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Systemctl Basics

The `systemctl` command is a central tool for controlling the **systemd** init system. It is used to manage services, check their status, and configure autostart.

Basic Operations

Start, Stop, and Restart a Service

sudo systemctl start [service_name]

Starts a service.

sudo systemctl stop [service_name]

Stops a service.

sudo systemctl restart [service_name]

Restarts a service.

sudo systemctl reload [service_name]

Reloads a service's configuration without a full restart.

Checking Status

Check the status of a service

systemctl status [service_name]

Shows the detailed status of a service, including whether it is active, its PID, and recent log entries.

systemctl is-active [service_name]

Checks if a service is currently running.

systemctl is-enabled [service_name]

Checks if a service is configured to start automatically at boot.

Autostart (Enable/Disable)

Enable a service to start on boot

sudo systemctl enable [service_name]

Enables a service, creating a symlink to ensure it starts automatically at boot.

Disable a service from starting on boot

sudo systemctl disable [service_name]

Disables a service, removing the symlink that enables autostart.