System interfaces

System Interfaces are interfaces that control privileged access to system resources, such as user account control, inter-process communication, firewall configuration and hardware monitoring.

See Supported interfaces for a complete list of interfaces.

System interfaces

Interface Description Categories Auto-connect
account-control add/remove user accounts or change passwords System, Account no
accounts-service allows communication with the accounts service System, Account no
appstream-metadata allows access to AppStream metadata System, Developer, Manage software no
autopilot-introspection be controlled by Autopilot software System, Developer no
bool-file allows access to specific file with bool semantics System, Low level, Privileged no
broadcom-asic-control control Broadcom network switches Network, System no
can-bus allows access to the CAN bus System, Developer no
core-support deprecated since snap 2.34 System, Other no
cpu-control set certain CPU values System, Developer no
daemon-notify allows sending daemon status changes to service manager System, Developer no
dbus allow snaps to communicate over D-Bus System, Developer no
dummy renamed to empty interface System, Other no
empty allows testing without additional permissions System, Other no
fwupd allows operating as the fwupd service System, Security, Firmware no
gconf access the legacy GConf config system System, Developer, Settings no
gsettings provides access to any GSettings item for current user System, Developer, Settings yes
hardware-observe access hardware information System, Hardware no
hardware-random-control provide entropy to hardware random number generator System, Hardware no
hardware-random-observe use hardware-generated random numbers System, Hardware no
hidraw access hidraw devices System no
hugepages-control control HugePages memory blocks System, Memory, Kernel no
i2c access i²c devices System, Hardware no
iio access IIO devices System, Hardware no
intel-mei access to the Intel MEI management interface System, Firmware no
io-ports-control allows access to all I/O ports System, no
ion-memory-control access Android’s ION memory allocator System no
kernel-crypto-api read and manage kernel supported crypto ciphers System, Kernel, Security no
kernel-module-control insert, remove and query kernel modules Super privileged, System, Kernel no
kernel-module-load load, or deny loading, specific kernel modules Super privileged, System, Kernel no
kernel-module-observe query kernel modules System, Kernel no
log-observe read system logs System, Developer no
login-session-control allows setup of login sessions and grants privileged access to user sessions System, Security no
login-session-observe allows reading login and session information System, Security no
password-manager-service read, add, change, or remove saved passwords System, Security no
physical-memory-control read and write memory used by any process System, Memory, Kernel no
physical-memory-observe read memory used by any process System, Memory, Kernel no
polkit access to the polkit authorisation manager System, Security no
polkit-agent permits applications to register as polkit agents System, Security no
power-control read and write system power settings System, Power no
process-control pause or end any process on the system System no
ptp access to the Precision Time Protocol subsystem System, Developer no
pwm access specific PWM channels System, Developer, Hardware, WIP no
qualcomm-ipc-router access Qualcomm IPC router sockets IPC, Kernel, System no
raw-input access raw input devices directly System, Developer, Hardware no
raw-usb access USB hardware directly System, Developer, Hardware no
serial-port access serial port hardware System, Developer, Hardware no by default, yes with snaps from the same publisher
shutdown restart or power off the device System, Power no
spi access specific SPI devices System, Developer, Hardware no
system-observe read process and system information Monitoring, System no
system-trace monitor or control any running program Monitoring, System no
ubuntu-download-manager use the Ubuntu Download Manager System, Developer, Manage software yes
uhid create kernel UID devices from user-space Hardware, Kernel, System no
uio access uio devices Hardware, System no
upower-observe access battery level and power usage System, Power yes

Last updated 4 months ago.