How to List Linux Services With the systemctl Command

Have greater control over your PC

If you’re a Linux user or administrator, you need to know how to manage services on your system. Services are programs that run in the background and provide essential functionality, such as networking, printing, logging, and more.

But how do you list, start, stop, enable, disable, or restart services on Linux? The answer is thesystemctlcommand. This command is part ofsystemd, a modern system and service manager for Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Debian.

If you’re aLinux beginnerand you want to manage these services usingsystemctel, follow the steps below.

List All Services with systemctl

To list all the services on your Linux system, run this command in the terminal:

sudo systemctl list-units –type service

This will show you a table with five columns:UNIT,LOAD,ACTIVE,SUB, andDESCRIPTION.

TheUNITcolumn shows the name of the service unit file, which is the service’s configuration and definition file. This file contains information on what the service does and how to manage it. You can also view a quick descriptor for the service in theDESCRIPTIONcolumn.

TheLOADcolumn shows whether the service unit file is loaded into memory. TheACTIVEcolumn shows if it’s a running service or not. Finally, theSUBcolumn shows the sub-state of the service, such as running, exited, or failed.

You can also use the-aor–alloption instead of–typeservice to list all types of units, not just services.

List Active Services With systemctl

If you only want to see the services that are currently active (running) on your system, run this command in the Linux terminal:

sudo systemctl list-units –type service –state active

This will filter out the services that are inactive (stopped) or failed.

List Inactive Services With systemctl

Similarly, if you only want to see the services that are currently inactive (stopped) on your system, run this command in the terminal:

sudo systemctl list-units –type service –state inactive

This will filter out the services that are active (running) or failed.

List Failed Services With systemctl

If you want to see the services that have failed to start or stop on your system, open the terminal and run this command:

sudo systemctl list-units –type service –state failed

This will filter out any currently active (running) or inactive (stopped) services.

List Enabled Services With systemctl

To see which services are enabled to start automatically at boot time on your system, run this command in the terminal:

sudo systemctl list-unit-files –type service –state enabled

This will show you a table with two columns:UNIT FILEandSTATE. The UNIT FILE column shows the name of the service unit file. The STATE column shows whether the service is enabled or not.

List Disabled Services With systemctl

To see which services are disabled and won’t start automatically at boot time on your system, open up your Linux terminal and run this command:

sudo systemctl list-unit-files –type service –state disabled

This will filter out the services that are enabled or masked.

Show Details of a Service With systemctl

To show more details about a specific service on your system, run this command in the terminal:

sudo systemctl status

Replacewith the name of the service unit file you want to check.

This will show you information such as the description, load state, active state, sub-state, process ID (PID), memory usage, CPU usage, and recent service logs.

You can also use the show subcommand instead of status to display all service properties in aname=valueformat.

Start a Service With systemctl

To start a service that is stopped on your system, run this command in your Linux terminal:

sudo systemctl start

Replacewith the name of the service unit file you want to start

This will start the service in the background and return to the prompt. You can use the status subcommand to verify that the service is running.

Stop a Service With systemctl

To stop a service that is running on your system, run this command in the terminal:

sudo systemctl stop

Replacewith the name of the service unit file you want to stop

This will stop the service in the background and return to the prompt. You can use the status subcommand to verify that the service is stopped.

Restart a Service With systemctl

Want to edit and reload a service’s configuration file and apply the changes? If you do, you’ll need to restart the service afterward.

To restart a service that is running on your system, open up your terminal and run this command:

sudo systemctl restart

Replacewith the name of the service unit file you want to restart.

This will stop and start the service in the background and return to the prompt. You can use the status subcommand to verify that the service is running.

Reload a Service with systemctl

Some services support reloading their configuration without stopping and starting. Reloading a service allows you to make minor changes to those service’s configuration files without restarting them. This is faster and less disruptive than restarting.

To reload a service that supports this feature, use the followingsystemctlcommand in the terminal:

sudo systemctl reload

Replacewith the name of the service unit file you want to reload.

This will reload the service in the background and return to the prompt. You can use the status subcommand to verify that the service is running.

Enable a Service With systemctl

To enable a service to start automatically at boot time on your system, run this command in the terminal:

sudo systemctl enable

Replacewith the name of the service unit file you want to enable.

This will create a symbolic link from the service unit file to a location under/etc/systemd/system, which tells systemd to start it at boot time.

You can also use the–nowoption to enable and start a service simultaneously. For instance:

sudo systemctl enable –now

Disable a Service With systemctl

To disable a service from starting automatically at boot time on your system, run this command in the Linux terminal:

sudo systemctl disable

Replacewith the name of the service unit file you want to disable.

This will remove the symbolic link from /etc/systemd/system, which tells systemd not to start it at boot time.

You can also use the–nowoption to disable and stop a service at the same time:

sudo systemctl disable –now

List Masked Services With systemctl

Masking a service means linking its unit file to/dev/null, which prevents it from being loaded or manipulated by systemd. This adds an additional layer of protection.

To see which services are masked and can’t be started or stopped manually or automatically on your system, run this command in your Linux PC’s terminal:

sudo systemctl list-unit-files –type service –state masked

The list of masked services will appear in a list (withmaskedlisted under theSTATEcolumn)

Mask a Service With systemctl

Run this command in the terminal to mask a service from being started, stopped manually, or automatically on your system,:

sudo systemctl mask

Replacewith the name of the service unit file you want to mask.

This will create the symbolic link from the service unit file to/dev/nullto prevent it from being loaded or manipulated by systemd.

Unmask a Service With systemctl

You can unmask a service that’s previously been masked. This’ll remove the symbolic link to /dev/null and allow it to be used and loaded elsewhere.

To unmask a service that was previously masked on your system, run this command:

sudo systemctl unmask

Replacewith the name of the service unit file you want to unmask.

Controlling Your Linux PC

If your Linux PC is using systemd to manage system services, you can use thesystemctlcommand to manage them. You can start, stop, reload, disable, and control your services, giving you greater control over your Linux PC.

Another way you can manage your PC is to limit access to certain files. You canuse the chmod commandon your Linux PC to allow (or disallow) access.

Unsure if your Linux distro is a good fit? You should try outanother top Linux distributioninstead, or even give aportable Linux distroa try. Using a portable distro will let you switch between them with ease.

Ben Stockton is a freelance technology writer based in the United Kingdom. In a past life, Ben was a college lecturer in the UK, training teens and adults. Since leaving the classroom, Ben has taken his teaching experience and applied it to writing tech how-to guides and tutorials, specialising in Linux, Windows, and Android. He has a degree in History and a postgraduate qualification in Computing.Read Ben’s Full Bio

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How to List Linux Services With the systemctl Command#

List All Services with systemctl#

List Active Services With systemctl#

List Inactive Services With systemctl#

List Failed Services With systemctl#

List Enabled Services With systemctl#

List Disabled Services With systemctl#

Show Details of a Service With systemctl#

Start a Service With systemctl#

Stop a Service With systemctl#

Restart a Service With systemctl#

Reload a Service with systemctl#

Enable a Service With systemctl#

Disable a Service With systemctl#

List Masked Services With systemctl#

Mask a Service With systemctl#

Unmask a Service With systemctl#

Controlling Your Linux PC#