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 SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1+
9 <refentry id=
"systemd-run"
10 xmlns:
xi=
"http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
13 <title>systemd-run
</title>
14 <productname>systemd
</productname>
18 <refentrytitle>systemd-run
</refentrytitle>
19 <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
23 <refname>systemd-run
</refname>
24 <refpurpose>Run programs in transient scope units, service units, or path-, socket-, or timer-triggered service units
</refpurpose>
29 <command>systemd-run
</command>
30 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">OPTIONS
</arg>
31 <arg choice=
"plain"><replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable>
32 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">ARGS
</arg>
36 <command>systemd-run
</command>
37 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">OPTIONS
</arg>
38 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">PATH OPTIONS
</arg>
39 <arg choice=
"req"><replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable></arg>
40 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">ARGS
</arg>
43 <command>systemd-run
</command>
44 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">OPTIONS
</arg>
45 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">SOCKET OPTIONS
</arg>
46 <arg choice=
"req"><replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable></arg>
47 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">ARGS
</arg>
50 <command>systemd-run
</command>
51 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">OPTIONS
</arg>
52 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">TIMER OPTIONS
</arg>
53 <arg choice=
"req"><replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable></arg>
54 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">ARGS
</arg>
59 <title>Description
</title>
61 <para><command>systemd-run
</command> may be used to create and start a transient
<filename>.service
</filename> or
62 <filename>.scope
</filename> unit and run the specified
<replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable> in it. It may also be
63 used to create and start a transient
<filename>.path
</filename>,
<filename>.socket
</filename>, or
64 <filename>.timer
</filename> unit, that activates a
<filename>.service
</filename> unit when elapsing.
</para>
66 <para>If a command is run as transient service unit, it will be started and managed by the service manager like any
67 other service, and thus shows up in the output of
<command>systemctl list-units
</command> like any other unit. It
68 will run in a clean and detached execution environment, with the service manager as its parent process. In this
69 mode,
<command>systemd-run
</command> will start the service asynchronously in the background and return after the
70 command has begun execution (unless
<option>--no-block
</option> or
<option>--wait
</option> are specified, see
73 <para>If a command is run as transient scope unit, it will be executed by
<command>systemd-run
</command> itself as
74 parent process and will thus inherit the execution environment of the caller. However, the processes of the command
75 are managed by the service manager similar to normal services, and will show up in the output of
<command>systemctl
76 list-units
</command>. Execution in this case is synchronous, and will return only when the command finishes. This
77 mode is enabled via the
<option>--scope
</option> switch (see below).
</para>
79 <para>If a command is run with path, socket, or timer options such as
<option>--on-calendar=
</option> (see below),
80 a transient path, socket, or timer unit is created alongside the service unit for the specified command. Only the
81 transient path, socket, or timer unit is started immediately, the transient service unit will be triggered by the
82 path, socket, or timer unit. If the
<option>--unit=
</option> option is specified, the
83 <replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable> may be omitted. In this case,
<command>systemd-run
</command> creates only a
84 <filename>.path
</filename>,
<filename>.socket
</filename>, or
<filename>.timer
</filename> unit that triggers the
85 specified unit.
</para>
89 <title>Options
</title>
91 <para>The following options are understood:
</para>
95 <term><option>--no-ask-password
</option></term>
97 <listitem><para>Do not query the user for authentication for
98 privileged operations.
</para></listitem>
102 <term><option>--scope
</option></term>
105 <para>Create a transient
<filename>.scope
</filename> unit instead of the default transient
106 <filename>.service
</filename> unit (see above).
112 <term><option>--unit=
</option></term>
114 <listitem><para>Use this unit name instead of an automatically
115 generated one.
</para></listitem>
119 <term><option>--property=
</option></term>
120 <term><option>-p
</option></term>
122 <listitem><para>Sets a property on the scope or service unit that is created. This option takes an assignment
123 in the same format as
124 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
125 <command>set-property
</command> command.
</para>
130 <term><option>--description=
</option></term>
132 <listitem><para>Provide a description for the service, scope, path, socket, or timer unit. If not specified,
133 the command itself will be used as a description. See
<varname>Description=
</varname> in
134 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
139 <term><option>--slice=
</option></term>
141 <listitem><para>Make the new
<filename>.service
</filename> or
<filename>.scope
</filename> unit part of the
142 specified slice, instead of
<filename>system.slice
</filename>.
</para>
147 <term><option>-r
</option></term>
148 <term><option>--remain-after-exit
</option></term>
150 <listitem><para>After the service process has terminated, keep the service around until it is explicitly
151 stopped. This is useful to collect runtime information about the service after it finished running. Also see
152 <varname>RemainAfterExit=
</varname> in
153 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
159 <term><option>--send-sighup
</option></term>
161 <listitem><para>When terminating the scope or service unit, send a SIGHUP immediately after SIGTERM. This is
162 useful to indicate to shells and shell-like processes that the connection has been severed. Also see
163 <varname>SendSIGHUP=
</varname> in
164 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.kill
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
170 <term><option>--service-type=
</option></term>
172 <listitem><para>Sets the service type. Also see
173 <varname>Type=
</varname> in
174 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>. This
175 option has no effect in conjunction with
176 <option>--scope
</option>. Defaults to
177 <constant>simple
</constant>.
</para>
182 <term><option>--uid=
</option></term>
183 <term><option>--gid=
</option></term>
185 <listitem><para>Runs the service process under the specified UNIX user and group. Also see
186 <varname>User=
</varname> and
<varname>Group=
</varname> in
187 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
</para>
192 <term><option>--nice=
</option></term>
194 <listitem><para>Runs the service process with the specified
195 nice level. Also see
<varname>Nice=
</varname> in
196 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
</para>
201 <term><option>-E
<replaceable>NAME
</replaceable>=
<replaceable>VALUE
</replaceable></option></term>
202 <term><option>--setenv=
<replaceable>NAME
</replaceable>=
<replaceable>VALUE
</replaceable></option></term>
204 <listitem><para>Runs the service process with the specified environment variable set.
205 Also see
<varname>Environment=
</varname> in
206 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
</para>
211 <term><option>--pty
</option></term>
212 <term><option>-t
</option></term>
214 <listitem><para>When invoking the command, the transient service connects its standard input, output and error
215 to the terminal
<command>systemd-run
</command> is invoked on, via a pseudo TTY device. This allows running
216 programs that expect interactive user input/output as services, such as interactive command shells.
</para>
219 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machinectl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
220 <command>shell
</command> command is usually a better alternative for requesting a new, interactive login
221 session on the local host or a local container.
</para>
223 <para>See below for details on how this switch combines with
<option>--pipe
</option>.
</para></listitem>
227 <term><option>--pipe
</option></term>
228 <term><option>-P
</option></term>
230 <listitem><para>If specified, standard input, output, and error of the transient service are inherited from the
231 <command>systemd-run
</command> command itself. This allows
<command>systemd-run
</command>
232 to be used within shell pipelines.
233 Note that this mode is not suitable for interactive command shells and similar, as the
234 service process will not become a TTY controller when invoked on a terminal. Use
<option>--pty
</option> instead
237 <para>When both
<option>--pipe
</option> and
<option>--pty
</option> are used in combination the more appropriate
238 option is automatically determined and used. Specifically, when invoked with standard input, output and error
239 connected to a TTY
<option>--pty
</option> is used, and otherwise
<option>--pipe
</option>.
</para>
241 <para>When this option is used the original file descriptors
<command>systemd-run
</command> receives are passed
242 to the service processes as-is. If the service runs with different privileges than
243 <command>systemd-run
</command>, this means the service might not be able to re-open the passed file
244 descriptors, due to normal file descriptor access restrictions. If the invoked process is a shell script that
245 uses the
<command>echo
"hello" > /dev/stderr
</command> construct for writing messages to stderr, this might
246 cause problems, as this only works if stderr can be re-opened. To mitigate this use the construct
<command>echo
247 "hello" >&2</command> instead, which is mostly equivalent and avoids this pitfall.
</para></listitem>
251 <term><option>--quiet
</option></term>
252 <term><option>-q
</option></term>
254 <listitem><para>Suppresses additional informational output
255 while running. This is particularly useful in combination with
256 <option>--pty
</option> when it will suppress the initial
257 message explaining how to terminate the TTY connection.
</para></listitem>
261 <term><option>--on-active=
</option></term>
262 <term><option>--on-boot=
</option></term>
263 <term><option>--on-startup=
</option></term>
264 <term><option>--on-unit-active=
</option></term>
265 <term><option>--on-unit-inactive=
</option></term>
267 <listitem><para>Defines a monotonic timer relative to different starting points for starting the specified
268 command. See
<varname>OnActiveSec=
</varname>,
<varname>OnBootSec=
</varname>,
<varname>OnStartupSec=
</varname>,
269 <varname>OnUnitActiveSec=
</varname> and
<varname>OnUnitInactiveSec=
</varname> in
270 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
271 details. These options are shortcuts for
<command>--timer-property=
</command> with the relevant properties.
272 These options may not be combined with
<option>--scope
</option> or
<option>--pty
</option>.
</para>
277 <term><option>--on-calendar=
</option></term>
279 <listitem><para>Defines a calendar timer for starting the specified command. See
<varname>OnCalendar=
</varname>
280 in
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>. This
281 option is a shortcut for
<command>--timer-property=OnCalendar=
</command>. This option may not be combined with
282 <option>--scope
</option> or
<option>--pty
</option>.
</para>
287 <term><option>--path-property=
</option></term>
288 <term><option>--socket-property=
</option></term>
289 <term><option>--timer-property=
</option></term>
291 <listitem><para>Sets a property on the path, socket, or timer unit that is created. This option is similar to
292 <option>--property=
</option> but applies to the transient path, socket, or timer unit rather than the
293 transient service unit created. This option takes an assignment in the same format as
294 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
295 <command>set-property
</command> command. These options may not be combined with
296 <option>--scope
</option> or
<option>--pty
</option>.
</para>
301 <term><option>--no-block
</option></term>
304 <para>Do not synchronously wait for the unit start operation to finish. If this option is not specified, the
305 start request for the transient unit will be verified, enqueued and
<command>systemd-run
</command> will wait
306 until the unit's start-up is completed. By passing this argument, it is only verified and enqueued. This
307 option may not be combined with
<option>--wait
</option>.
</para>
312 <term><option>--wait
</option></term>
314 <listitem><para>Synchronously wait for the transient service to terminate. If this option is specified, the
315 start request for the transient unit is verified, enqueued, and waited for. Subsequently the invoked unit is
316 monitored, and it is waited until it is deactivated again (most likely because the specified command
317 completed). On exit, terse information about the unit's runtime is shown, including total runtime (as well as
318 CPU usage, if
<option>--property=CPUAccounting=
1</option> was set) and the exit code and status of the main
319 process. This output may be suppressed with
<option>--quiet
</option>. This option may not be combined with
320 <option>--no-block
</option>,
<option>--scope
</option> or the various path, socket, or timer options.
</para></listitem>
324 <term><option>-G
</option></term>
325 <term><option>--collect
</option></term>
327 <listitem><para>Unload the transient unit after it completed, even if it failed. Normally, without this option,
328 all units that ran and failed are kept in memory until the user explicitly resets their failure state with
329 <command>systemctl reset-failed
</command> or an equivalent command. On the other hand, units that ran
330 successfully are unloaded immediately. If this option is turned on the
"garbage collection" of units is more
331 aggressive, and unloads units regardless if they exited successfully or failed. This option is a shortcut for
332 <command>--property=CollectMode=inactive-or-failed
</command>, see the explanation for
333 <varname>CollectMode=
</varname> in
334 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> for further
335 information.
</para></listitem>
338 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"user" />
339 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"system" />
340 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"host" />
341 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"machine" />
343 <xi:include href=
"standard-options.xml" xpointer=
"help" />
344 <xi:include href=
"standard-options.xml" xpointer=
"version" />
347 <para>All command line arguments after the first non-option
348 argument become part of the command line of the launched
349 process. If a command is run as service unit, the first argument
350 needs to be an absolute program path.
</para>
354 <title>Exit status
</title>
356 <para>On success,
0 is returned, a non-zero failure
357 code otherwise.
</para>
361 <title>Examples
</title>
364 <title>Logging environment variables provided by systemd to services
</title>
366 <programlisting># systemd-run env
367 Running as unit: run-
19945.service
368 # journalctl -u run-
19945.service
369 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis systemd[
1]: Starting /usr/bin/env...
370 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis systemd[
1]: Started /usr/bin/env.
371 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis env[
19948]: PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
372 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis env[
19948]: LANG=en_US.UTF-
8
373 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis env[
19948]: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-
3.11.0-
0.rc5.git6.2.fc20.x86_64
</programlisting>
377 <title>Limiting resources available to a command
</title>
379 <programlisting># systemd-run -p BlockIOWeight=
10 updatedb
</programlisting>
381 <para>This command invokes the
382 <citerefentry project='man-pages'
><refentrytitle>updatedb
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
383 tool, but lowers the block I/O weight for it to
10. See
384 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.resource-control
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
385 for more information on the
<varname>BlockIOWeight=
</varname>
390 <title>Running commands at a specified time
</title>
392 <para>The following command will touch a file after
30 seconds.
</para>
394 <programlisting># date; systemd-run --on-active=
30 --timer-property=AccuracySec=
100ms /bin/touch /tmp/foo
395 Mon Dec
8 20:
44:
24 KST
2014
396 Running as unit: run-
71.timer
397 Will run service as unit: run-
71.service
398 # journalctl -b -u run-
71.timer
399 -- Logs begin at Fri
2014-
12-
05 19:
09:
21 KST, end at Mon
2014-
12-
08 20:
44:
54 KST. --
400 Dec
08 20:
44:
38 container systemd[
1]: Starting /bin/touch /tmp/foo.
401 Dec
08 20:
44:
38 container systemd[
1]: Started /bin/touch /tmp/foo.
402 # journalctl -b -u run-
71.service
403 -- Logs begin at Fri
2014-
12-
05 19:
09:
21 KST, end at Mon
2014-
12-
08 20:
44:
54 KST. --
404 Dec
08 20:
44:
48 container systemd[
1]: Starting /bin/touch /tmp/foo...
405 Dec
08 20:
44:
48 container systemd[
1]: Started /bin/touch /tmp/foo.
</programlisting>
409 <title>Allowing access to the tty
</title>
411 <para>The following command invokes
<filename>/bin/bash
</filename> as a service
412 passing its standard input, output and error to the calling TTY.
</para>
414 <programlisting># systemd-run -t --send-sighup /bin/bash
</programlisting>
418 <title>Start
<command>screen
</command> as a user service
</title>
420 <programlisting>$ systemd-run --scope --user screen
421 Running scope as unit run-r14b0047ab6df45bfb45e7786cc839e76.scope.
424 There is a screen on:
425 492..laptop (Detached)
426 1 Socket in /var/run/screen/S-fatima.
429 <para>This starts the
<command>screen
</command> process as a child of the
430 <command>systemd --user
</command> process that was started by
431 <filename>user@.service
</filename>, in a scope unit. A
432 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.scope
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
433 unit is used instead of a
434 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
435 unit, because
<command>screen
</command> will exit when detaching from the terminal,
436 and a service unit would be terminated. Running
<command>screen
</command>
437 as a user unit has the advantage that it is not part of the session scope.
438 If
<varname>KillUserProcesses=yes
</varname> is configured in
439 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>logind.conf
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
440 the default, the session scope will be terminated when the user logs
441 out of that session.
</para>
443 <para>The
<filename>user@.service
</filename> is started automatically
444 when the user first logs in, and stays around as long as at least one
445 login session is open. After the user logs out of the last session,
446 <filename>user@.service
</filename> and all services underneath it
447 are terminated. This behavior is the default, when
"lingering" is
448 not enabled for that user. Enabling lingering means that
449 <filename>user@.service
</filename> is started automatically during
450 boot, even if the user is not logged in, and that the service is
451 not terminated when the user logs out.
</para>
453 <para>Enabling lingering allows the user to run processes without being logged in,
454 for example to allow
<command>screen
</command> to persist after the user logs out,
455 even if the session scope is terminated. In the default configuration, users can
456 enable lingering for themselves:
</para>
458 <programlisting>$ loginctl enable-linger
</programlisting>
463 <title>See Also
</title>
465 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
466 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
467 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
468 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
469 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.scope
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
470 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.slice
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
471 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
472 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.resource-control
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
473 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
474 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-mount
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
475 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machinectl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>