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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
345 others.</para></listitem>
348 <term><command>is-active [NAME...]</command></term>
350 <listitem><para>Check whether any of
351 the specified units is active
352 (i.e. running). Returns an exit code
353 0 if at least one is active, non-zero
355 <option>--quiet</option> is specified
356 this will also print the current unit
357 state to STDOUT.</para></listitem>
360 <term><command>status [NAME...|PID...]</command></term>
362 <listitem><para>Show terse runtime
363 status information about one or more
364 units. This function is intended to
365 generate human-readable output. If you
366 are looking for computer-parsable
367 output, use <command>show</command>
368 instead. If a PID is passed
369 information about the unit the process
370 of the PID belongs to is
371 shown.</para></listitem>
374 <term><command>show [NAME...|JOB...]</command></term>
376 <listitem><para>Show properties of one
377 or more units, jobs or the manager
378 itself. If no argument is specified
379 properties of the manager will be
380 shown. If a unit name is specified
381 properties of the unit is shown, and
382 if a job id is specified properties of
383 the job is shown. By default, empty
384 properties are suppressed. Use
385 <option>--all</option> to show those
386 too. To select specific properties to
388 <option>--property=</option>. This
389 command is intended to be used
390 whenever computer-parsable output is
392 <command>status</command> if you are
393 looking for formatted human-readable
394 output.</para></listitem>
398 <term><command>reset-maintenance [NAME...]</command></term>
400 <listitem><para>Reset maintenance
401 state of the specified units, or if no
402 unit name is passed of all units. When
403 a unit fails in some way (i.e. process
404 exiting with non-zero error code,
405 terminating abnormally or timing out)
406 it will automatically enter
407 maintenance state and its exit codes
408 and status is recorded for
409 introspection by the administrator
410 until the service is restarted or
412 command.</para></listitem>
416 <term><command>enable [NAME...]</command></term>
418 <listitem><para>Enable one or more
419 unit files, as specified on the
420 command line. This will create a
421 number of symlinks as encoded in the
422 <literal>[Install]</literal> sections
423 of the unit files. After the symlinks
424 have been created the systemd
425 configuration is reloaded (in a way
426 that is equivalent to
427 <command>daemon-reload</command>) to
428 ensure the changes are taken into
429 account immediately. Note that this
430 does not have the effect that any of
431 the units enabled are also started at
432 the same time. If this is desired a
433 seperate <command>start</command>
434 command must be invoked for the
437 <para>This command will
438 print the actions executed. This
439 output may be suppressed by passing
440 <option>--quiet</option>.</para>
442 <para>Note that this operation creates
443 only the suggested symlinks for the
444 units. While this command is the
445 recommended way to manipulate the unit
446 configuration directory, the
447 administrator is free to make
448 additional changes manually, by
449 placing or removing symlinks in the
450 directory. This is particular useful
451 to create configurations that deviate
452 from the suggested default
453 installation. In this case the
454 administrator must make sure to invoke
455 <command>daemon-reload</command>
456 manually as necessary, to ensure his
457 changes are taken into account.</para>
459 <para>Enabling units should not be
460 confused with starting (activating)
461 units, as done by the
462 <command>start</command>
463 command. Enabling and starting units
464 is orthogonal: units may be enabled
465 without being started and started
466 without being enabled. Enabling simply
467 hooks the unit into various suggested
468 places (for example, so that the unit
469 is automatically started on boot or
470 when a particular kind of hardware is
471 plugged in). Starting actually spawns
472 the daemon process (in case of service
473 units), or binds the socket (in case
474 of socket units), and so
477 <para>Depending on whether
478 <option>--system</option>,
479 <option>--session</option> or
480 <option>--global</option> is specified
481 this enables the unit for the system,
482 for sessions of the calling user only
483 or for all future session of all
484 users. Note that in the latter case no
485 systemd daemon configuration is
491 <term><command>disable [NAME...]</command></term>
493 <listitem><para>Disables one or more
494 units. This removes all symlinks to
495 the specified unit files from the unit
496 configuration directory, and hence
497 undoes the changes made by
498 <command>enable</command>. Note
499 however that this by default removes
500 all symlinks to the unit files
501 (i.e. including manual additions), not
502 just those actually created by
503 <command>enable</command>. If only the
504 symlinks that are suggested by default
505 shall be removed, pass
506 <option>--defaults</option>. This
507 implicitly reloads the systemd daemon
508 configuration after completing the
509 disabling of the units. Note that this
510 command does not implicitly stop the
511 units that is being disabled. If this
512 is desired an additional
513 <command>stop</command>command should
514 be executed afterwards.</para>
516 <para>This command will print the
517 actions executed. This output may be
518 suppressed by passing
519 <option>--quiet</option>.</para>
522 <para>This command honours
523 <option>--system</option>,
524 <option>--session</option>,
525 <option>--global</option> in a similar
527 <command>enable</command>.</para>
531 <term><command>is-enabled [NAME...]</command></term>
533 <listitem><para>Checks whether any of
534 the specified unit files is enabled
536 <command>enable</command>). Returns an
537 exit code of 0 if at least one is
539 otherwise.</para></listitem>
543 <term><command>load [NAME...]</command></term>
545 <listitem><para>Load one or more units
546 specified on the command line. This
547 will simply load their configuration
548 from disk, but not start them. To
549 start them you need to use the
550 <command>start</command> command which
551 will implicitly load a unit that has
552 not been loaded yet. Note that systemd
553 garbage collects loaded units that are
554 not active or referenced by an active
555 unit. This means that units loaded
556 this way will usually not stay loaded
557 for long. Also note that this command
558 cannot be used to reload unit
559 configuration. Use the
560 <command>daemon-reload</command>
561 command for that. All in all, this
562 command is of little use except for
564 <para>This command should not be
566 <command>daemon-reload</command> or
567 <command>reload</command>
568 commands.</para></listitem>
571 <term><command>list-jobs</command></term>
573 <listitem><para>List jobs that are in progress.</para></listitem>
576 <term><command>cancel [JOB...]</command></term>
578 <listitem><para>Cancel one or more
579 jobs specified on the command line by
581 IDs. If not job id is specified cancels all jobs that are pending.</para></listitem>
584 <term><command>monitor</command></term>
586 <listitem><para>Monitor unit/job
587 changes. This is mostly useful for
588 debugging purposes and prints a line
589 each time systemd loads or unloads a
590 unit configuration file, or a unit
591 property changes.</para></listitem>
594 <term><command>dump</command></term>
596 <listitem><para>Dump server
597 status. This will output a (usually
598 very long) human readable manager
599 status dump. Its format is subject to
600 change without notice and should not
602 applications.</para></listitem>
605 <term><command>dot</command></term>
607 <listitem><para>Generate textual
608 dependency graph description in dot
609 format for further processing with the
611 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>dot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
612 tool. Use a command line like
613 <command>systemctl dot | dot -Tsvg >
614 systemd.svg</command> to generate a
615 graphical dependency tree. Unless
616 <option>--order</option> or
617 <option>--require</option> is passed
618 the generated graph will show both
619 ordering and requirement
620 dependencies.</para></listitem>
623 <term><command>snapshot [NAME]</command></term>
625 <listitem><para>Create a snapshot. If
626 a snapshot name is specified, the new
627 snapshot will be named after it. If
628 none is specified an automatic
629 snapshot name is generated. In either
630 case, the snapshot name used is
631 printed to STDOUT, unless
632 <option>--quiet</option> is
635 <para>A snapshot refers to a saved
636 state of the systemd manager. It is
637 implemented itself as unit that is
638 generated dynamically with this
639 command and has dependencies on all
640 units active at the time. At a later
641 time the user may return to this state
643 <command>isolate</command> command on
644 the snapshot unit.</para></listitem>
646 <para>Snapshots are only useful for
647 saving and restoring which units are
648 running or are stopped, they do not
649 save/restore any other
650 state. Snapshots are dynamic and lost
654 <term><command>delete [NAME...]</command></term>
656 <listitem><para>Remove a snapshot
657 previously created with
658 <command>snapshot</command>.</para></listitem>
661 <term><command>daemon-reload</command></term>
663 <listitem><para>Reload systemd manager
664 configuration. This will reload all
665 unit files and recreate the entire
666 dependency tree. While the daemon is
667 reloaded, all sockets systemd listens
668 on on behalf of user configuration will
669 stay accessible.</para> <para>This
670 command should not be confused with
671 the <command>load</command> or
672 <command>reload</command>
673 commands.</para></listitem>
676 <term><command>daemon-reexec</command></term>
678 <listitem><para>Reexecute the systemd
679 manager. This will serialize the
680 manager state, reexecute the process
681 and deserialize the state again. This
682 command is of little use except for
683 debugging and package
684 upgrades. Sometimes it might be
685 helpful as a heavy-weight
686 <command>daemon-reload</command>. While
687 the daemon is reexecuted all sockets
688 systemd listens on on behalf of user
689 configuration will stay
690 accessible.</para></listitem>
693 <term><command>daemon-exit</command></term>
695 <listitem><para>Ask the systemd
696 manager to quit. This is only
697 supported for session managers
698 (i.e. in conjunction with the
699 <option>--session</option> option) and
700 will fail otherwise.</para></listitem>
703 <term><command>show-environment</command></term>
705 <listitem><para>Dump the systemd
706 manager environment block. The
707 environment block will be dumped in
708 straight-forward form suitable for
709 sourcing into a shell script. This
710 environment block will be passed to
711 all processes the manager
712 spawns.</para></listitem>
715 <term><command>set-environment [NAME=VALUE...]</command></term>
717 <listitem><para>Set one or more
718 systemd manager environment variables,
719 as specified on the command
720 line.</para></listitem>
723 <term><command>unset-environment [NAME...]</command></term>
725 <listitem><para>Unset one or more
726 systemd manager environment
727 variables. If only a variable name is
728 specified it will be removed
729 regardless of its value. If a variable
730 and a value are specified the variable
731 is only removed if it has the
732 specified value.</para></listitem>
736 <term><command>halt</command></term>
738 <listitem><para>Shut down and halt the
739 system. This is mostly equivalent to
740 <command>start halt.target</command>
741 but also prints a wall message to all
742 users.</para></listitem>
745 <term><command>poweroff</command></term>
747 <listitem><para>Shut down and
748 power-off the system. This is mostly
749 equivalent to <command>start
750 poweroff.target</command> but also
751 prints a wall message to all
752 users.</para></listitem>
755 <term><command>reboot</command></term>
757 <listitem><para>Shut down and
758 reboot the system. This is mostly
759 equivalent to <command>start
760 reboot.target</command> but also
761 prints a wall message to all
762 users.</para></listitem>
765 <term><command>default</command></term>
767 <listitem><para>Enter default
768 mode. This is mostly equivalent to
770 default.target</command>.</para></listitem>
773 <term><command>rescue</command></term>
775 <listitem><para>Enter rescue
776 mode. This is mostly equivalent to
778 rescue.target</command> but also
779 prints a wall message to all
780 users.</para></listitem>
783 <term><command>emergency</command></term>
785 <listitem><para>Enter emergency
786 mode. This is mostly equivalent to
788 emergency.target</command> but also
789 prints a wall message to all
790 users.</para></listitem>
797 <title>Exit status</title>
799 <para>On success 0 is returned, a non-zero failure
800 code otherwise.</para>
804 <title>See Also</title>
806 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
807 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemadm</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
808 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
809 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.special</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
810 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>wall</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>