systemctl

Control the systemd system and service manager.

Read more about systemctl.

Table of Contents

• Services
• Inspect
• Logs
• System State
• Notes

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Services

# Start a service
sudo systemctl start [unit]

# Stop a service
sudo systemctl stop [unit]

# Restart a service (stop then start)
sudo systemctl restart [unit]

# Reload a service config without a full restart
sudo systemctl reload [unit]

# Show current status and recent log lines for a unit
systemctl status [unit]

# Enable a service to start on boot
sudo systemctl enable [unit]

# Disable a service from starting on boot
sudo systemctl disable [unit]

# Check whether a unit is currently running
systemctl is-active [unit]

# Check whether a unit is enabled at boot
systemctl is-enabled [unit]

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Inspect

# List loaded units that are active
systemctl list-units

# List installed unit files and their enablement state
systemctl list-unit-files

# Show only units that have failed
systemctl --failed

# Print the unit file contents for a unit
systemctl cat [unit]

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Logs

# Show logs for a specific unit
journalctl -u [unit]

# Follow a unit's logs in real time
journalctl -u [unit] -f

# Show logs since a given time (e.g. "1 hour ago" or "2026-06-08")
journalctl -u [unit] --since "[time]"

# Show logs from the current boot only
journalctl -u [unit] -b

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System State

# Reload systemd manager config after editing unit files
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

# Reboot the machine (this ends all sessions — use with care)
sudo systemctl reboot

# Power off the machine (this shuts everything down — use with care)
sudo systemctl poweroff

# Operate on the calling user's service manager instead of the system one
systemctl --user status

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Notes

• System units require sudo; user units managed with systemctl --user run under your own session and do not.
• User units live under ~/.config/systemd/user/ and only run while you are logged in (unless lingering is enabled).
• Run systemctl daemon-reload after creating or editing a unit file so systemd picks up the changes.
• See the systemd docs and the systemctl(1) man page for full details.

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