Gist: Systemd daemon service

A sample Systemd service file for a daemon (web server) and useful commands.

Last updated on: 2024-12-27

Setup your unit file

[Unit]
Description=Website
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
Restart=always
User=root
Group=root
WorkingDirectory=/var/<SERVICE_NAME>/
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/<SERVICE_NAME>

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

In /etc/systemd/system/<SERVICE_NAME>.service (on Ubuntu)

Note: You probably want to use another user than root.

Enable the service

systemctl enable <SERVICE_NAME>

Start the service

systemctl start <SERVICE_NAME>

Check status

systemctl status <SERVICE_NAME>

Check logs

journalctl -u <SERVICE_NAME>

Follow logs

journalctl -u <SERVICE_NAME> -f