1 <?xml version='
1.0'
?> <!--*- Mode: nxml; nxml-child-indent: 2; indent-tabs-mode: nil -*-->
2 <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC
"-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
6 This file is part of systemd.
8 Copyright 2013 Zbigniew Jędrzejewski-Szmek
10 systemd is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
11 under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
12 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
13 (at your option) any later version.
15 systemd is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
16 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
17 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
18 Lesser General Public License for more details.
20 You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
21 along with systemd; If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
24 <refentry id=
"systemd-run"
25 xmlns:
xi=
"http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
28 <title>systemd-run
</title>
29 <productname>systemd
</productname>
33 <contrib>Developer
</contrib>
34 <firstname>Lennart
</firstname>
35 <surname>Poettering
</surname>
36 <email>lennart@poettering.net
</email>
42 <refentrytitle>systemd-run
</refentrytitle>
43 <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
47 <refname>systemd-run
</refname>
48 <refpurpose>Run programs in transient scope units, service units, or timer-scheduled service units
</refpurpose>
53 <command>systemd-run
</command>
54 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">OPTIONS
</arg>
55 <arg choice=
"plain"><replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable>
56 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">ARGS
</arg>
60 <command>systemd-run
</command>
61 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">OPTIONS
</arg>
62 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">TIMER OPTIONS
</arg>
63 <arg choice=
"req"><replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable></arg>
64 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">ARGS
</arg>
69 <title>Description
</title>
71 <para><command>systemd-run
</command> may be used to create and start a transient
<filename>.service
</filename> or
72 <filename>.scope
</filename> unit and run the specified
<replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable> in it. It may also be
73 used to create and start a transient
<filename>.timer
</filename> unit, that activates a
74 <filename>.service
</filename> unit when elapsing.
</para>
76 <para>If a command is run as transient service unit, it will be started and managed by the service manager like any
77 other service, and thus shows up in the output of
<command>systemctl list-units
</command> like any other unit. It
78 will run in a clean and detached execution environment, with the service manager as its parent process. In this
79 mode,
<command>systemd-run
</command> will start the service asynchronously in the background and return after the
80 command has begun execution (unless
<option>--no-block
</option> or
<option>--watch
</option> are specified, see
83 <para>If a command is run as transient scope unit, it will be executed by
<command>systemd-run
</command> itself as
84 parent process and will thus inherit the execution environment of the caller. However, the processes of the command
85 are managed by the service manager similar to normal services, and will show up in the output of
<command>systemctl
86 list-units
</command>. Execution in this case is synchronous, and will return only when the command finishes. This
87 mode is enabled via the
<option>--scope
</option> switch (see below).
</para>
89 <para>If a command is run with timer options such as
<option>--on-calendar=
</option> (see below), a transient timer
90 unit is created alongside the service unit for the specified command. Only the transient timer unit is started
91 immediately, the transient service unit will be started when the timer elapses. If the
<option>--unit=
</option>
92 option is specified, the
<replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable> may be omitted. In this case,
93 <command>systemd-run
</command> creates only a
<filename>.timer
</filename> unit that invokes the specified unit when
98 <title>Options
</title>
100 <para>The following options are understood:
</para>
104 <term><option>--no-ask-password
</option></term>
106 <listitem><para>Do not query the user for authentication for
107 privileged operations.
</para></listitem>
111 <term><option>--scope
</option></term>
114 <para>Create a transient
<filename>.scope
</filename> unit instead of the default transient
115 <filename>.service
</filename> unit (see above).
121 <term><option>--unit=
</option></term>
123 <listitem><para>Use this unit name instead of an automatically
124 generated one.
</para></listitem>
128 <term><option>--property=
</option></term>
129 <term><option>-p
</option></term>
131 <listitem><para>Sets a property on the scope or service unit that is created. This option takes an assignment
132 in the same format as
133 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
134 <command>set-property
</command> command.
</para>
139 <term><option>--description=
</option></term>
141 <listitem><para>Provide a description for the service, scope or timer unit. If not specified, the command
142 itself will be used as a description. See
<varname>Description=
</varname> in
143 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
148 <term><option>--slice=
</option></term>
150 <listitem><para>Make the new
<filename>.service
</filename> or
<filename>.scope
</filename> unit part of the
151 specified slice, instead of
<filename>system.slice
</filename>.
</para>
156 <term><option>--remain-after-exit
</option></term>
158 <listitem><para>After the service process has terminated, keep the service around until it is explicitly
159 stopped. This is useful to collect runtime information about the service after it finished running. Also see
160 <varname>RemainAfterExit=
</varname> in
161 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
167 <term><option>--send-sighup
</option></term>
169 <listitem><para>When terminating the scope or service unit, send a SIGHUP immediately after SIGTERM. This is
170 useful to indicate to shells and shell-like processes that the connection has been severed. Also see
171 <varname>SendSIGHUP=
</varname> in
172 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.kill
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
178 <term><option>--service-type=
</option></term>
180 <listitem><para>Sets the service type. Also see
181 <varname>Type=
</varname> in
182 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>. This
183 option has no effect in conjunction with
184 <option>--scope
</option>. Defaults to
185 <constant>simple
</constant>.
</para>
190 <term><option>--uid=
</option></term>
191 <term><option>--gid=
</option></term>
193 <listitem><para>Runs the service process under the specified UNIX user and group. Also see
194 <varname>User=
</varname> and
<varname>Group=
</varname> in
195 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
</para>
200 <term><option>--nice=
</option></term>
202 <listitem><para>Runs the service process with the specified
203 nice level. Also see
<varname>Nice=
</varname> in
204 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
</para>
209 <term><option>-E
<replaceable>NAME
</replaceable>=
<replaceable>VALUE
</replaceable></option></term>
210 <term><option>--setenv=
<replaceable>NAME
</replaceable>=
<replaceable>VALUE
</replaceable></option></term>
212 <listitem><para>Runs the service process with the specified environment variable set.
213 Also see
<varname>Environment=
</varname> in
214 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
</para>
219 <term><option>--pty
</option></term>
220 <term><option>-t
</option></term>
222 <listitem><para>When invoking the command, the transient service connects its standard input and output to the
223 terminal
<command>systemd-run
</command> is invoked on, via a pseudo TTY device. This allows running binaries
224 that expect interactive user input as services, such as interactive command shells.
</para></listitem>
228 <term><option>--quiet
</option></term>
229 <term><option>-q
</option></term>
231 <listitem><para>Suppresses additional informational output
232 while running. This is particularly useful in combination with
233 <option>--pty
</option> when it will suppress the initial
234 message explaining how to terminate the TTY connection.
</para></listitem>
238 <term><option>--on-active=
</option></term>
239 <term><option>--on-boot=
</option></term>
240 <term><option>--on-startup=
</option></term>
241 <term><option>--on-unit-active=
</option></term>
242 <term><option>--on-unit-inactive=
</option></term>
244 <listitem><para>Defines a monotonic timer relative to different starting points for starting the specified
245 command. See
<varname>OnActiveSec=
</varname>,
<varname>OnBootSec=
</varname>,
<varname>OnStartupSec=
</varname>,
246 <varname>OnUnitActiveSec=
</varname> and
<varname>OnUnitInactiveSec=
</varname> in
247 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
248 details. These options may not be combined with
<option>--scope
</option>.
</para>
253 <term><option>--on-calendar=
</option></term>
255 <listitem><para>Defines a calendar timer for starting the specified command. See
<varname>OnCalendar=
</varname>
256 in
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>. This
257 option may not be combined with
<option>--scope
</option>.
</para>
262 <term><option>--timer-property=
</option></term>
264 <listitem><para>Sets a property on the timer unit that is created. This option is similar to
265 <option>--property=
</option> but applies to the transient timer unit rather than the transient service unit
266 created. This option only has an effect in conjunction with
<option>--on-active=
</option>,
267 <option>--on-boot=
</option>,
<option>--on-startup=
</option>,
<option>--on-unit-active=
</option>,
268 <option>--on-unit-inactive=
</option> or
<option>--on-calendar=
</option>. This option takes an assignment in the
269 same format as
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
270 <command>set-property
</command> command.
</para> </listitem>
274 <term><option>--no-block
</option></term>
277 <para>Do not synchronously wait for the unit start operation to finish. If this option is not specified, the
278 start request for the transient unit will be verified, enqueued and
<command>systemd-run
</command> will wait
279 until the unit's start-up is completed. By passing this argument, it is only verified and enqueued. This
280 option may not be combined with
<option>--wait
</option>.
</para>
285 <term><option>--wait
</option></term>
287 <listitem><para>Synchronously wait for the transient service to terminate. If this option is specified, the
288 start request for the transient unit is verified, enqueued, and waited for. Subsequently the invoked unit is
289 monitored, and it is waited until it is deactivated again (most likely because the specified command
290 completed). On exit, terse information about the unit's runtime is shown, including total runtime (as well as
291 CPU usage, if
<option>--property=CPUAccounting=
1</option> was set) and the exit code and status of the main
292 process. This output may be suppressed with
<option>--quiet
</option>. This option may not be combined with
293 <option>--no-block
</option>,
<option>--scope
</option> or the various timer options.
</para></listitem>
296 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"user" />
297 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"system" />
298 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"host" />
299 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"machine" />
301 <xi:include href=
"standard-options.xml" xpointer=
"help" />
302 <xi:include href=
"standard-options.xml" xpointer=
"version" />
305 <para>All command line arguments after the first non-option
306 argument become part of the command line of the launched
307 process. If a command is run as service unit, its first argument
308 needs to be an absolute binary path.
</para>
312 <title>Exit status
</title>
314 <para>On success,
0 is returned, a non-zero failure
315 code otherwise.
</para>
319 <title>Examples
</title>
322 <title>Logging environment variables provided by systemd to services
</title>
324 <programlisting># systemd-run env
325 Running as unit: run-
19945.service
326 # journalctl -u run-
19945.service
327 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis systemd[
1]: Starting /usr/bin/env...
328 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis systemd[
1]: Started /usr/bin/env.
329 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis env[
19948]: PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
330 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis env[
19948]: LANG=en_US.UTF-
8
331 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis env[
19948]: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-
3.11.0-
0.rc5.git6.2.fc20.x86_64
</programlisting>
335 <title>Limiting resources available to a command
</title>
337 <programlisting># systemd-run -p BlockIOWeight=
10 updatedb
</programlisting>
339 <para>This command invokes the
340 <citerefentry project='man-pages'
><refentrytitle>updatedb
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
341 tool, but lowers the block I/O weight for it to
10. See
342 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.resource-control
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
343 for more information on the
<varname>BlockIOWeight=
</varname>
348 <title>Running commands at a specified time
</title>
350 <para>The following command will touch a file after
30 seconds.
</para>
352 <programlisting># date; systemd-run --on-active=
30 --timer-property=AccuracySec=
100ms /bin/touch /tmp/foo
353 Mon Dec
8 20:
44:
24 KST
2014
354 Running as unit: run-
71.timer
355 Will run service as unit: run-
71.service
356 # journalctl -b -u run-
71.timer
357 -- Logs begin at Fri
2014-
12-
05 19:
09:
21 KST, end at Mon
2014-
12-
08 20:
44:
54 KST. --
358 Dec
08 20:
44:
38 container systemd[
1]: Starting /bin/touch /tmp/foo.
359 Dec
08 20:
44:
38 container systemd[
1]: Started /bin/touch /tmp/foo.
360 # journalctl -b -u run-
71.service
361 -- Logs begin at Fri
2014-
12-
05 19:
09:
21 KST, end at Mon
2014-
12-
08 20:
44:
54 KST. --
362 Dec
08 20:
44:
48 container systemd[
1]: Starting /bin/touch /tmp/foo...
363 Dec
08 20:
44:
48 container systemd[
1]: Started /bin/touch /tmp/foo.
</programlisting>
367 <title>Allowing access to the tty
</title>
369 <para>The following command invokes
<filename>/bin/bash
</filename> as a service
370 passing its standard input, output and error to the calling TTY.
</para>
372 <programlisting># systemd-run -t --send-sighup /bin/bash
</programlisting>
376 <title>Start
<command>screen
</command> as a user service
</title>
378 <programlisting>$ systemd-run --scope --user screen
379 Running scope as unit run-r14b0047ab6df45bfb45e7786cc839e76.scope.
382 There is a screen on:
383 492..laptop (Detached)
384 1 Socket in /var/run/screen/S-fatima.
387 <para>This starts the
<command>screen
</command> process as a child of the
388 <command>systemd --user
</command> process that was started by
389 <filename>user@.service
</filename>, in a scope unit. A
390 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.scope
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
391 unit is used instead of a
392 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
393 unit, because
<command>screen
</command> will exit when detaching from the terminal,
394 and a service unit would be terminated. Running
<command>screen
</command>
395 as a user unit has the advantage that it is not part of the session scope.
396 If
<varname>KillUserProcesses=yes
</varname> is configured in
397 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>logind.conf
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
398 the default, the session scope will be terminated when the user logs
399 out of that session.
</para>
401 <para>The
<filename>user@.service
</filename> is started automatically
402 when the user first logs in, and stays around as long as at least one
403 login session is open. After the user logs out of the last session,
404 <filename>user@.service
</filename> and all services underneath it
405 are terminated. This behaviour is the default, when
"lingering" is
406 not enabled for that user. Enabling lingering means that
407 <filename>user@.service
</filename> is started automatically during
408 boot, even if the user is not logged in, and that the service is
409 not terminated when the user logs out.
</para>
411 <para>Enabling lingering allows the user to run processes without being logged in,
412 for example to allow
<command>screen
</command> to persist after the user logs out,
413 even if the session scope is terminated. In the default configuration, users can
414 enable lingering for themselves:
</para>
416 <programlisting>$ loginctl enable-linger
</programlisting>
421 <title>See Also
</title>
423 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
424 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
425 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
426 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
427 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.scope
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
428 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.slice
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
429 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
430 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.resource-control
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
431 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
432 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-mount
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
433 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machinectl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>