# systemd-escape

## NAME



           systemd-escape - Escape strings for usage in systemd unit names
    


## SYNOPSIS



    
           **systemd-escape**[OPTIONS...] [STRING...]
    


## DESCRIPTION



           **systemd-escape** may be used to escape strings for inclusion in
           systemd unit names. The command may be used to escape and to undo
           escaping of strings.
    
           The command takes any number of strings on the command line, and
           will process them individually, one after another. It will output
           them separated by spaces to stdout.
    
           By default, this command will escape the strings passed, unless
           **--unescape** is passed which results in the inverse operation being
           applied. If **--mangle** is given, a special mode of escaping is
           applied instead, which assumes the string is already escaped but
           will escape everything that appears obviously non-escaped.
    
           For details on the escaping and unescaping algorithms see the
           relevant section in systemd.unit(5).
    


## OPTIONS



           The following options are understood:
    
           **--suffix=**
               Appends the specified unit type suffix to the escaped string.
               Takes one of the unit types supported by systemd, such as
               "service" or "mount". May not be used in conjunction with
               **--template=** , **--unescape** or **--mangle**.
    
               Added in version 216.
    
           **--template=**
               Inserts the escaped strings in a unit name template. Takes a
               unit name template such as foobar@.service. With **--unescape** ,
               expects instantiated unit names for this template and extracts
               and unescapes just the instance part. May not be used in
               conjunction with **--suffix=** , **--instance** or **--mangle**.
    
               Added in version 216.
    
           **--path** , **-p**
               When escaping or unescaping a string, assume it refers to a
               file system path. This simplifies the path (leading, trailing,
               and duplicate "/" characters are removed, no-op path "."
               components are removed, and for absolute paths, leading ".."
               components are removed). After the simplification, the path
               must not contain "..".
    
               This is particularly useful for generating strings suitable
               for unescaping with the "%f" specifier in unit files, see
               systemd.unit(5).
    
               Added in version 216.
    
           **--unescape** , **-u**
               Instead of escaping the specified strings, undo the escaping,
               reversing the operation. May not be used in conjunction with
               **--suffix=** or **--mangle**.
    
               Added in version 216.
    
           **--mangle** , **-m**
               Like **--escape** , but only escape characters that are obviously
               not escaped yet, and possibly automatically append an
               appropriate unit type suffix to the string. May not be used in
               conjunction with **--suffix=** , **--template=** or **--unescape**.
    
               Added in version 216.
    
           **--instance**
               With **--unescape** , unescape and print only the instance part of
               an instantiated unit name template. Results in an error for an
               uninstantiated template like ssh@.service or a non-template
               name like ssh.service. Must be used in conjunction with
               **--unescape** and may not be used in conjunction with **--template**.
    
               Added in version 240.
    
           **-h** , **--help**
               Print a short help text and exit.
    
           **--version**
               Print a short version string and exit.
    


## EXAMPLES



           To escape a single string:
    
               $ systemd-escape 'Hallöchen, Meister'
               Hall\xc3\xb6chen\x2c\x20Meister
    
           To undo escaping on a single string:
    
               $ systemd-escape -u 'Hall\xc3\xb6chen\x2c\x20Meister'
               Hallöchen, Meister
    
           To generate the mount unit for a path:
    
               $ systemd-escape -p --suffix=mount "/tmp//waldi/foobar/"
               tmp-waldi-foobar.mount
    
           To generate instance names of three strings:
    
               $ systemd-escape --template=systemd-nspawn@.service 'My Container 1' 'containerb' 'container/III'
               systemd-nspawn@My\x20Container\x201.service systemd-nspawn@containerb.service systemd-nspawn@container-III.service
    
           To extract the instance part of an instantiated unit:
    
               $ systemd-escape -u --instance 'systemd-nspawn@My\x20Container\x201.service'
               My Container 1
    
           To extract the instance part of an instance of a particular
           template:
    
               $ systemd-escape -u --template=systemd-nspawn@.service 'systemd-nspawn@My\x20Container\x201.service'
               My Container 1
    


## EXIT STATUS



           On success, 0 is returned, a non-zero failure code otherwise.
    


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