- <option>no</option> (the default) the
- service will not be restarted when it
- exits. If set to
- <option>on-success</option> it will be
- restarted only when it exited cleanly,
- i.e. terminated with an exit code of
- 0. If set to
- <option>on-failure</option> it will be
- restarted only when it exited with an
- exit code not equaling 0, when
- terminated by a signal (including on
- core dump), when an operation (such as
- service reload) times out or when the
- configured watchdog timeout is
- triggered. If set to
- <option>on-abort</option> it will be
- restarted only if it exits due to
- reception of an uncaught signal
- (including on core dump). If set to
- <option>always</option> the service
- will be restarted regardless whether
- it exited cleanly or not, got
- terminated abnormally by a signal or
- hit a timeout.</para></listitem>
+ <option>no</option> (the default), the
+ service will not be restarted. If set
+ to <option>on-success</option>, it
+ will be restarted only when the
+ service process exits cleanly. In
+ this context, a clean exit means an
+ exit code of 0, or one of the signals
+ <constant>SIGHUP</constant>,
+ <constant>SIGINT</constant>,
+ <constant>SIGTERM</constant> or
+ <constant>SIGPIPE</constant>, and
+ additionally, exit statuses and
+ signals specified in
+ <varname>SuccessExitStatus=</varname>.
+ If set to <option>on-failure</option>,
+ the service will be restarted when the
+ process exits with a non-zero exit
+ code, is terminated by a signal
+ (including on core dump, but excluding
+ the aforementiond four signals), when
+ an operation (such as service reload)
+ times out, and when the configured
+ watchdog timeout is triggered. If set
+ to <option>on-abnormal</option>, the
+ service will be restarted when the
+ process is terminated by a signal
+ (including on core dump, excluding the
+ aforementioned four signals), when an
+ operation times out, or when the
+ watchdog timeout is triggered. If set
+ to <option>on-abort</option>, the
+ service will be restarted only if the
+ service process exits due to an
+ uncaught signal not specified as a
+ clean exit status. If set to
+ <option>on-watchdog</option>, the
+ service will be restarted only if the
+ watchdog timeout for the service
+ expires. If set to
+ <option>always</option>, the service
+ will be restarted regardless of
+ whether it exited cleanly or not, got
+ terminated abnormally by a signal, or
+ hit a timeout.</para>
+
+ <table>
+ <title>Exit causes and the effect of the <varname>Restart=</varname> settings on them</title>
+
+ <tgroup cols='2'>
+ <colspec colname='path' />
+ <colspec colname='expl' />
+ <thead>
+ <row>
+ <entry>Restart settings/Exit causes</entry>
+ <entry><option>no</option></entry>
+ <entry><option>always</option></entry>
+ <entry><option>on-success</option></entry>
+ <entry><option>on-failure</option></entry>
+ <entry><option>on-abnormal</option></entry>
+ <entry><option>on-abort</option></entry>
+ <entry><option>on-watchdog</option></entry>
+ </row>
+ </thead>
+ <tbody>
+ <row>
+ <entry>Clean exit code or signal</entry>
+ <entry/>
+ <entry>X</entry>
+ <entry>X</entry>
+ <entry/>
+ <entry/>
+ <entry/>
+ <entry/>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry>Unclean exit code</entry>
+ <entry/>
+ <entry>X</entry>
+ <entry/>
+ <entry>X</entry>
+ <entry/>
+ <entry/>
+ <entry/>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry>Unclean signal</entry>
+ <entry/>
+ <entry>X</entry>
+ <entry/>
+ <entry>X</entry>
+ <entry>X</entry>
+ <entry>X</entry>
+ <entry/>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry>Timeout</entry>
+ <entry/>
+ <entry>X</entry>
+ <entry/>
+ <entry>X</entry>
+ <entry>X</entry>
+ <entry/>
+ <entry/>
+ </row>
+ <row>
+ <entry>Watchdog</entry>
+ <entry/>
+ <entry>X</entry>
+ <entry/>
+ <entry>X</entry>
+ <entry>X</entry>
+ <entry/>
+ <entry>X</entry>
+ </row>
+ </tbody>
+ </tgroup>
+ </table>
+
+ <para>In addition to the above settings,
+ the service will not be restarted if the
+ exit code or signal is specified in
+ <varname>RestartPreventExitStatus=</varname>
+ (see below).</para>
+
+ <para>Setting this to
+ <option>on-failure</option> is the
+ recommended choice for long-running
+ services, in order to increase
+ reliability by attempting automatic
+ recovery from errors. For services
+ that shall be able to terminate on
+ their own choice (and avoiding
+ immediate restart),
+ <option>on-abnormal</option> is an
+ alternative choice.</para>
+ </listitem>