2 <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC
"-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd">
4 <!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later -->
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>
71 itself as parent process and will thus inherit the execution environment of the caller. However, the
72 processes of the command are managed by the service manager similarly to normal services, and will show
73 up in the output of
<command>systemctl list-units
</command>. Execution in this case is synchronous, and
74 will return only when the command finishes. This mode is enabled via the
<option>--scope
</option> switch
77 <para>If a command is run with path, socket, or timer options such as
<option>--on-calendar=
</option> (see below),
78 a transient path, socket, or timer unit is created alongside the service unit for the specified command. Only the
79 transient path, socket, or timer unit is started immediately, the transient service unit will be triggered by the
80 path, socket, or timer unit. If the
<option>--unit=
</option> option is specified, the
81 <replaceable>COMMAND
</replaceable> may be omitted. In this case,
<command>systemd-run
</command> creates only a
82 <filename>.path
</filename>,
<filename>.socket
</filename>, or
<filename>.timer
</filename> unit that triggers the
83 specified unit.
</para>
85 <para>By default, services created with
<command>systemd-run
</command> default to the
86 <option>simple
</option> type, see the description of
<varname>Type=
</varname> in
87 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
88 details. Note that when this type is used, the service manager (and thus the
89 <command>systemd-run
</command> command) considers service start-up successful as soon as the
90 <function>fork()
</function> for the main service process succeeded, i.e. before the
91 <function>execve()
</function> is invoked, and thus even if the specified command cannot be started.
92 Consider using the
<option>exec
</option> service type (i.e.
<option>--property=Type=exec
</option>) to
93 ensure that
<command>systemd-run
</command> returns successfully only if the specified command line has
94 been successfully started.
</para>
96 <para>After
<command>systemd-run
</command> passes the command to the service manager, the manager
97 performs variable expansion. This means that dollar characters (
<literal>$
</literal>) which should not be
98 expanded need to be escaped as
<literal>$$
</literal>. Expansion can also be disabled using
99 <varname>--expand-environment=no
</varname>.
</para>
103 <title>Options
</title>
105 <para>The following options are understood:
</para>
109 <term><option>--no-ask-password
</option></term>
111 <listitem><para>Do not query the user for authentication for
112 privileged operations.
</para>
114 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v226"/></listitem>
118 <term><option>--scope
</option></term>
121 <para>Create a transient
<filename>.scope
</filename> unit instead of the default transient
122 <filename>.service
</filename> unit (see above).
125 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v206"/>
130 <term><option>--unit=
</option></term>
131 <term><option>-u
</option></term>
133 <listitem><para>Use this unit name instead of an automatically
134 generated one.
</para>
136 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v206"/></listitem>
140 <term><option>--property=
</option></term>
141 <term><option>-p
</option></term>
143 <listitem><para>Sets a property on the scope or service unit that is created. This option takes an assignment
144 in the same format as
145 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
146 <command>set-property
</command> command.
</para>
148 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v211"/>
153 <term><option>--description=
</option></term>
155 <listitem><para>Provide a description for the service, scope, path, socket, or timer unit. If not specified,
156 the command itself will be used as a description. See
<varname>Description=
</varname> in
157 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
160 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v206"/></listitem>
164 <term><option>--slice=
</option></term>
166 <listitem><para>Make the new
<filename>.service
</filename> or
<filename>.scope
</filename> unit part
167 of the specified slice, instead of
<filename>system.slice
</filename> (when running in
168 <option>--system
</option> mode) or the root slice (when running in
<option>--user
</option>
171 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v206"/>
176 <term><option>--slice-inherit
</option></term>
178 <listitem><para>Make the new
<filename>.service
</filename> or
<filename>.scope
</filename> unit part
179 of the slice the
<command>systemd-run
</command> itself has been invoked in. This option may be
180 combined with
<option>--slice=
</option>, in which case the slice specified via
181 <option>--slice=
</option> is placed within the slice the
<command>systemd-run
</command> command is
184 <para>Example: consider
<command>systemd-run
</command> being invoked in the slice
185 <filename>foo.slice
</filename>, and the
<option>--slice=
</option> argument is
186 <filename>bar
</filename>. The unit will then be placed under
187 <filename>foo-bar.slice
</filename>.
</para>
189 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v246"/>
195 <term><option>--expand-environment=
<replaceable>BOOL
</replaceable></option></term>
197 <listitem><para>Expand environment variables in command arguments. If enabled, environment variables
198 specified as
<literal>${
<replaceable>VARIABLE
</replaceable>}
</literal> will be expanded in the same
199 way as in commands specified via
<varname>ExecStart=
</varname> in units. With
200 <varname>--scope
</varname>, this expansion is performed by
<command>systemd-run
</command> itself, and
201 in other cases by the service manager that spawns the command. Note that this is similar to, but not
202 the same as variable expansion in
203 <citerefentry project='man-pages'
><refentrytitle>bash
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
204 and other shells.
</para>
206 <para>The default is to enable this option in all cases, except for
<varname>--scope
</varname> where
207 it is disabled by default, for backward compatibility reasons. Note that this will be changed in a
208 future release, where it will be switched to enabled by default as well.
</para>
211 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
212 for a description of variable expansion. Disabling variable expansion is useful if the specified
213 command includes or may include a
<literal>$
</literal> sign.
</para>
215 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v254"/>
220 <term><option>-r
</option></term>
221 <term><option>--remain-after-exit
</option></term>
223 <listitem><para>After the service process has terminated, keep the service around until it is explicitly
224 stopped. This is useful to collect runtime information about the service after it finished running. Also see
225 <varname>RemainAfterExit=
</varname> in
226 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
229 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v207"/>
234 <term><option>--send-sighup
</option></term>
236 <listitem><para>When terminating the scope or service unit, send a SIGHUP immediately after SIGTERM. This is
237 useful to indicate to shells and shell-like processes that the connection has been severed. Also see
238 <varname>SendSIGHUP=
</varname> in
239 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.kill
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
242 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v207"/>
247 <term><option>--service-type=
</option></term>
249 <listitem><para>Sets the service type. Also see
250 <varname>Type=
</varname> in
251 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>. This
252 option has no effect in conjunction with
253 <option>--scope
</option>. Defaults to
254 <constant>simple
</constant>.
</para>
256 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v211"/>
261 <term><option>--uid=
</option></term>
262 <term><option>--gid=
</option></term>
264 <listitem><para>Runs the service process under the specified UNIX user and group. Also see
265 <varname>User=
</varname> and
<varname>Group=
</varname> in
266 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
</para>
268 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v211"/>
273 <term><option>--nice=
</option></term>
275 <listitem><para>Runs the service process with the specified
276 nice level. Also see
<varname>Nice=
</varname> in
277 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
</para>
279 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v211"/>
284 <term><option>--working-directory=
</option></term>
286 <listitem><para>Runs the service process with the specified working directory. Also see
287 <varname>WorkingDirectory=
</varname> in
288 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
</para>
290 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v240"/>
295 <term><option>--same-dir
</option></term>
296 <term><option>-d
</option></term>
298 <listitem><para>Similar to
<option>--working-directory=
</option>, but uses the current working
299 directory of the caller for the service to execute.
</para>
301 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v240"/></listitem>
305 <term><option>-E
<replaceable>NAME
</replaceable>[=
<replaceable>VALUE
</replaceable>]
</option></term>
306 <term><option>--setenv=
<replaceable>NAME
</replaceable>[=
<replaceable>VALUE
</replaceable>]
</option></term>
308 <listitem><para>Runs the service process with the specified environment variable set. This parameter
309 may be used more than once to set multiple variables. When
<literal>=
</literal> and
310 <replaceable>VALUE
</replaceable> are omitted, the value of the variable with the same name in the
311 program environment will be used.
</para>
313 <para>Also see
<varname>Environment=
</varname> in
314 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
</para>
316 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v211"/>
321 <term><option>--pty
</option></term>
322 <term><option>-t
</option></term>
324 <listitem><para>When invoking the command, the transient service connects its standard input, output and error
325 to the terminal
<command>systemd-run
</command> is invoked on, via a pseudo TTY device. This allows running
326 programs that expect interactive user input/output as services, such as interactive command shells.
</para>
329 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>machinectl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
330 <command>shell
</command> command is usually a better alternative for requesting a new, interactive login
331 session on the local host or a local container.
</para>
333 <para>See below for details on how this switch combines with
<option>--pipe
</option>.
</para>
335 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v219"/></listitem>
339 <term><option>--pipe
</option></term>
340 <term><option>-P
</option></term>
342 <listitem><para>If specified, standard input, output, and error of the transient service are inherited from the
343 <command>systemd-run
</command> command itself. This allows
<command>systemd-run
</command>
344 to be used within shell pipelines.
345 Note that this mode is not suitable for interactive command shells and similar, as the
346 service process will not become a TTY controller when invoked on a terminal. Use
<option>--pty
</option> instead
349 <para>When both
<option>--pipe
</option> and
<option>--pty
</option> are used in combination the more appropriate
350 option is automatically determined and used. Specifically, when invoked with standard input, output and error
351 connected to a TTY
<option>--pty
</option> is used, and otherwise
<option>--pipe
</option>.
</para>
353 <para>When this option is used the original file descriptors
<command>systemd-run
</command> receives are passed
354 to the service processes as-is. If the service runs with different privileges than
355 <command>systemd-run
</command>, this means the service might not be able to reopen the passed file
356 descriptors, due to normal file descriptor access restrictions. If the invoked process is a shell script that
357 uses the
<command>echo
"hello" >/dev/stderr
</command> construct for writing messages to stderr, this might
358 cause problems, as this only works if stderr can be reopened. To mitigate this use the construct
<command>echo
359 "hello" >&2</command> instead, which is mostly equivalent and avoids this pitfall.
</para>
361 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v235"/></listitem>
365 <term><option>--shell
</option></term>
366 <term><option>-S
</option></term>
368 <listitem><para>A shortcut for
<literal>--pty --same-dir --wait --collect --service-type=exec $SHELL
</literal>,
369 i.e. requests an interactive shell in the current working directory, running in service context, accessible
370 with a single switch.
</para>
372 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v240"/></listitem>
376 <term><option>--quiet
</option></term>
377 <term><option>-q
</option></term>
379 <listitem><para>Suppresses additional informational output
380 while running. This is particularly useful in combination with
381 <option>--pty
</option> when it will suppress the initial
382 message explaining how to terminate the TTY connection.
</para>
384 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v219"/></listitem>
388 <term><option>--on-active=
</option></term>
389 <term><option>--on-boot=
</option></term>
390 <term><option>--on-startup=
</option></term>
391 <term><option>--on-unit-active=
</option></term>
392 <term><option>--on-unit-inactive=
</option></term>
394 <listitem><para>Defines a monotonic timer relative to different starting points for starting the specified
395 command. See
<varname>OnActiveSec=
</varname>,
<varname>OnBootSec=
</varname>,
<varname>OnStartupSec=
</varname>,
396 <varname>OnUnitActiveSec=
</varname> and
<varname>OnUnitInactiveSec=
</varname> in
397 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
398 details. These options are shortcuts for
<command>--timer-property=
</command> with the relevant properties.
399 These options may not be combined with
<option>--scope
</option> or
<option>--pty
</option>.
</para>
401 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v218"/>
406 <term><option>--on-calendar=
</option></term>
408 <listitem><para>Defines a calendar timer for starting the specified command. See
<varname>OnCalendar=
</varname>
409 in
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>. This
410 option is a shortcut for
<command>--timer-property=OnCalendar=
</command>. This option may not be combined with
411 <option>--scope
</option> or
<option>--pty
</option>.
</para>
413 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v218"/>
418 <term><option>--on-clock-change
</option></term>
419 <term><option>--on-timezone-change
</option></term>
421 <listitem><para>Defines a trigger based on system clock jumps or timezone changes for starting the
422 specified command. See
<varname>OnClockChange=
</varname> and
<varname>OnTimezoneChange=
</varname> in
423 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>. These
424 options are shortcuts for
<command>--timer-property=OnClockChange=yes
</command> and
425 <command>--timer-property=OnTimezoneChange=yes
</command>. These options may not be combined with
426 <option>--scope
</option> or
<option>--pty
</option>.
</para>
428 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v242"/></listitem>
432 <term><option>--path-property=
</option></term>
433 <term><option>--socket-property=
</option></term>
434 <term><option>--timer-property=
</option></term>
436 <listitem><para>Sets a property on the path, socket, or timer unit that is created. This option is
437 similar to
<option>--property=
</option>, but applies to the transient path, socket, or timer unit
438 rather than the transient service unit created. This option takes an assignment in the same format as
439 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>'s
440 <command>set-property
</command> command. These options may not be combined with
441 <option>--scope
</option> or
<option>--pty
</option>.
</para>
443 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v218"/>
448 <term><option>--no-block
</option></term>
451 <para>Do not synchronously wait for the unit start operation to finish. If this option is not specified, the
452 start request for the transient unit will be verified, enqueued and
<command>systemd-run
</command> will wait
453 until the unit's start-up is completed. By passing this argument, it is only verified and enqueued. This
454 option may not be combined with
<option>--wait
</option>.
</para>
456 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v220"/>
461 <term><option>--wait
</option></term>
463 <listitem><para>Synchronously wait for the transient service to terminate. If this option is specified, the
464 start request for the transient unit is verified, enqueued, and waited for. Subsequently the invoked unit is
465 monitored, and it is waited until it is deactivated again (most likely because the specified command
466 completed). On exit, terse information about the unit's runtime is shown, including total runtime (as well as
467 CPU usage, if
<option>--property=CPUAccounting=
1</option> was set) and the exit code and status of the main
468 process. This output may be suppressed with
<option>--quiet
</option>. This option may not be combined with
469 <option>--no-block
</option>,
<option>--scope
</option> or the various path, socket, or timer options.
</para>
471 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v232"/></listitem>
475 <term><option>-G
</option></term>
476 <term><option>--collect
</option></term>
478 <listitem><para>Unload the transient unit after it completed, even if it failed. Normally, without this option,
479 all units that ran and failed are kept in memory until the user explicitly resets their failure state with
480 <command>systemctl reset-failed
</command> or an equivalent command. On the other hand, units that ran
481 successfully are unloaded immediately. If this option is turned on the
"garbage collection" of units is more
482 aggressive, and unloads units regardless if they exited successfully or failed. This option is a shortcut for
483 <command>--property=CollectMode=inactive-or-failed
</command>, see the explanation for
484 <varname>CollectMode=
</varname> in
485 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> for further
488 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v236"/></listitem>
492 <term><option>--ignore-failure
</option></term>
494 <listitem><para>By default, if the specified command fails the invoked unit will be marked failed
495 (though possibly still unloaded, see
<option>--collect=
</option>, above), and this is reported in the
496 logs. If this switch is specified this is suppressed and any non-success exit status/code of the
497 command is treated as success.
</para>
499 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v256"/></listitem>
503 <term><option>--background=
<replaceable>COLOR
</replaceable></option></term>
505 <listitem><para>Change the terminal background color to the specified ANSI color as long as the
506 session lasts. The color specified should be an ANSI X3.64 SGR background color, i.e. strings such as
507 <literal>40</literal>,
<literal>41</literal>, …,
<literal>47</literal>,
<literal>48;
2;…
</literal>,
508 <literal>48;
5;…
</literal>. See
<ulink
509 url=
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code#SGR_(Select_Graphic_Rendition)_parameters">ANSI
510 Escape Code (Wikipedia)
</ulink> for details.
</para>
512 <xi:include href=
"version-info.xml" xpointer=
"v256"/>
516 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"user" />
517 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"system" />
518 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"host" />
519 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"machine" />
520 <xi:include href=
"user-system-options.xml" xpointer=
"capsule" />
522 <xi:include href=
"standard-options.xml" xpointer=
"help" />
523 <xi:include href=
"standard-options.xml" xpointer=
"version" />
526 <para>All command line arguments after the first non-option argument become part of the command line of
527 the launched process.
</para>
531 <title>Exit status
</title>
533 <para>On success,
0 is returned. If
<command>systemd-run
</command> failed to start the service, a
534 non-zero return value will be returned. If
<command>systemd-run
</command> waits for the service to
535 terminate, the return value will be propagated from the service.
0 will be returned on success, including
536 all the cases where systemd considers a service to have exited cleanly, see the discussion of
537 <varname>SuccessExitStatus=
</varname> in
538 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
543 <title>Examples
</title>
546 <title>Logging environment variables provided by systemd to services
</title>
548 <programlisting># systemd-run env
549 Running as unit: run-
19945.service
550 # journalctl -u run-
19945.service
551 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis systemd[
1]: Starting /usr/bin/env...
552 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis systemd[
1]: Started /usr/bin/env.
553 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis env[
19948]: PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
554 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis env[
19948]: LANG=en_US.UTF-
8
555 Sep
08 07:
37:
21 bupkis env[
19948]: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-
3.11.0-
0.rc5.git6.2.fc20.x86_64
</programlisting>
559 <title>Limiting resources available to a command
</title>
561 <programlisting># systemd-run -p IOWeight=
10 updatedb
</programlisting>
563 <para>This command invokes the
<citerefentry
564 project='man-pages'
><refentrytitle>updatedb
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
565 tool, but lowers the block I/O weight for it to
10. See
566 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.resource-control
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
567 for more information on the
<varname>IOWeight=
</varname> property.
</para>
571 <title>Running commands at a specified time
</title>
573 <para>The following command will touch a file after
30 seconds.
</para>
575 <programlisting># date; systemd-run --on-active=
30 --timer-property=AccuracySec=
100ms /bin/touch /tmp/foo
576 Mon Dec
8 20:
44:
24 KST
2014
577 Running as unit: run-
71.timer
578 Will run service as unit: run-
71.service
579 # journalctl -b -u run-
71.timer
580 -- Journal begins at Fri
2014-
12-
05 19:
09:
21 KST, ends at Mon
2014-
12-
08 20:
44:
54 KST. --
581 Dec
08 20:
44:
38 container systemd[
1]: Starting /bin/touch /tmp/foo.
582 Dec
08 20:
44:
38 container systemd[
1]: Started /bin/touch /tmp/foo.
583 # journalctl -b -u run-
71.service
584 -- Journal begins at Fri
2014-
12-
05 19:
09:
21 KST, ends at Mon
2014-
12-
08 20:
44:
54 KST. --
585 Dec
08 20:
44:
48 container systemd[
1]: Starting /bin/touch /tmp/foo...
586 Dec
08 20:
44:
48 container systemd[
1]: Started /bin/touch /tmp/foo.
</programlisting>
590 <title>Allowing access to the tty
</title>
592 <para>The following command invokes
593 <citerefentry project='man-pages'
><refentrytitle>bash
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
594 as a service passing its standard input, output and error to the calling TTY.
</para>
596 <programlisting># systemd-run -t --send-sighup bash
</programlisting>
600 <title>Start
<command>screen
</command> as a user service
</title>
602 <programlisting>$ systemd-run --scope --user screen
603 Running scope as unit run-r14b0047ab6df45bfb45e7786cc839e76.scope.
606 There is a screen on:
607 492..laptop (Detached)
608 1 Socket in /var/run/screen/S-fatima.
611 <para>This starts the
<command>screen
</command> process as a child of the
612 <command>systemd --user
</command> process that was started by
613 <filename>user@.service
</filename>, in a scope unit. A
614 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.scope
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
615 unit is used instead of a
616 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>
617 unit, because
<command>screen
</command> will exit when detaching from the terminal,
618 and a service unit would be terminated. Running
<command>screen
</command>
619 as a user unit has the advantage that it is not part of the session scope.
620 If
<varname>KillUserProcesses=yes
</varname> is configured in
621 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>logind.conf
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
622 the default, the session scope will be terminated when the user logs
623 out of that session.
</para>
625 <para>The
<filename>user@.service
</filename> is started automatically
626 when the user first logs in, and stays around as long as at least one
627 login session is open. After the user logs out of the last session,
628 <filename>user@.service
</filename> and all services underneath it
629 are terminated. This behavior is the default, when
"lingering" is
630 not enabled for that user. Enabling lingering means that
631 <filename>user@.service
</filename> is started automatically during
632 boot, even if the user is not logged in, and that the service is
633 not terminated when the user logs out.
</para>
635 <para>Enabling lingering allows the user to run processes without being logged in,
636 for example to allow
<command>screen
</command> to persist after the user logs out,
637 even if the session scope is terminated. In the default configuration, users can
638 enable lingering for themselves:
</para>
640 <programlisting>$ loginctl enable-linger
</programlisting>
644 <title>Variable expansion by the manager
</title>
646 <programlisting>$ systemd-run -t echo
"<${INVOCATION_ID}>" '
<${INVOCATION_ID}
>'
647 <> <5d0149bfa2c34b79bccb13074001eb20
>
650 <para>The first argument is expanded by the shell (double quotes), but the second one is not expanded
651 by the shell (single quotes).
652 <citerefentry project='man-pages'
><refentrytitle>echo
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
653 is called with [
<literal>/usr/bin/echo
</literal>,
654 <literal><></literal>,
<literal><${INVOCATION_ID}
></literal>] as the argument array, and then
655 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
656 generates
<varname>${INVOCATION_ID}
</varname> and substitutes it in the command-line. This substitution
657 could not be done on the client side, because the target ID that will be set for the service isn't
658 known before the call is made.
</para>
662 <title>Variable expansion and output redirection using a shell
</title>
664 <para>Variable expansion by
665 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
666 can be disabled with
<varname>--expand-environment=no
</varname>.
</para>
668 <para>Disabling variable expansion can be useful if the command to execute contains dollar characters
669 and escaping them would be inconvenient. For example, when a shell is used:
</para>
671 <programlisting>$ systemd-run --expand-environment=no -t bash \
672 -c 'echo $SHELL $$
>/dev/stdout'
676 <para>The last argument is passed verbatim to the
677 <citerefentry project='man-pages'
><refentrytitle>bash
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
678 shell which is started by the service unit. The shell expands
<literal>$SHELL
</literal> to the path of
679 the shell, and
<literal>$$
</literal> to its process number, and then those strings are passed to the
680 <command>echo
</command> built-in and printed to standard output (which in this case is connected to the
681 calling terminal).
</para>
685 <title>Return value
</title>
687 <programlisting>$ systemd-run --user --wait true
688 $ systemd-run --user --wait -p SuccessExitStatus=
11 bash -c 'exit
11'
689 $ systemd-run --user --wait -p SuccessExitStatus=SIGUSR1 --expand-environment=no \
690 bash -c 'kill -SIGUSR1 $$'
</programlisting>
692 <para>Those three invocations will succeed, i.e. terminate with an exit code of
0.
</para>
697 <title>See Also
</title>
698 <para><simplelist type=
"inline">
699 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
700 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
701 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.unit
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
702 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.service
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
703 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.scope
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
704 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.slice
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
705 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.exec
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
706 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.resource-control
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
707 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd.timer
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
708 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-mount
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
709 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>machinectl
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>
710 <member><citerefentry><refentrytitle>run0
</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry></member>