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1.2 Command-line usage
This section contains extra information about using LilyPond on the
command-line. This may be desirable to pass extra options to the
program. In addition, there are certain extra ‘helper’ programs (such
as midi2ly
) which are only available on the command-line.
By ‘command-line’, we mean the command line in the operating system. Windows users might be more familiar with the terms ‘DOS shell’ or ‘command shell’. MacOS X users might be more familiar with the terms ‘terminal’ or ‘console’. Some additional setup is required for MacOS X users; please see MacOS X.
Describing how to use this part of an operating system is outside the scope of this manual; please consult other documentation on this topic if you are unfamiliar with the command-line.
Invoking lilypond | ||
Basic command line options for LilyPond | ||
Advanced command line options for LilyPond | ||
Environment variables | ||
LilyPond in chroot jail |
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Invoking lilypond
The lilypond
executable may be called as follows from
the command line.
lilypond [option]… file…
When invoked with a filename that has no extension, the ‘.ly’
extension is tried first. To read input from stdin, use a
dash (-
) for file.
When ‘filename.ly’ is processed it will produce ‘filename.ps’ and ‘filename.pdf’ as output. Several files can be specified; they will each be processed independently. 1
If ‘filename.ly’ contains more than one \book
block, then the rest of the scores will be output in numbered files,
starting with ‘filename-1.pdf’. In addition, the value of
output-suffix
will be inserted between the basename and the
number. An input file containing
#(define output-suffix "violin") \score { … } #(define output-suffix "cello") \score { … }
will output base‘-violin.pdf’ and base‘-cello-1.pdf’.
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Standard shell commands
If your shell (i.e. command window) supports normal redirects, then you might find it useful to use the following commands to redirect console output to a file:
-
lilypond file.ly 1>stdout.log
to redirect normal output -
lilypond file.ly 2>stderr.log
to redirect error messages -
lilypond file.ly &>all.log
to redirect all output
Consult the documentation for your shell to see if it supports these options, or if the syntax is different. Note that these are shell commands and have nothing to do with lilypond.
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Basic command line options for LilyPond
The following options are supported:
-
-d, --define-default=var=val
See Advanced command line options for LilyPond.
-
-e, --evaluate=expr
Evaluate the Scheme expr before parsing any ‘.ly’ files. Multiple ‘-e’ options may be given, they will be evaluated sequentially.
The expression will be evaluated in the
guile-user
module, so if you want to use definitions in expr, uselilypond -e '(define-public a 42)'
on the command-line, and include
#(use-modules (guile-user))
at the top of the
.ly
file.Note: Windows users must use double quotes instead of single quotes.
-
-f, --format=format
which formats should be written. Choices for
format
areps
,pdf
, andpng
.Example:
lilypond -fpng filename.ly
-
-h, --help
Show a summary of usage.
-
-H, --header=FIELD
Dump a header field to file ‘BASENAME.FIELD’.
-
-i, --init=file
Set init file to file (default: ‘init.ly’).
-
-I, --include=directory
Add directory to the search path for input files.
Multiple -I options may be given. The search will start in the first defined directory, and if the file to be included is not found the search will continue in subsequent directories.
-
-j, --jail=user,group,jail,dir
Run
lilypond
in a chroot jail.The ‘--jail’ option provides a more flexible alternative to ‘-dsafe’, when LilyPond formatting is being provided via a web server, or whenever LilyPond executes commands sent by external sources (see Advanced command line options for LilyPond).
It works by changing the root of
lilypond
to jail just before starting the actual compilation process. The user and group are then changed to match those provided, and the current directory is changed to dir. This setup guarantees that it is not possible (at least in theory) to escape from the jail. Note that for ‘--jail’ to work,lilypond
must be run as root, which is usually accomplished in a safe way usingsudo
.Setting up a jail can be a relatively complex matter, as we must be sure that LilyPond is able to find whatever it needs to compile the source inside the jail itself. A typical chroot jail will comprise the following steps:
- Setting up a separate filesystem
A separate filesystem should be created for LilyPond, so that it can be mounted with safe options such as
noexec
,nodev
, andnosuid
. In this way, it is impossible to run executables or to write directly to a device from LilyPond. If you do not want to create a separate partition, just create a file of reasonable size and use it to mount a loop device. A separate filesystem also guarantees that LilyPond cannot write more space than it is allowed.- Setting up a separate user
A separate user and group (say,
lily
/lily
) with low privileges should be used to run LilyPond inside the jail. There should be a single directory writable by this user, which should be passed in dir.- Preparing the jail
LilyPond needs to read a number of files while running. All these files are to be copied into the jail, under the same path they appear in the real root filesystem. The entire content of the LilyPond installation (e.g., ‘/usr/share/lilypond’) should be copied.
If problems arise, the simplest way to trace them down is to run LilyPond using
strace
, which will allow you to determine which files are missing.- Running LilyPond
In a jail mounted with
noexec
it is impossible to execute any external program. Therefore LilyPond must be run with a backend that does not require any such program. As we have already mentioned, it must be run with superuser privileges (which, of course, it will lose immediately), possibly usingsudo
. It is also good practice to limit the number of seconds of CPU time LilyPond can use (e.g., usingulimit -t
), and, if your operating system supports it, the amount of memory that can be allocated. Also see LilyPond in chroot jail.
-
-l, --loglevel=LEVEL
Set the verbosity of the console output to LEVEL. Possible values are:
-
NONE
No output at all, not even error messages.
-
ERROR
Only error messages, no warnings or progress messages.
-
WARN
Warnings and error messages, no progress.
-
BASIC_PROGRESS
Basic progress messages (success), warnings and errors.
-
PROGRESS
All progress messages, warnings and errors.
-
INFO (default)
Progress messages, warnings, errors and further execution information.
-
DEBUG
All possible messages, including verbose debug output.
-
-
-o, --output=FILE or FOLDER
Set the default output file to FILE or, if a folder with that name exists, direct the output to FOLDER, taking the file name from the input file. The appropriate suffix will be added (e.g.
.pdf
for pdf) in both cases.-
--ps
Generate PostScript.
-
--png
Generate pictures of each page, in PNG format. This implies ‘--ps’. The resolution in DPI of the image may be set with
-dresolution=110
-
--pdf
Generate PDF. This implies ‘--ps’.
-
-v, --version
Show version information.
-
-V, --verbose
Be verbose: show full paths of all files read, and give timing information.
-
-w, --warranty
Show the warranty with which GNU LilyPond comes. (It comes with NO WARRANTY!)
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Advanced command line options for LilyPond
-
-d[option-name]=[value],--define-default=[option-name]=[value]
This sets the equivalent internal Scheme function to value.
-dbackend=svg
If a value is not supplied, then the default value is used. The prefix
no-
may be added to option-name to switch ‘off’ an option, e.g.-dpoint-and-click=#f
is the same as
-dno-point-and-click
The following are supported along with their respective default values:
Symbol | Value | Explanation/Options |
anti-alias-factor | 1 | Render at higher resolution (using given factor) and scale down
result to prevent ‘jaggies’ in PNG images. |
aux-files | #t | Create .tex , .texi , .count files in the
EPS backend. |
backend | ps | Select backend. Postscript files (default) include TTF ,
Type1 and OTF fonts. No subsetting of these fonts is
done. Using ‘oriental’ character sets can lead to very large files. |
eps | Encapsulated PostScript. This dumps every page (system) as a
separate ‘EPS’ file, without fonts, and as one collated ‘EPS’
file with all pages (systems) including fonts. Used as default by
lilypond-book . | |
null | Do not output a printed score; has the same effect as
-dno-print-pages . | |
svg | Scalable Vector Graphics. This creates a single SVG file,
without embedded fonts, for every page of output. It is recommended to
install the Century Schoolbook fonts, included with your LilyPond
installation, for optimal rendering. Under UNIX, simply copy these
fonts from the LilyPond directory (typically
‘/usr/share/lilypond/VERSION/fonts/otf/’) to ‘~/.fonts/’. The
SVG output should be compatible with any SVG editor or user
agent. There is also an option svg-woff (below) for use of woff
font files in the SVG backend. | |
scm | Dump of the raw, internal Scheme-based drawing commands. | |
check-internal-types | #f | Check every property assignment for types. |
clip-systems | #f | Generate cut-out snippets of a score. |
datadir | Prefix for data files (read-only). | |
debug-gc | #f | Dump memory debugging statistics. |
debug-gc-assert-parsed-dead | #f | For memory debugging: Ensure that all references to parsed objects
are dead. This is an internal option, and is switched on automatically
for `-ddebug-gc' . |
debug-lexer | #f | Debug the flex lexer. |
debug-page-breaking-scoring | #f | Dump scores for many different page breaking configurations. |
debug-parser | #f | Debug the bison parser. |
debug-property-callbacks | #f | Debug cyclic callback chains. |
debug-skylines | #f | Debug skylines. |
delete-intermediate-files | #t | Delete the unusable, intermediate .ps files created during
compilation. |
dump-cpu-profile | #f | Dump timing information (system-dependent). |
dump-profile | #f | Dump memory and time information for each file. |
dump-signatures | #f | Dump output signatures of each system. Used for regression testing. |
eps-box-padding | #f | Pad left edge of the output EPS bounding box by the given amount (in mm). |
gs-load-fonts | #f | Load fonts via Ghostscript. |
gs-load-lily-fonts | #f | Load only the LilyPond fonts via Ghostscript. |
gui | #f | Runs silently and redirect all output to a log file. |
Note to Windows users: By default lilypond.exe
outputs
all progress information to the command window,
lilypond-windows.exe
does not and returns a prompt, with no
progress information, immediately at the command line. The
‘-dgui’ option can be used in this case to redirect output to a
log file.
help | #f | Show this help. |
include-book-title-preview | #t | Include book titles in preview images. |
include-eps-fonts | #t | Include fonts in separate-system EPS files. |
include-settings | #f | Include file for global settings, this is included before the score is processed. |
job-count | #f | Process in parallel, using the given number of jobs. |
log-file | #f [file] | If string FOO is given as a second argument,
redirect output to the log file FOO.log . |
max-markup-depth | 1024 | Maximum depth for the markup tree. If a markup has more levels, assume it will not terminate on its own, print a warning and return a null markup instead. |
midi-extension | "midi" | Set the default file extension for MIDI output file to given string. |
music-strings-to-paths | #f | Convert text strings to paths when glyphs belong to a music font. |
paper-size | \"a4\" | Set default paper size. Note the string must be enclosed in escaped double quotes. |
pixmap-format | png16m | Set GhostScript’s output format for pixel images. |
point-and-click | #f | Add ‘point & click’ links to PDF output. See
Point and click. |
preview | #f | Create preview images in addition to normal output. |
This option is supported by all backends; pdf
, png
,
ps
, eps
and svg
, but not scm
. It generates
an output file, in the form myFile.preview.extension
, containing
the titles and the first system of music. If \book
or
\bookpart
blocks are used, the titles of \book
,
\bookpart
or \score
will appear in the output, including
the first system of every \score
block if the \paper
variable print-all-headers
is set to #t
.
To suppress the usual output, use the ‘-dprint-pages’ or ‘-dno-print-pages’ options according to your requirements.
print-pages | #t | Generate full pages, the default. ‘-dno-print-pages’ is useful in combination with ‘-dpreview’. |
profile-property-accesses | #f | Keep statistics of get_property() function calls. |
protected-scheme-parsing | #t | Continue when errors in inline scheme are caught in the parser. If
set to #f , halt on errors and print a stack trace. |
read-file-list | #f [file] | Specify name of a file which contains a list of input files to be processed. |
relative-includes | #f | When processing an \include command, look for the included
file relative to the current file (instead of the root file). |
resolution | 101 | Set resolution for generating PNG pixmaps to given value (in
dpi). |
safe | #f | Do not trust the .ly input. |
When LilyPond formatting is available through a web server, either the ‘--safe’ or the ‘--jail’ option MUST be passed. The ‘--safe’ option will prevent inline Scheme code from wreaking havoc, e.g,
#(system "rm -rf /") { c4^$(ly:gulp-file "/etc/passwd") }
The ‘-dsafe’ option works by evaluating in-line Scheme expressions in a special safe module. This is derived from GUILE ‘safe-r5rs’ module, but also adds a number of functions of the LilyPond API which are listed in ‘scm/safe-lily.scm’.
In addition, safe mode disallows \include
directives and
disables the use of backslashes in TeX strings. It is also not
possible to import LilyPond variables into Scheme while in safe mode.
‘-dsafe’ does not detect resource overuse, so it is still possible to make the program hang indefinitely, for example by feeding cyclic data structures into the backend. Therefore, if using LilyPond on a publicly accessible webserver, the process should be limited in both CPU and memory usage.
Safe mode will prevent many useful LilyPond snippets from being compiled.
The ‘--jail’ is an even more secure alternative, but requires more work to set up. See Basic command line options for LilyPond.
separate-log-files | #f | For input files FILE1.ly , FILE2.ly , etc. output log
data to files FILE1.log , FILE2.log … |
show-available-fonts | #f | List available font names. |
strict-infinity-checking | #f | Force a crash on encountering Inf and NaN floating
point exceptions. |
strip-output-dir | #t | Don’t use directories from input files while constructing output file names. |
strokeadjust | #f | Force PostScript stroke adjustment. This option is mostly
relevant when PDF is generated from PostScript output
(stroke adjustment is usually enabled automatically for
low-resolution bitmap devices). Without this option,
PDF previewers tend to produce widely inconsistent
stem widths at resolutions typical for screen display. The option
does not noticeably affect print quality and causes large file
size increases in PDF files. |
svg-woff | #f | Use woff font files in SVG backend. |
trace-memory-frequency | #f | Record Scheme cell usage this many times per second. Dump the
results to FILE.stacks and FILE.graph . |
trace-scheme-coverage | #f | Record coverage of Scheme files in FILE.cov . |
verbose | #f | Verbose output, i.e. loglevel at DEBUG (read-only). |
warning-as-error | #f | Change all warning and ‘programming error’ messages into errors. |
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Environment variables
lilypond
recognizes the following environment variables:
-
LILYPOND_DATADIR
This specifies a directory where locale messages and data files will be looked up by default. The directory should contain subdirectories called ‘ly/’, ‘ps/’, ‘tex/’, etc.
-
LANG
This selects the language for the warning messages.
-
LILYPOND_LOGLEVEL
The default loglevel. If LilyPond is called without an explicit loglevel (i.e. no ‘--loglevel’ command line option), this value is used.
-
LILYPOND_GC_YIELD
A variable, as a percentage, that tunes memory management behavior. A higher values means the program uses more memory, a smaller value means more CPU time is used. The default value is
70
.
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LilyPond in chroot jail
Setting up the server to run LilyPond in a chroot jail is a complicated
task. The steps are listed below. Examples in the steps are from
Ubuntu GNU/Linux, and may require the use of sudo
as appropriate.
- Install the necessary packages: LilyPond, GhostScript, and ImageMagick.
- Create a new user by the name of
lily
:adduser lily
This will create a new group for the
lily
user as well, and a home folder,/home/lily
- In the home folder of the
lily
user create a file to use as a separate filesystem:dd if=/dev/zero of=/home/lily/loopfile bs=1k count= 200000
This example creates a 200MB file for use as the jail filesystem.
- Create a loop device, make a file system and mount it, then create
a folder that can be written by the
lily
user:mkdir /mnt/lilyloop losetup /dev/loop0 /home/lily/loopfile mkfs -t ext3 /dev/loop0 200000 mount -t ext3 /dev/loop0 /mnt/lilyloop mkdir /mnt/lilyloop/lilyhome chown lily /mnt/lilyloop/lilyhome
- In the configuration of the servers, the JAIL will be
/mnt/lilyloop
and the DIR will be/lilyhome
. - Create a big directory tree in the jail by copying the necessary files, as
shown in the sample script below.
You can use
sed
to create the necessary copy commands for a given executable:for i in "/usr/local/lilypond/usr/bin/lilypond" "/bin/sh" "/usr/bin/; \ do ldd $i | sed 's/.*=> \/\(.*\/\)\([^(]*\).*/mkdir -p \1 \&\& \ cp -L \/\1\2 \1\2/' | sed 's/\t\/\(.*\/\)\(.*\) (.*)$/mkdir -p \ \1 \&\& cp -L \/\1\2 \1\2/' | sed '/.*=>.*/d'; done
Example script for 32-bit Ubuntu 8.04
#!/bin/sh ## defaults set here username=lily home=/home loopdevice=/dev/loop0 jaildir=/mnt/lilyloop # the prefix (without the leading slash!) lilyprefix=usr/local # the directory where lilypond is installed on the system lilydir=/$lilyprefix/lilypond/ userhome=$home/$username loopfile=$userhome/loopfile adduser $username dd if=/dev/zero of=$loopfile bs=1k count=200000 mkdir $jaildir losetup $loopdevice $loopfile mkfs -t ext3 $loopdevice 200000 mount -t ext3 $loopdevice $jaildir mkdir $jaildir/lilyhome chown $username $jaildir/lilyhome cd $jaildir mkdir -p bin usr/bin usr/share usr/lib usr/share/fonts $lilyprefix tmp chmod a+w tmp cp -r -L $lilydir $lilyprefix cp -L /bin/sh /bin/rm bin cp -L /usr/bin/convert /usr/bin/gs usr/bin cp -L /usr/share/fonts/truetype usr/share/fonts # Now the library copying magic for i in "$lilydir/usr/bin/lilypond" "$lilydir/usr/bin/guile" "/bin/sh" \ "/bin/rm" "/usr/bin/gs" "/usr/bin/convert"; do ldd $i | sed 's/.*=> \ \/\(.*\/\)\([^(]*\).*/mkdir -p \1 \&\& cp -L \/\1\2 \1\2/' | sed \ 's/\t\/\(.*\/\)\(.*\) (.*)$/mkdir -p \1 \&\& cp -L \/\1\2 \1\2/' \ | sed '/.*=>.*/d'; done | sh -s # The shared files for ghostscript... cp -L -r /usr/share/ghostscript usr/share # The shared files for ImageMagick cp -L -r /usr/lib/ImageMagick* usr/lib ### Now, assuming that you have test.ly in /mnt/lilyloop/lilyhome, ### you should be able to run: ### Note that /$lilyprefix/bin/lilypond is a script, which sets the ### LD_LIBRARY_PATH - this is crucial /$lilyprefix/bin/lilypond -jlily,lily,/mnt/lilyloop,/lilyhome test.ly
Footnotes
[1] The status of
GUILE is not reset after processing a .ly
file, so be careful
not to change any system defaults from within Scheme.
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