varnishcache · gquintard · Feb 5, 2026 · Feb 10, 2026 · Feb 10, 2026
diff --git a/bin/varnishadm/varnishadm.c b/bin/varnishadm/varnishadm.c
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*-
  * Copyright (c) 2006 Verdens Gang AS
- * Copyright (c) 2006-2015 Varnish Software AS
+ * Copyright (c) 2006-2026 Varnish Software AS
  * All rights reserved.
  *
  * Author: Cecilie Fritzvold <cecilihf@linpro.no>
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@
 #include "vapi/vsm.h"
 #include "vas.h"
 #include "vcli.h"
+#include "vin.h"
 #include "vjsn.h"
 #include "vtcp.h"
 
@@ -390,6 +391,8 @@ usage(int status)
 	fprintf(stderr,
 	    "Usage: varnishadm [-h] [-n workdir] [-p] [-S secretfile] "
 	    "[-T [address]:port] [-t timeout] [command [...]]\n");
+	fprintf(stderr,
+	    "       varnishadm -x workdir [name]\n");
 	fprintf(stderr, "\t-n is mutually exclusive with -S and -T\n");
 	exit(status);
 }
@@ -452,11 +455,12 @@ t_arg_timeout(const char *t_arg)
 	return (1);
 }
 
-#define OPTARG "hn:pS:T:t:"
+#define OPTARG "hn:pS:T:t:x:"
 
 int
 main(int argc, char * const *argv)
 {
+	char *wd;
 	const char *T_arg = NULL;
 	const char *S_arg = NULL;
 	const char *n_arg = NULL;
@@ -495,6 +499,21 @@ main(int argc, char * const *argv)
 		case 't':
 			t_arg = optarg;
 			break;
+		case 'x':
+			if (argc != 3 && argc != 4) {
+				fprintf(stderr,
+				    "-x must be the only option\n");
+				usage(1);
+			}
+			if (strcmp(optarg, "workdir")) {
+				fprintf(stderr, "Invalid -x argument\n");
+				usage(1);
+			}
+			wd = VIN_n_Arg(argc == 4 ? argv[3] : NULL);
+			AN(wd);
+			printf("%s\n", wd);
+			free(wd);
+			exit(0);
 		default:
 			usage(1);
 		}

diff --git a/bin/varnishtest/tests/u00022.vtc b/bin/varnishtest/tests/u00022.vtc
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+varnishtest "varnishadm -x workdir"
+
+# happy paths
+shell {
+    # -x workdir
+	DEFAULT_WORKDIR=$(varnishadm -x workdir)
+	test -n "$DEFAULT_WORKDIR"
+
+	# -x workdir foo: returns dirname(DEFAULT_WORKDIR)/foo
+	WORKDIR_FOO=$(varnishadm -x workdir foo)
+	EXPECTED_FOO=$(dirname "$DEFAULT_WORKDIR")/foo
+	test "$WORKDIR_FOO" = "$EXPECTED_FOO"
+
+	# -x workdir /foo: returns /foo
+	WORKDIR_ABSOLUTE=$(varnishadm -x workdir /foo)
+	test "$WORKDIR_ABSOLUTE" = "/foo"
+}
+
+# -x with other options is rejected
+shell -exit 1 -match "-x must be the only option" {
+	varnishadm -n /tmp -x workdir
+}
+
+# -x with invalid argument fails
+shell -exit 1 -match "Invalid -x argument" {
+	varnishadm -x invalid
+}
+
+# -x workdir with too many arguments is rejected
+shell -exit 1 -match "-x must be the only option" {
+	varnishadm -x workdir arg1 arg2
+}
diff --git a/bin/varnishtest/vtest2 b/bin/varnishtest/vtest2
diff --git a/doc/changes.rst b/doc/changes.rst
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ Vinyl-Cache NEXT (2026-03-15)
   being retained as an alias. ``req.ttl`` is now deprecated, but no warning is
   emitted yet. It will be removed in a future version of Vinyl-Cache. (`4389`_)
 
+* ``varnishadm -x workdir`` will print the default work directory and exit. This
+  is useful for tools that need to discover the VSM location in most setups.
+
 ================================
 Varnish-Cache 8.0.0 (2025-09-15)
 ================================
+14 −42		Makefile
+2 −0		lib/vbt.h
+0 −8		lib/vdef.h
+35 −36		lib/vjsn.c
+0 −2		lib/vtcp.c
+0 −2		lib/vus.c
+4 −1		src/gensequences
+3 −0		src/sequences
+5 −3		src/teken.c
+4 −3		src/teken.h
+3 −1		src/teken_scs.h
+4 −5		src/teken_subr.h
+4 −2		src/teken_subr_compat.h
+97 −157		src/teken_wcwidth.h
+27 −178		src/vtc.c
+51 −5		src/vtc.h
+0 −1		src/vtc_barrier.c
+9 −38		src/vtc_haproxy.c
+5 −8		src/vtc_http.c
+0 −2		src/vtc_http.h
+6 −5		src/vtc_http2.c
+4 −4		src/vtc_logexp.c
+57 −163		src/vtc_main.c
+5 −24		src/vtc_misc.c
+1 −0		src/vtc_process.c
+1 −2		src/vtc_proxy.c
+1 −0		src/vtc_server.c
+2 −0		src/vtc_sess.c
+1 −0		src/vtc_subr.c
+3 −2		src/vtc_syslog.c
+3 −2		src/vtc_tunnel.c
+10 −22		src/vtc_varnish.c
+2 −0		src/vtc_vsm.c
+0 −101		src/vtest_api.h
+0 −5		tests/a00029.vtc
+1 −1		tools/sync/base_commit