systemctl — managing systemd services

Q: Changes to the unit aren't applied

After editing a .service file, you need sudo systemctl daemon-reload, then restart. If you edited a packaged unit by hand, use systemctl edit (a drop-in) instead.

Q: The service is stuck "activating"

Check Type= in the unit and journalctl -xeu <unit>: often the wrong Type=notify without a readiness signal, or a hanging ExecStart.

Q: The service "doesn't start and doesn't say why"

sudo systemctl status -l --no-pager <unit> plus sudo journalctl -u <unit> -b (for the current boot). systemctl reset-failed <unit> resets the restart counter (after fixing it).

Q: Warning: some journal files were not opened due to insufficient permissions.

systemctl status showed the service state but no journal lines. Service logs are readable by root and the adm and systemd-journal groups; a regular user has none of these. Run it with rights: sudo systemctl status nginx --no-pager or sudo journalctl -u nginx -n 20. For good — group membership: sudo usermod -aG systemd-journal name (takes effect after a new login, see usermod).

Q: The output opened in a pager, no prompt

Long output of status, cat, list-units doesn't fit the terminal window, so systemctl shows it through less: q quits. To print it straight to the terminal, add --no-pager.

Q: enable doesn't work — "no installed section"

The unit has no [Install] section. Either it's a static unit, or enable it through a dependency/target.

6 min Ubuntu 24.04 · systemd 255

The main interface to systemd. enable turns on autostart, start runs it now — these are different operations.

Cheat sheet

11 commands Printable version

systemctl status nginx --no-pager state, no pager
sudo systemctl status nginx + the last journal lines
systemctl start nginx start it now
systemctl stop nginx stop it now
systemctl restart nginx restart it (drops connections)
systemctl enable --now nginx enable autostart and start it right away
systemctl cat nginx --no-pager the whole unit file
systemctl edit nginx open a drop-in override
sudo systemctl daemon-reload reread units after an edit
systemctl --failed list of failed units
sudo journalctl -xeu nginx why the unit failed

Overview

systemctl is the main interface to systemd. It manages the lifecycle of services and reads their state.

A key distinction between two concepts:

active — the service is running right now (start/stop);
enabled — the service will come up at boot (enable/disable).

They are independent: a service can be enabled but not active (e.g., after a crash).

systemctl status prints the state and the service's last journal lines — but the journal lines are visible only with sudo or to members of the adm and systemd-journal groups. Long output opens in the less pager (q quits); --no-pager prints it straight to the terminal.

Options

/

enable and start are independent operations: enable only registers the unit for autostart, it doesn't touch the current session's service, so after enable without --now the service stays inactive until reboot or an explicit start. The reverse is also true: start without enable won't survive a reboot.

Option	What it does	Example
`--now`	Combined with enable/disable, also runs start/stop immediately.	`systemctl enable --now nginx`
`--failed`	List only units currently in the failed state.	`systemctl --failed`
`--quiet`	Suppress output; for scripts that check the exit code instead.	`systemctl is-active --quiet nginx`
`--user`	Manage the current session's user services, without sudo.	`systemctl --user status pipewire`
`-l` `--full`	Do not truncate long status and log lines.	`systemctl status -l nginx`
`--no-pager`	Print without the interactive pager; useful in scripts and logs.	`systemctl status nginx --no-pager`
`-H` `--host` host	Manage units on a remote host over SSH.	`systemctl -H user@host status nginx`

Nothing found. Try a shorter query.

Recipes

Control

bash

sudo systemctl status nginx --no-pager   # state + journal tail
systemctl start nginx             # start it now
systemctl stop nginx              # stop it
systemctl restart nginx           # restart it (drops connections)
systemctl reload nginx            # reread the config without downtime (if the service supports it)
systemctl reload-or-restart nginx # reload, or restart if it can't
systemctl enable --now nginx      # enable autostart AND start it
systemctl disable --now nginx     # disable autostart AND stop it
systemctl mask nginx              # forbid starting it at all (even manually/as a dependency)
systemctl is-active --quiet nginx # a silent check for scripts (exit code)
systemctl is-enabled nginx

reload vs restart: reload asks the service to reread its config (no downtime), restart is a full restart.

Viewing and units

bash

systemctl list-units --type=service --state=running   # what's running
systemctl list-unit-files --state=enabled             # what's set to autostart
systemctl --failed                                    # what failed
systemctl cat nginx                                   # show the whole unit file
systemctl show nginx -p MainPID,ActiveState,ExecStart # specific properties
systemctl list-dependencies nginx                     # the dependency tree
systemctl edit nginx                                  # an override snippet (drop-in, safe)
systemctl edit --full nginx                           # edit the whole unit
sudo systemctl daemon-reload                          # after ANY unit edit

edit creates a drop-in at /etc/systemd/system/<unit>.d/override.conf — the packaged unit is untouched, updates won't overwrite it.

Troubleshooting

`is-active` lies after starting the binary manually

systemctl only sees what it started itself. Launch it through systemctl start, not by hand.

Changes to the unit aren't applied

After editing a .service file, you need sudo systemctl daemon-reload, then restart. If you edited a packaged unit by hand, use systemctl edit (a drop-in) instead.

The service is stuck "activating"

Check Type= in the unit and journalctl -xeu <unit>: often the wrong Type=notify without a readiness signal, or a hanging ExecStart.

The service "doesn't start and doesn't say why"

sudo systemctl status -l --no-pager <unit> plus sudo journalctl -u <unit> -b (for the current boot). systemctl reset-failed <unit> resets the restart counter (after fixing it).

Warning: some journal files were not opened due to insufficient permissions.

systemctl status showed the service state but no journal lines. Service logs are readable by root and the adm and systemd-journal groups; a regular user has none of these. Run it with rights: sudo systemctl status nginx --no-pager or sudo journalctl -u nginx -n 20. For good — group membership: sudo usermod -aG systemd-journal name (takes effect after a new login, see usermod).

The output opened in a pager, no prompt

Long output of status, cat, list-units doesn't fit the terminal window, so systemctl shows it through less: q quits. To print it straight to the terminal, add --no-pager.

enable doesn't work — "no installed section"

The unit has no [Install] section. Either it's a static unit, or enable it through a dependency/target.

Danger zone

stop and restart drop current connections to the service immediately; in production, for services with a graceful shutdown, check first whether reload is available. mask forbids the unit from starting at all, even as a dependency — the service won't come up together with others until you remove the mask (systemctl unmask), and this is easy to forget. disable --now on a system service that others depend on brings those down too: check systemctl list-dependencies --reverse <unit> beforehand.