than /etc/mt-daapd.conf, where string is the path to the alternate file.


-d [1-9]

This switch is used to set the level of debugging verbosity. Used in conjunction with the logfile in the configuration file, it can provide useful troubleshooting information for issues which may plague a particular installation. Level "1" is the default and provides only basic information. At level "9" feedback on just about every parmeter is provided. A happy medium of level "5" is recommended as a starting point.


-D <string>

Another debug switch, this one designates which specific systems to debug. The string is defined as a comma separated list containing any combination of the following keywords:

art
browse
config
daap
database
index
main
parse
playlist
query
rend
scan
webserver
xml


-f

Forces the daemon to run as a foreground process.


-m

Disables the built-in mDNS implementation


-P <string>

Specifies an alternate pid-file, where string is the path to the substitute file. The default is located in /var/run/mt-daapd.pid.


-r

Forces a rescan of the file structure; basically equivalent to a full database rescan. While this is useful as a first course of action toward issue resolution, the only sure way to ensure full database recreation from scratch is to delete it manually.


-s

Skips the initial file system scan usually performed at daemon startup. Background scans are still possible, either manually (through the web interface) or at the interval specified in the configuration file.


-y

In simple terms, this switch simply declares that "yes, I know it's not running as root; start anyway!" In more practical terms, it allows the daemon to run without the normally required root level privileges. This is normally discouraged, but there may be instances where it is necessary to launch mt-daapd as other than a root process.