pipewire-jack.conf(5) File Formats Manual pipewire-jack.conf(5)
NAME
pipewire-jack.conf - jack.conf
DESCRIPTION
The PipeWire JACK client configuration file.
SYNOPSIS
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/pipewire/jack.conf
/etc/pipewire/jack.conf
/usr/share/pipewire/jack.conf
/usr/share/pipewire/jack.conf.d/
/etc/pipewire/jack.conf.d/
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/pipewire/jack.conf.d/
DESCRIPTION
Configuration for PipeWire JACK clients.
The configuration file format and lookup logic is the same as for
pipewire.conf(5).
Drop-in configuration files jack.conf.d/*.conf can be used, and are
recommended. See pipewire.conf(5).
CONFIGURATION FILE SECTIONS
jack.properties
JACK client configuration.
jack.rules
JACK client match rules.
In addition, the PipeWire context configuration sections may also be
specified, see pipewire.conf(5).
JACK PROPERTIES
The configuration file can contain an extra JACK specific section called
jack.properties like this:
# ~/.config/pipewire/jack.conf.d/custom.conf
jack.properties = {
#rt.prio = 88
#node.latency = 1024/48000
#node.lock-quantum = true
#node.force-quantum = 0
#jack.show-monitor = true
#jack.merge-monitor = true
#jack.show-midi = true
#jack.short-name = false
#jack.filter-name = false
#jack.filter-char = " "
#
# allow: Don't restrict self connect requests
# fail-external: Fail self connect requests to external ports only
# ignore-external: Ignore self connect requests to external ports only
# fail-all: Fail all self connect requests
# ignore-all: Ignore all self connect requests
#jack.self-connect-mode = allow
#jack.locked-process = true
#jack.default-as-system = false
#jack.fix-midi-events = true
#jack.global-buffer-size = false
#jack.passive-links = false
#jack.max-client-ports = 768
#jack.fill-aliases = false
#jack.writable-input = false
#jack.flag-midi2 = false
}
See stream.properties in pipewire-client.conf(5) for an explanation of
the generic node properties.
It is also possible to have per-client settings, see Match Rules below.
rt.prio
To limit the realtime priority that jack clients can acquire.
node.latency
To force a specific minimum buffer size for the JACK applications,
configure:
node.latency = 1024/48000
This configures a buffer-size of 1024 samples at 48KHz. If the
graph is running at a different sample rate, the buffer-size will be
adjusted accordingly.
node.lock-quantum
To make sure that no automatic quantum is changes while JACK
applications are running, configure:
node.lock-quantum = true
The quantum can then only be changed by metadata or when an
application is started with node.force-quantum. JACK Applications
will also be able to use jack_set_buffersize() to override the
quantum.
node.force-quantum
To force the quantum to a certain value and avoid changes to it:
node.force-quantum = 1024
The quantum can then only be changed by metadata or when an
application is started with node.force-quantum (or JACK applications
that use jack_set_buffersize() to override the quantum).
jack.show-monitor
Show the Monitor client and its ports.
jack.merge-monitor
Exposes the capture ports and monitor ports on the same JACK device
client. This is how JACK presents monitor ports to the clients. The
default is however not to merge them together because this results
in more user friendly user interfaces, usually. An extra client with
a Monitor suffix is created that contains the monitor ports.
For example, this is (part of) the output of jack_lsp with the
default setting (jack.merge-monitor = false):
Compare:
jack.merge-monitor = true jack.merge-monitor = false Built-in
Audio Analog Stereo:playback_FL Built-in Audio Analog
Stereo:playback_FL Built-in Audio Analog Stereo:monitor_FL
Built-in Audio Analog Stereo Monitor:monitor_FL Built-in Audio
Analog Stereo:playback_FR Built-in Audio Analog Stereo:playback_FR
Built-in Audio Analog Stereo:monitor_FR Built-in Audio Analog
Stereo Monitor:monitor_FR
jack.show-midi
Show the MIDI clients and their ports.
jack.short-name
To use shorter names for the device client names use jack.short-name
= true. Compare:
jack.short-name = true jack.short-name = false HDA Intel
PCH:playback_FL Built-in Audio Analog Stereo:playback_FL HDA
Intel PCH Monitor:monitor_FL Built-in Audio Analog Stereo
Monitor:monitor_FL HDA Intel PCH:playback_FR Built-in Audio
Analog Stereo:playback_FR HDA Intel PCH Monitor:monitor_FR
Built-in Audio Analog Stereo Monitor:monitor_FR
jack.filter-name
jack.filter-char
Will replace all special characters with jack.filter-char. For
clients the special characters are ()[].:*$ and for ports they are
()[].*$. Use this option when a client is not able to deal with the
special characters. (and older version of PortAudio was known to use
the client and port names as a regex, and thus failing when there
are regex special characters in the name).
jack.self-connect-mode
Restrict a client from making connections to and from itself.
Possible values and their meaning are summarized as:
Value Behavior allow Don't restrict self connect requests.
fail-external Fail self connect requests to external ports only.
ignore-external Ignore self connect requests to external ports
only. fail-all Fail all self connect requests. ignore-all
Ignore all self connect requests.
jack.locked-process
Make sure the process and callbacks can not be called at the same
time. This is the normal operation but it can be disabled in case a
specific client can handle this.
jack.default-as-system
Name the default source and sink as system and number the ports to
maximize compatibility with JACK programs.
jack.default-as-system = false jack.default-as-system = true
HDA Intel PCH:playback_FL system:playback_1 HDA Intel PCH
Monitor:monitor_FL system:monitor_1 HDA Intel PCH:playback_FR
system:playback_2 HDA Intel PCH Monitor:monitor_FR
system:monitor_2
jack.fix-midi-events
Fix NoteOn events with a 0 velocity to NoteOff. This is standard
behaviour in JACK and is thus enabled by default to maximize
compatibility. Especially LV2 plugins do not allow NoteOn with 0
velocity.
jack.global-buffer-size
When a client has this option, buffersize changes will be applied
globally and permanently for all PipeWire clients using the
metadata.
jack.passive-links
Makes JACK clients make passive links. This option only works when
the server link-factory was configured with the allow.link.passive
option.
jack.max-client-ports
Limit the number of allowed ports per client to this value.
jack.fill-aliases
Automatically set the port alias1 and alias2 on the ports.
jack.writable-input
Makes the input buffers writable. This is the default because some
JACK clients write to the input buffer. This however can cause
corruption in other clients when they are also reading from the
buffer.
Set this to true to avoid buffer corruption if you are only dealing
with non-buggy clients.
jack.flag-midi2
Use the new JACK MIDI2 port flag on MIDI2 (UMP) ports. This is
disabled by default because most JACK apps don't know about this
flag yet and refuse to show the port.
Set this to true for applications that know how to handle MIDI2
ports.
MATCH RULES
jack.rules provides an update-props action that takes an object with
properties that are updated on the client and node object of the jack
client.
Add a jack.rules section in the config file like this:
# ~/.config/pipewire/jack.conf.d/custom.conf
jack.rules = [
{
matches = [
{
# all keys must match the value. ! negates. ~ starts regex.
application.process.binary = "jack_simple_client"
}
]
actions = {
update-props = {
node.latency = 512/48000
}
}
}
{
matches = [
{
client.name = "catia"
}
]
actions = {
update-props = {
jack.merge-monitor = true
}
}
}
]
Will set the latency of jack_simple_client to 512/48000 and makes Catia
see the monitor client merged with the playback client.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
See pipewire(1) for common environment variables. Many of these also
apply to JACK client applications.
Environment variables can be used to control the behavior of the
PipeWire JACK client library.
PIPEWIRE_NOJACK
PIPEWIRE_INTERNAL
When any of these variables is set, the JACK client library will
refuse to open a client. The PIPEWIRE_INTERNAL variable is set by
the PipeWire main daemon to avoid self connections.
PIPEWIRE_PROPS
Adds/overrides the properties specified in the jack.conf file. Check
out the output of this:
> PIPEWIRE_PROPS='{ jack.short-name=true jack.merge-monitor=true }' jack_lsp
...
HDA Intel PCH:playback_FL
HDA Intel PCH:monitor_FL
HDA Intel PCH:playback_FR
HDA Intel PCH:monitor_FR
...
PIPEWIRE_LATENCY
PIPEWIRE_LATENCY=<samples>/<rate> <application>
A quick way to configure the maximum buffer-size for a client. It
will run this client with the specified buffer-size (or smaller).
PIPEWIRE_LATENCY=256/48000 jack_lsp is equivalent to
`PIPEWIRE_PROPS='{ node.latency=256/48000 }' jack_lsp`
A better way to start a jack session in a specific buffer-size is to
force it with:
pw-metadata -n settings 0 clock.force-quantum <quantum>
This always works immediately and the buffer size will not change
until the quantum is changed back to 0.
PIPEWIRE_RATE
PIPEWIRE_RATE=1/<rate> <application>
A quick way to configure the rate of the graph. It will try to
switch the samplerate of the graph. This can usually only be done
with the graph is idle and the rate is part of the allowed sample
rates.
PIPEWIRE_RATE=1/48000 jack_lsp is equivalent to `PIPEWIRE_PROPS='{
node.rate=1/48000 }' jack_lsp`
A better way to start a jack session in a specific rate is to force
the rate with:
pw-metadata -n settings 0 clock.force-rate <rate>
This always works and the samplerate does not need to be in the
allowed rates. The rate will also not change until it is set back to
0.
PIPEWIRE_QUANTUM
PIPEWIRE_QUANTUM=<buffersize>/<rate> <application>
Is similar to using PIPEWIRE_LATENCY=<buffersize>/<rate> and
PIPEWIRE_RATE=1/<rate> (see above), except that it is not just a
suggestion but it actively forces the graph to change the rate and
quantum. It can be used to set both a buffersize and samplerate at
the same time.
When 2 applications force a quantum, the last one wins. When the
winning app is stopped, the quantum of the previous app is restored.
PIPEWIRE_LINK_PASSIVE
PIPEWIRE_LINK_PASSIVE=true qjackctl
Make this client create passive links only. All links created by
the client will be marked passive and will not keep the sink/source
busy.
You can use this to link filters to devices. When there is no client
connected to the filter, only passive links remain between the
filter and the device and the device will become idle and suspended.
PIPEWIRE_NODE
PIPEWIRE_NODE=<id> <application>
Will sort the ports so that only the ports of the node with <id>
are listed. You can use this to force an application to only deal
with the ports of a certain node, for example when auto connecting.
AUTHORS
The PipeWire Developers
<https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/pipewire/pipewire/issues>; PipeWire is
available from <https://pipewire.org>
SEE ALSO
pw-jack(1), pipewire.conf(5)
PipeWire 1.4.2 pipewire-jack.conf(5)
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