2 <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC
"-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
4 <!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1+ -->
6 <refentry id=
"systemd-run"
7 xmlns:
xi=
"http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
10 <title>systemd-run
</title>
11 <productname>systemd
</productname>
15 <refentrytitle>systemd-run
</refentrytitle>
16 <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
20 <refname>systemd-run
</refname>
21 <refpurpose>Run programs in transient scope units, service units, or path-, socket-, or timer-triggered service units
</refpurpose>
26 <command>systemd-run
</command>
27 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">OPTIONS
</arg>
28 <arg choice=
"plain"><replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable>
29 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">ARGS
</arg>
33 <command>systemd-run
</command>
34 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">OPTIONS
</arg>
35 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">PATH OPTIONS
</arg>
36 <arg choice=
"req"><replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable></arg>
37 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">ARGS
</arg>
40 <command>systemd-run
</command>
41 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">OPTIONS
</arg>
42 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">SOCKET OPTIONS
</arg>
43 <arg choice=
"req"><replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable></arg>
44 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">ARGS
</arg>
47 <command>systemd-run
</command>
48 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">OPTIONS
</arg>
49 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">TIMER OPTIONS
</arg>
50 <arg choice=
"req"><replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable></arg>
51 <arg choice=
"opt" rep=
"repeat">ARGS
</arg>
56 <title>Description
</title>
58 <para><command>systemd-run
</command> may be used to create and start a transient
<filename>.service
</filename> or
59 <filename>.scope
</filename> unit and run the specified
<replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable> in it. It may also be
60 used to create and start a transient
<filename>.path
</filename>,
<filename>.socket
</filename>, or
61 <filename>.timer
</filename> unit, that activates a
<filename>.service
</filename> unit when elapsing.
</para>
63 <para>If a command is run as transient service unit, it will be started and managed by the service manager like any
64 other service, and thus shows up in the output of
<command>systemctl list-units
</command> like any other unit. It
65 will run in a clean and detached execution environment, with the service manager as its parent process. In this
66 mode,
<command>systemd-run
</command> will start the service asynchronously in the background and return after the
67 command has begun execution (unless
<option>--no-block
</option> or
<option>--wait
</option> are specified, see
70 <para>If a command is run as transient scope unit, it will be executed by
<command>systemd-run
</command> itself as
71 parent process and will thus inherit the execution environment of the caller. However, the processes of the command
72 are managed by the service manager similar to normal services, and will show up in the output of
<command>systemctl
73 list-units
</command>. Execution in this case is synchronous, and will return only when the command finishes. This
74 mode is enabled via the
<option>--scope
</option> switch (see below).
</para>
76 <para>If a command is run with path, socket, or timer options such as
<option>--on-calendar=
</option> (see below),
77 a transient path, socket, or timer unit is created alongside the service unit for the specified command. Only the
78 transient path, socket, or timer unit is started immediately, the transient service unit will be triggered by the
79 path, socket, or timer unit. If the
<option>--unit=
</option> option is specified, the
80 <replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable> may be omitted. In this case,
<command>systemd-run
</command> creates only a
81 <filename>.path
</filename>,
<filename>.socket
</filename>, or
<filename>.timer
</filename> unit that triggers the
82 specified unit.
</para>
84 <para>By default, services created with
<command>systemd-run
</command> default to the
<option>simple
</option> type,
85 see the description of
<varname>Type=
</varname> in
86 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
87 details. Note that when this type is used the service manager (and thus the
<command>systemd-run
</command> command)
88 considers service start-up successful as soon as the
<function>fork()
</function> for the main service process
89 succeeded, i.e. before the
<function>execve()
</function> is invoked, and thus even if the specified command cannot
90 be started. Consider using the
<option>exec
</option> service type (i.e.
<option>--property=Type=exec
</option>) to
91 ensure that
<command>systemd-run
</command> returns successfully only if the specified command line has been
92 successfully started.
</para>
96 <title>Options
</title>
98 <para>The following options are understood:
</para>
102 <term><option>--no-ask-password
</option></term>
104 <listitem><para>Do not query the user for authentication for
105 privileged operations.
</para></listitem>
109 <term><option>--scope
</option></term>
112 <para>Create a transient
<filename>.scope
</filename> unit instead of the default transient
113 <filename>.service
</filename> unit (see above).
119 <term><option>--unit=
</option></term>
120 <term><option>-u
</option></term>
122 <listitem><para>Use this unit name instead of an automatically
123 generated one.
</para></listitem>
127 <term><option>--property=
</option></term>
128 <term><option>-p
</option></term>
130 <listitem><para>Sets a property on the scope or service unit that is created. This option takes an assignment
131 in the same format as
132 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
133 <command>set-property
</command> command.
</para>
138 <term><option>--description=
</option></term>
140 <listitem><para>Provide a description for the service, scope, path, socket, or timer unit. If not specified,
141 the command itself will be used as a description. See
<varname>Description=
</varname> in
142 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
147 <term><option>--slice=
</option></term>
149 <listitem><para>Make the new
<filename>.service
</filename> or
<filename>.scope
</filename> unit part of the
150 specified slice, instead of
<filename>system.slice
</filename>.
</para>
155 <term><option>-r
</option></term>
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>--working-directory=
</option></term>
211 <listitem><para>Runs the service process with the specified working directory. Also see
212 <varname>WorkingDirectory=
</varname> in
213 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
</para>
218 <term><option>--same-dir
</option></term>
219 <term><option>-d
</option></term>
221 <listitem><para>Similar to
<option>--working-directory=
</option> but uses the current working directory of the
222 caller for the service to execute.
</para></listitem>
226 <term><option>-E
<replaceable>NAME
</replaceable>=
<replaceable>VALUE
</replaceable></option></term>
227 <term><option>--setenv=
<replaceable>NAME
</replaceable>=
<replaceable>VALUE
</replaceable></option></term>
229 <listitem><para>Runs the service process with the specified environment variable set.
230 Also see
<varname>Environment=
</varname> in
231 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
</para>
236 <term><option>--pty
</option></term>
237 <term><option>-t
</option></term>
239 <listitem><para>When invoking the command, the transient service connects its standard input, output and error
240 to the terminal
<command>systemd-run
</command> is invoked on, via a pseudo TTY device. This allows running
241 programs that expect interactive user input/output as services, such as interactive command shells.
</para>
244 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machinectl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
245 <command>shell
</command> command is usually a better alternative for requesting a new, interactive login
246 session on the local host or a local container.
</para>
248 <para>See below for details on how this switch combines with
<option>--pipe
</option>.
</para></listitem>
252 <term><option>--pipe
</option></term>
253 <term><option>-P
</option></term>
255 <listitem><para>If specified, standard input, output, and error of the transient service are inherited from the
256 <command>systemd-run
</command> command itself. This allows
<command>systemd-run
</command>
257 to be used within shell pipelines.
258 Note that this mode is not suitable for interactive command shells and similar, as the
259 service process will not become a TTY controller when invoked on a terminal. Use
<option>--pty
</option> instead
262 <para>When both
<option>--pipe
</option> and
<option>--pty
</option> are used in combination the more appropriate
263 option is automatically determined and used. Specifically, when invoked with standard input, output and error
264 connected to a TTY
<option>--pty
</option> is used, and otherwise
<option>--pipe
</option>.
</para>
266 <para>When this option is used the original file descriptors
<command>systemd-run
</command> receives are passed
267 to the service processes as-is. If the service runs with different privileges than
268 <command>systemd-run
</command>, this means the service might not be able to re-open the passed file
269 descriptors, due to normal file descriptor access restrictions. If the invoked process is a shell script that
270 uses the
<command>echo
"hello" > /dev/stderr
</command> construct for writing messages to stderr, this might
271 cause problems, as this only works if stderr can be re-opened. To mitigate this use the construct
<command>echo
272 "hello" >&2</command> instead, which is mostly equivalent and avoids this pitfall.
</para></listitem>
276 <term><option>--shell
</option></term>
277 <term><option>-S
</option></term>
279 <listitem><para>A shortcut for
<literal>--pty --same-dir --wait --collect --service-type=exec $SHELL
</literal>,
280 i.e. requests an interactive shell in the current working directory, running in service context, accessible
281 with a single switch.
</para></listitem>
285 <term><option>--quiet
</option></term>
286 <term><option>-q
</option></term>
288 <listitem><para>Suppresses additional informational output
289 while running. This is particularly useful in combination with
290 <option>--pty
</option> when it will suppress the initial
291 message explaining how to terminate the TTY connection.
</para></listitem>
295 <term><option>--on-active=
</option></term>
296 <term><option>--on-boot=
</option></term>
297 <term><option>--on-startup=
</option></term>
298 <term><option>--on-unit-active=
</option></term>
299 <term><option>--on-unit-inactive=
</option></term>
301 <listitem><para>Defines a monotonic timer relative to different starting points for starting the specified
302 command. See
<varname>OnActiveSec=
</varname>,
<varname>OnBootSec=
</varname>,
<varname>OnStartupSec=
</varname>,
303 <varname>OnUnitActiveSec=
</varname> and
<varname>OnUnitInactiveSec=
</varname> in
304 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
305 details. These options are shortcuts for
<command>--timer-property=
</command> with the relevant properties.
306 These options may not be combined with
<option>--scope
</option> or
<option>--pty
</option>.
</para>
311 <term><option>--on-calendar=
</option></term>
313 <listitem><para>Defines a calendar timer for starting the specified command. See
<varname>OnCalendar=
</varname>
314 in
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>. This
315 option is a shortcut for
<command>--timer-property=OnCalendar=
</command>. This option may not be combined with
316 <option>--scope
</option> or
<option>--pty
</option>.
</para>
321 <term><option>--on-clock-change
</option></term>
322 <term><option>--on-timezone-change
</option></term>
324 <listitem><para>Defines a trigger based on system clock jumps or timezone changes for starting the
325 specified command. See
<varname>OnClockChange=
</varname> and
<varname>OnTimezoneChange=
</varname> in
326 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>. These
327 options are shortcuts for
<command>--timer-property=OnClockChange=yes
</command> and
328 <command>--timer-property=OnTimezoneChange=yes
</command>. These options may not be combined with
329 <option>--scope
</option> or
<option>--pty
</option>.
</para></listitem>
333 <term><option>--path-property=
</option></term>
334 <term><option>--socket-property=
</option></term>
335 <term><option>--timer-property=
</option></term>
337 <listitem><para>Sets a property on the path, socket, or timer unit that is created. This option is similar to
338 <option>--property=
</option> but applies to the transient path, socket, or timer unit rather than the
339 transient service unit created. This option takes an assignment in the same format as
340 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
341 <command>set-property
</command> command. These options may not be combined with
342 <option>--scope
</option> or
<option>--pty
</option>.
</para>
347 <term><option>--no-block
</option></term>
350 <para>Do not synchronously wait for the unit start operation to finish. If this option is not specified, the
351 start request for the transient unit will be verified, enqueued and
<command>systemd-run
</command> will wait
352 until the unit's start-up is completed. By passing this argument, it is only verified and enqueued. This
353 option may not be combined with
<option>--wait
</option>.
</para>
358 <term><option>--wait
</option></term>
360 <listitem><para>Synchronously wait for the transient service to terminate. If this option is specified, the
361 start request for the transient unit is verified, enqueued, and waited for. Subsequently the invoked unit is
362 monitored, and it is waited until it is deactivated again (most likely because the specified command
363 completed). On exit, terse information about the unit's runtime is shown, including total runtime (as well as
364 CPU usage, if
<option>--property=CPUAccounting=
1</option> was set) and the exit code and status of the main
365 process. This output may be suppressed with
<option>--quiet
</option>. This option may not be combined with
366 <option>--no-block
</option>,
<option>--scope
</option> or the various path, socket, or timer options.
</para></listitem>
370 <term><option>-G
</option></term>
371 <term><option>--collect
</option></term>
373 <listitem><para>Unload the transient unit after it completed, even if it failed. Normally, without this option,
374 all units that ran and failed are kept in memory until the user explicitly resets their failure state with
375 <command>systemctl reset-failed
</command> or an equivalent command. On the other hand, units that ran
376 successfully are unloaded immediately. If this option is turned on the
"garbage collection" of units is more
377 aggressive, and unloads units regardless if they exited successfully or failed. This option is a shortcut for
378 <command>--property=CollectMode=inactive-or-failed
</command>, see the explanation for
379 <varname>CollectMode=
</varname> in
380 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> for further
381 information.
</para></listitem>
384 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"user" />
385 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"system" />
386 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"host" />
387 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"machine" />
389 <xi:include href=
"standard-options.xml" xpointer=
"help" />
390 <xi:include href=
"standard-options.xml" xpointer=
"version" />
393 <para>All command line arguments after the first non-option
394 argument become part of the command line of the launched
395 process. If a command is run as service unit, the first argument
396 needs to be an absolute program path.
</para>
400 <title>Exit status
</title>
402 <para>On success,
0 is returned. If
<command>systemd-run
</command> failed to start the service, a
403 non-zero return value will be returned. If
<command>systemd-run
</command> waits for the service to
404 terminate, the return value will be propagated from the service.
0 will be returned on success, including
405 all the cases where systemd considers a service to have exited cleanly, see the discussion of
406 <varname>SuccessExitStatus=
</varname> in
407 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
412 <title>Examples
</title>
415 <title>Logging environment variables provided by systemd to services
</title>
417 <programlisting># systemd-run env
418 Running as unit: run-
19945.service
419 # journalctl -u run-
19945.service
420 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis systemd[
1]: Starting /usr/bin/env...
421 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis systemd[
1]: Started /usr/bin/env.
422 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis env[
19948]: PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
423 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis env[
19948]: LANG=en_US.UTF-
8
424 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis env[
19948]: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-
3.11.0-
0.rc5.git6.2.fc20.x86_64
</programlisting>
428 <title>Limiting resources available to a command
</title>
430 <programlisting># systemd-run -p BlockIOWeight=
10 updatedb
</programlisting>
432 <para>This command invokes the
433 <citerefentry project='man-pages'
><refentrytitle>updatedb
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
434 tool, but lowers the block I/O weight for it to
10. See
435 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.resource-control
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
436 for more information on the
<varname>BlockIOWeight=
</varname>
441 <title>Running commands at a specified time
</title>
443 <para>The following command will touch a file after
30 seconds.
</para>
445 <programlisting># date; systemd-run --on-active=
30 --timer-property=AccuracySec=
100ms /bin/touch /tmp/foo
446 Mon Dec
8 20:
44:
24 KST
2014
447 Running as unit: run-
71.timer
448 Will run service as unit: run-
71.service
449 # journalctl -b -u run-
71.timer
450 -- Logs begin at Fri
2014-
12-
05 19:
09:
21 KST, end at Mon
2014-
12-
08 20:
44:
54 KST. --
451 Dec
08 20:
44:
38 container systemd[
1]: Starting /bin/touch /tmp/foo.
452 Dec
08 20:
44:
38 container systemd[
1]: Started /bin/touch /tmp/foo.
453 # journalctl -b -u run-
71.service
454 -- Logs begin at Fri
2014-
12-
05 19:
09:
21 KST, end at Mon
2014-
12-
08 20:
44:
54 KST. --
455 Dec
08 20:
44:
48 container systemd[
1]: Starting /bin/touch /tmp/foo...
456 Dec
08 20:
44:
48 container systemd[
1]: Started /bin/touch /tmp/foo.
</programlisting>
460 <title>Allowing access to the tty
</title>
462 <para>The following command invokes
<filename>/bin/bash
</filename> as a service
463 passing its standard input, output and error to the calling TTY.
</para>
465 <programlisting># systemd-run -t --send-sighup /bin/bash
</programlisting>
469 <title>Start
<command>screen
</command> as a user service
</title>
471 <programlisting>$ systemd-run --scope --user screen
472 Running scope as unit run-r14b0047ab6df45bfb45e7786cc839e76.scope.
475 There is a screen on:
476 492..laptop (Detached)
477 1 Socket in /var/run/screen/S-fatima.
480 <para>This starts the
<command>screen
</command> process as a child of the
481 <command>systemd --user
</command> process that was started by
482 <filename>user@.service
</filename>, in a scope unit. A
483 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.scope
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
484 unit is used instead of a
485 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
486 unit, because
<command>screen
</command> will exit when detaching from the terminal,
487 and a service unit would be terminated. Running
<command>screen
</command>
488 as a user unit has the advantage that it is not part of the session scope.
489 If
<varname>KillUserProcesses=yes
</varname> is configured in
490 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>logind.conf
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
491 the default, the session scope will be terminated when the user logs
492 out of that session.
</para>
494 <para>The
<filename>user@.service
</filename> is started automatically
495 when the user first logs in, and stays around as long as at least one
496 login session is open. After the user logs out of the last session,
497 <filename>user@.service
</filename> and all services underneath it
498 are terminated. This behavior is the default, when
"lingering" is
499 not enabled for that user. Enabling lingering means that
500 <filename>user@.service
</filename> is started automatically during
501 boot, even if the user is not logged in, and that the service is
502 not terminated when the user logs out.
</para>
504 <para>Enabling lingering allows the user to run processes without being logged in,
505 for example to allow
<command>screen
</command> to persist after the user logs out,
506 even if the session scope is terminated. In the default configuration, users can
507 enable lingering for themselves:
</para>
509 <programlisting>$ loginctl enable-linger
</programlisting>
513 <title>Return value
</title>
515 <programlisting>$ systemd-run --user --wait true
516 $ systemd-run --user --wait -p SuccessExitStatus=
11 bash -c 'exit
11'
517 $ systemd-run --user --wait -p SuccessExitStatus=SIGUSR1 bash -c 'kill -SIGUSR1 $$$$'
</programlisting>
519 <para>Those three invocations will succeed, i.e. terminate with an exit code of
0.
</para>
524 <title>See Also
</title>
526 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
527 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
528 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
529 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
530 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.scope
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
531 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.slice
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
532 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
533 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.resource-control
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
534 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
535 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-mount
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
536 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machinectl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>