systemd and journalctl cheatsheet
systemd and journalctl: Managing services
12 common systemd and journalctl tasks.
Check a service
Show whether a service is running, with its latest log lines.
systemctl status nginx
Reload a service's configuration
Ask a service to reload its configuration without restarting, if it supports that.
sudo systemctl reload nginx
Start a service now and at boot
Enable a service for boot and start it immediately.
sudo systemctl enable --now nginx
Stop starting a service at boot
Disable a service from starting at boot. Add --now to also stop it.
sudo systemctl disable nginx
Test if a service is running
Print active or inactive; the exit code suits scripts.
systemctl is-active nginx
List running services
Show all service units that are loaded and running.
systemctl list-units --type=service --state=running
Prevent a service from starting
Link the unit to /dev/null so nothing can start it, even manually.
sudo systemctl mask nginx
Caution: A masked service can't be started until you unmask it.
Manage your own user services
Use the per-user service manager, with no sudo.
systemctl --user status myapp