Systemd Services

Create, manage, and monitor systemd services and timers. Covers unit file authoring, dependency management, socket activation, resource limits, journalctl log analysis, and production hardening.

When to Use

• Deploying an application as a managed background service
• Replacing cron jobs with systemd timers for better logging and dependency control
• Setting up socket activation for on-demand service startup
• Configuring resource limits (CPU, memory, I/O) for services
• Debugging service startup failures and runtime crashes
• Managing service dependencies and ordering

Prerequisites

• Linux system running systemd (most modern distributions)
• Root or sudo access for creating system-level unit files
• Application binary or script to run as a service
• Understanding of the application's start/stop lifecycle