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2 <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
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6 This file is part of systemd.
8 Copyright 2010 Lennart Poettering
10 systemd is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
11 under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
12 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
13 (at your option) any later version.
15 systemd is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
16 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
17 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
18 General Public License for more details.
20 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
21 along with systemd; If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
24 <refentry id="systemctl">
27 <title>systemctl</title>
28 <productname>systemd</productname>
32 <contrib>Developer</contrib>
33 <firstname>Lennart</firstname>
34 <surname>Poettering</surname>
35 <email>lennart@poettering.net</email>
41 <refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle>
42 <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
46 <refname>systemctl</refname>
47 <refpurpose>Control the systemd system and session manager</refpurpose>
52 <command>systemctl <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">OPTIONS</arg> <arg choice="req">COMMAND</arg> <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">NAME</arg></command>
57 <title>Description</title>
59 <para><command>systemctl</command> may be used to
60 introspect and control the state of the
61 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
62 system and session manager.</para>
66 <title>Options</title>
68 <para>The following options are understood:</para>
72 <term><option>--help</option></term>
73 <term><option>-h</option></term>
75 <listitem><para>Prints a short help
76 text and exits.</para></listitem>
80 <term><option>--type=</option></term>
81 <term><option>-t</option></term>
83 <listitem><para>When listing units,
84 limit display to certain unit
85 types. If not specified units of all
86 types will be shown. The argument
87 should be a unit type name such as
88 <option>service</option>,
89 <option>socket</option> and
90 similar.</para></listitem>
94 <term><option>--property=</option></term>
95 <term><option>-p</option></term>
97 <listitem><para>When showing
98 unit/job/manager information, limit
99 display to certain properties as
100 specified as argument. If not
101 specified all set properties are
102 shown. The argument should be a
103 property name, such as
104 <literal>MainPID</literal>. If
105 specified more than once all
106 properties with the specified names
107 are shown.</para></listitem>
111 <term><option>--all</option></term>
112 <term><option>-a</option></term>
114 <listitem><para>When listing units,
115 show all units, regardless of their
116 state, including inactive units. When
117 showing unit/job/manager information,
118 show all properties regardless whether
119 they are set or not.</para></listitem>
123 <term><option>--full</option></term>
125 <listitem><para>Do not ellipsize unit
126 names in the output of
127 <command>list-units</command> and
128 <command>list-jobs</command>.</para></listitem>
132 <term><option>--fail</option></term>
134 <listitem><para>If the requested
135 operation conflicts with a pending
136 unfinished job, fail the command. If
137 this is not specified the requested
138 operation will replace the pending job,
139 if necessary.</para></listitem>
143 <term><option>--quiet</option></term>
144 <term><option>-q</option></term>
146 <listitem><para>Suppress output to
148 <command>snapshot</command>,
149 <command>check</command>,
150 <command>enable</command> and
151 <command>disable</command>.</para></listitem>
155 <term><option>--no-block</option></term>
157 <listitem><para>Do not synchronously wait for
158 the requested operation to finish. If this is
159 not specified the job will be verified,
160 enqueued and <command>systemctl</command> will
161 wait until it is completed. By passing this
162 argument it is only verified and
163 enqueued.</para></listitem> </varlistentry>
166 <term><option>--system</option></term>
168 <listitem><para>Talk to the systemd
169 system manager. (Default)</para></listitem>
173 <term><option>--session</option></term>
175 <listitem><para>Talk to the systemd
176 session manager of the calling user.</para></listitem>
180 <term><option>--order</option></term>
181 <term><option>--require</option></term>
183 <listitem><para>When used in
185 <command>dot</command> command (see
186 below), selects which dependencies are
187 shown in the dependency graph. If
188 <option>--order</option> is passed
189 only dependencies of type
190 <varname>After=</varname> or
191 <varname>Before=</varname> are
192 shown. If <option>--require</option>
193 is passed only dependencies of type
194 <varname>Requires=</varname>,
195 <varname>RequiresOverridable=</varname>,
196 <varname>Requisite=</varname>,
197 <varname>RequisiteOverridable=</varname>,
198 <varname>Wants=</varname> and
199 <varname>Conflicts=</varname> are
200 shown. If neither is passed, shows
201 dependencies of all these
202 types.</para></listitem>
206 <term><option>--no-wall</option></term>
208 <listitem><para>Don't send wall
210 halt, power-off, reboot.</para></listitem>
214 <term><option>--global</option></term>
216 <listitem><para>When used with
217 <command>enable</command> and
218 <command>disable</command>, operate on the
219 global session configuŕation
220 directory, thus enabling or disabling
221 a unit file globally for all future
222 sessions of all users.</para></listitem>
226 <term><option>--no-reload</option></term>
228 <listitem><para>When used with
229 <command>enable</command> and
230 <command>disable</command>, do not
231 implicitly reload daemon configuration
233 changes.</para></listitem>
237 <term><option>--force</option></term>
239 <listitem><para>When used with
240 <command>enable</command>, override any
242 symlinks.</para></listitem>
246 <term><option>--defaults</option></term>
248 <listitem><para>When used with
249 <command>disable</command>, ensures
250 that only the symlinks created by
251 <command>enable</command> are removed,
252 not all symlinks pointing to the unit
254 disabled.</para></listitem>
258 <para>The following commands are understood:</para>
262 <term><command>list-units</command></term>
264 <listitem><para>List known units.</para></listitem>
267 <term><command>start [NAME...]</command></term>
269 <listitem><para>Start (activate) one
270 or more units specified on the command
271 line.</para></listitem>
274 <term><command>stop [NAME...]</command></term>
276 <listitem><para>Stop (deactivate) one
277 or more units specified on the command
278 line.</para></listitem>
281 <term><command>reload [NAME...]</command></term>
283 <listitem><para>Asks all units listed
284 on the command line to reload their
285 configuration. Note that this will
286 reload the service-specific
287 configuration, not the unit
288 configuration file of systemd. If you
289 want systemd to reload the
290 configuration file of a unit use the
291 <command>daemon-reload</command>
292 command. In other words: for the
293 example case of Apache, this will
295 <filename>httpd.conf</filename> in the
297 <filename>apache.service</filename>
298 systemd unit file. </para>
300 <para>This command should not be
302 <command>daemon-reload</command> or
303 <command>load</command>
304 commands.</para></listitem>
308 <term><command>restart [NAME...]</command></term>
310 <listitem><para>Restart one or more
311 units specified on the command
312 line. If the units are not running yet
314 started.</para></listitem>
317 <term><command>try-restart [NAME...]</command></term>
319 <listitem><para>Restart one or more
320 units specified on the command
321 line. If the units are not running yet
323 fail.</para></listitem>
326 <term><command>reload-or-restart [NAME...]</command></term>
327 <term><command>reload-or-try-restart [NAME...]</command></term>
329 <listitem><para>Reload one or more
330 units if they support it. If not,
331 restart them instead. Note that for
332 compatibility with SysV and Red Hat
334 <command>force-reload</command> and
335 <command>condrestart</command> may be
336 used as equivalent commands to
337 <command>reload-or-try-restart</command>.</para></listitem>
340 <term><command>isolate [NAME]</command></term>
342 <listitem><para>Start the unit
343 specified on the command line and its
344 dependencies and stop all others. Note
345 that this works only on units where
346 <option>AllowIsolate=</option> is
348 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
349 for details.</para></listitem>
352 <term><command>is-active [NAME...]</command></term>
354 <listitem><para>Check whether any of
355 the specified units is active
356 (i.e. running). Returns an exit code
357 0 if at least one is active, non-zero
359 <option>--quiet</option> is specified
360 this will also print the current unit
361 state to STDOUT.</para></listitem>
364 <term><command>status [NAME...|PID...]</command></term>
366 <listitem><para>Show terse runtime
367 status information about one or more
368 units. This function is intended to
369 generate human-readable output. If you
370 are looking for computer-parsable
371 output, use <command>show</command>
372 instead. If a PID is passed
373 information about the unit the process
374 of the PID belongs to is
375 shown.</para></listitem>
378 <term><command>show [NAME...|JOB...]</command></term>
380 <listitem><para>Show properties of one
381 or more units, jobs or the manager
382 itself. If no argument is specified
383 properties of the manager will be
384 shown. If a unit name is specified
385 properties of the unit is shown, and
386 if a job id is specified properties of
387 the job is shown. By default, empty
388 properties are suppressed. Use
389 <option>--all</option> to show those
390 too. To select specific properties to
392 <option>--property=</option>. This
393 command is intended to be used
394 whenever computer-parsable output is
396 <command>status</command> if you are
397 looking for formatted human-readable
398 output.</para></listitem>
402 <term><command>reset-maintenance [NAME...]</command></term>
404 <listitem><para>Reset maintenance
405 state of the specified units, or if no
406 unit name is passed of all units. When
407 a unit fails in some way (i.e. process
408 exiting with non-zero error code,
409 terminating abnormally or timing out)
410 it will automatically enter
411 maintenance state and its exit codes
412 and status is recorded for
413 introspection by the administrator
414 until the service is restarted or
416 command.</para></listitem>
420 <term><command>enable [NAME...]</command></term>
422 <listitem><para>Enable one or more
423 unit files, as specified on the
424 command line. This will create a
425 number of symlinks as encoded in the
426 <literal>[Install]</literal> sections
427 of the unit files. After the symlinks
428 have been created the systemd
429 configuration is reloaded (in a way
430 that is equivalent to
431 <command>daemon-reload</command>) to
432 ensure the changes are taken into
433 account immediately. Note that this
434 does not have the effect that any of
435 the units enabled are also started at
436 the same time. If this is desired a
437 seperate <command>start</command>
438 command must be invoked for the
441 <para>This command will
442 print the actions executed. This
443 output may be suppressed by passing
444 <option>--quiet</option>.</para>
446 <para>Note that this operation creates
447 only the suggested symlinks for the
448 units. While this command is the
449 recommended way to manipulate the unit
450 configuration directory, the
451 administrator is free to make
452 additional changes manually, by
453 placing or removing symlinks in the
454 directory. This is particular useful
455 to create configurations that deviate
456 from the suggested default
457 installation. In this case the
458 administrator must make sure to invoke
459 <command>daemon-reload</command>
460 manually as necessary, to ensure his
461 changes are taken into account.</para>
463 <para>Enabling units should not be
464 confused with starting (activating)
465 units, as done by the
466 <command>start</command>
467 command. Enabling and starting units
468 is orthogonal: units may be enabled
469 without being started and started
470 without being enabled. Enabling simply
471 hooks the unit into various suggested
472 places (for example, so that the unit
473 is automatically started on boot or
474 when a particular kind of hardware is
475 plugged in). Starting actually spawns
476 the daemon process (in case of service
477 units), or binds the socket (in case
478 of socket units), and so
481 <para>Depending on whether
482 <option>--system</option>,
483 <option>--session</option> or
484 <option>--global</option> is specified
485 this enables the unit for the system,
486 for sessions of the calling user only
487 or for all future session of all
488 users. Note that in the latter case no
489 systemd daemon configuration is
495 <term><command>disable [NAME...]</command></term>
497 <listitem><para>Disables one or more
498 units. This removes all symlinks to
499 the specified unit files from the unit
500 configuration directory, and hence
501 undoes the changes made by
502 <command>enable</command>. Note
503 however that this by default removes
504 all symlinks to the unit files
505 (i.e. including manual additions), not
506 just those actually created by
507 <command>enable</command>. If only the
508 symlinks that are suggested by default
509 shall be removed, pass
510 <option>--defaults</option>. This
511 implicitly reloads the systemd daemon
512 configuration after completing the
513 disabling of the units. Note that this
514 command does not implicitly stop the
515 units that is being disabled. If this
516 is desired an additional
517 <command>stop</command>command should
518 be executed afterwards.</para>
520 <para>This command will print the
521 actions executed. This output may be
522 suppressed by passing
523 <option>--quiet</option>.</para>
526 <para>This command honours
527 <option>--system</option>,
528 <option>--session</option>,
529 <option>--global</option> in a similar
531 <command>enable</command>.</para>
535 <term><command>is-enabled [NAME...]</command></term>
537 <listitem><para>Checks whether any of
538 the specified unit files is enabled
540 <command>enable</command>). Returns an
541 exit code of 0 if at least one is
543 otherwise.</para></listitem>
547 <term><command>load [NAME...]</command></term>
549 <listitem><para>Load one or more units
550 specified on the command line. This
551 will simply load their configuration
552 from disk, but not start them. To
553 start them you need to use the
554 <command>start</command> command which
555 will implicitly load a unit that has
556 not been loaded yet. Note that systemd
557 garbage collects loaded units that are
558 not active or referenced by an active
559 unit. This means that units loaded
560 this way will usually not stay loaded
561 for long. Also note that this command
562 cannot be used to reload unit
563 configuration. Use the
564 <command>daemon-reload</command>
565 command for that. All in all, this
566 command is of little use except for
568 <para>This command should not be
570 <command>daemon-reload</command> or
571 <command>reload</command>
572 commands.</para></listitem>
575 <term><command>list-jobs</command></term>
577 <listitem><para>List jobs that are in progress.</para></listitem>
580 <term><command>cancel [JOB...]</command></term>
582 <listitem><para>Cancel one or more
583 jobs specified on the command line by
585 IDs. If not job id is specified cancels all jobs that are pending.</para></listitem>
588 <term><command>monitor</command></term>
590 <listitem><para>Monitor unit/job
591 changes. This is mostly useful for
592 debugging purposes and prints a line
593 each time systemd loads or unloads a
594 unit configuration file, or a unit
595 property changes.</para></listitem>
598 <term><command>dump</command></term>
600 <listitem><para>Dump server
601 status. This will output a (usually
602 very long) human readable manager
603 status dump. Its format is subject to
604 change without notice and should not
606 applications.</para></listitem>
609 <term><command>dot</command></term>
611 <listitem><para>Generate textual
612 dependency graph description in dot
613 format for further processing with the
615 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>dot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
616 tool. Use a command line like
617 <command>systemctl dot | dot -Tsvg >
618 systemd.svg</command> to generate a
619 graphical dependency tree. Unless
620 <option>--order</option> or
621 <option>--require</option> is passed
622 the generated graph will show both
623 ordering and requirement
624 dependencies.</para></listitem>
627 <term><command>snapshot [NAME]</command></term>
629 <listitem><para>Create a snapshot. If
630 a snapshot name is specified, the new
631 snapshot will be named after it. If
632 none is specified an automatic
633 snapshot name is generated. In either
634 case, the snapshot name used is
635 printed to STDOUT, unless
636 <option>--quiet</option> is
639 <para>A snapshot refers to a saved
640 state of the systemd manager. It is
641 implemented itself as unit that is
642 generated dynamically with this
643 command and has dependencies on all
644 units active at the time. At a later
645 time the user may return to this state
647 <command>isolate</command> command on
648 the snapshot unit.</para></listitem>
650 <para>Snapshots are only useful for
651 saving and restoring which units are
652 running or are stopped, they do not
653 save/restore any other
654 state. Snapshots are dynamic and lost
658 <term><command>delete [NAME...]</command></term>
660 <listitem><para>Remove a snapshot
661 previously created with
662 <command>snapshot</command>.</para></listitem>
665 <term><command>daemon-reload</command></term>
667 <listitem><para>Reload systemd manager
668 configuration. This will reload all
669 unit files and recreate the entire
670 dependency tree. While the daemon is
671 reloaded, all sockets systemd listens
672 on on behalf of user configuration will
673 stay accessible.</para> <para>This
674 command should not be confused with
675 the <command>load</command> or
676 <command>reload</command>
677 commands.</para></listitem>
680 <term><command>daemon-reexec</command></term>
682 <listitem><para>Reexecute the systemd
683 manager. This will serialize the
684 manager state, reexecute the process
685 and deserialize the state again. This
686 command is of little use except for
687 debugging and package
688 upgrades. Sometimes it might be
689 helpful as a heavy-weight
690 <command>daemon-reload</command>. While
691 the daemon is reexecuted all sockets
692 systemd listens on on behalf of user
693 configuration will stay
694 accessible.</para></listitem>
697 <term><command>daemon-exit</command></term>
699 <listitem><para>Ask the systemd
700 manager to quit. This is only
701 supported for session managers
702 (i.e. in conjunction with the
703 <option>--session</option> option) and
704 will fail otherwise.</para></listitem>
707 <term><command>show-environment</command></term>
709 <listitem><para>Dump the systemd
710 manager environment block. The
711 environment block will be dumped in
712 straight-forward form suitable for
713 sourcing into a shell script. This
714 environment block will be passed to
715 all processes the manager
716 spawns.</para></listitem>
719 <term><command>set-environment [NAME=VALUE...]</command></term>
721 <listitem><para>Set one or more
722 systemd manager environment variables,
723 as specified on the command
724 line.</para></listitem>
727 <term><command>unset-environment [NAME...]</command></term>
729 <listitem><para>Unset one or more
730 systemd manager environment
731 variables. If only a variable name is
732 specified it will be removed
733 regardless of its value. If a variable
734 and a value are specified the variable
735 is only removed if it has the
736 specified value.</para></listitem>
740 <term><command>halt</command></term>
742 <listitem><para>Shut down and halt the
743 system. This is mostly equivalent to
744 <command>start halt.target</command>
745 but also prints a wall message to all
746 users.</para></listitem>
749 <term><command>poweroff</command></term>
751 <listitem><para>Shut down and
752 power-off the system. This is mostly
753 equivalent to <command>start
754 poweroff.target</command> but also
755 prints a wall message to all
756 users.</para></listitem>
759 <term><command>reboot</command></term>
761 <listitem><para>Shut down and
762 reboot the system. This is mostly
763 equivalent to <command>start
764 reboot.target</command> but also
765 prints a wall message to all
766 users.</para></listitem>
769 <term><command>default</command></term>
771 <listitem><para>Enter default
772 mode. This is mostly equivalent to
774 default.target</command>.</para></listitem>
777 <term><command>rescue</command></term>
779 <listitem><para>Enter rescue
780 mode. This is mostly equivalent to
782 rescue.target</command> but also
783 prints a wall message to all
784 users.</para></listitem>
787 <term><command>emergency</command></term>
789 <listitem><para>Enter emergency
790 mode. This is mostly equivalent to
792 emergency.target</command> but also
793 prints a wall message to all
794 users.</para></listitem>
801 <title>Exit status</title>
803 <para>On success 0 is returned, a non-zero failure
804 code otherwise.</para>
808 <title>See Also</title>
810 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
811 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemadm</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
812 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
813 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.special</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
814 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>wall</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>