NAME¶

SYNOPSIS¶

systemd-run [OPTIONS...] COMMAND [ARGS...]

systemd-run [OPTIONS...] [TIMER OPTIONS...] {COMMAND} [ARGS...]

DESCRIPTION¶

If a command is run as transient service unit, it will be started and managed by the service manager like any other service, and thus shows up in the output of systemctl list-units like any other unit. It will run in a clean and detached execution environment, with the service manager as its parent process. In this mode, systemd-run will start the service asynchronously in the background and return after the command has begun execution (unless --no-block or --watch are specified, see below).

If a command is run as transient scope unit, it will be executed by systemd-run itself as parent process and will thus inherit the execution environment of the caller. However, the processes of the command are managed by the service manager similar to normal services, and will show up in the output of systemctl list-units. Execution in this case is synchronous, and will return only when the command finishes. This mode is enabled via the --scope switch (see below).

If a command is run with timer options such as --on-calendar= (see below), a transient timer unit is created alongside the service unit for the specified command. Only the transient timer unit is started immediately, the transient service unit will be started when the timer elapses. If the --unit= option is specified, the COMMAND may be omitted. In this case, systemd-run creates only a .timer unit that invokes the specified unit when elapsing.

OPTIONS¶

--no-ask-password

--scope

--unit=

--property=, -p

--description=

--slice=

--remain-after-exit

--send-sighup

--service-type=

--uid=, --gid=

--nice=

-E NAME=VALUE, --setenv=NAME=VALUE

--pty, -t

--quiet, -q

--on-active=, --on-boot=, --on-startup=, --on-unit-active=, --on-unit-inactive=

--on-calendar=

--timer-property=

--no-block

--wait

--user

--system

-H, --host=

-M, --machine=

-h, --help

--version

All command line arguments after the first non-option argument become part of the command line of the launched process. If a command is run as service unit, its first argument needs to be an absolute binary path.

EXIT STATUS¶

EXAMPLES¶

# systemd-run env
Running as unit: run-19945.service
# journalctl -u run-19945.service
Sep 08 07:37:21 bupkis systemd[1]: Starting /usr/bin/env...
Sep 08 07:37:21 bupkis systemd[1]: Started /usr/bin/env.
Sep 08 07:37:21 bupkis env[19948]: PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
Sep 08 07:37:21 bupkis env[19948]: LANG=en_US.UTF-8
Sep 08 07:37:21 bupkis env[19948]: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-3.11.0-0.rc5.git6.2.fc20.x86_64

Example 2. Limiting resources available to a command

# systemd-run -p BlockIOWeight=10 updatedb

This command invokes the updatedb(8) tool, but lowers the block I/O weight for it to 10. See systemd.resource-control(5) for more information on the BlockIOWeight= property.

Example 3. Running commands at a specified time

The following command will touch a file after 30 seconds.

# date; systemd-run --on-active=30 --timer-property=AccuracySec=100ms /bin/touch /tmp/foo
Mon Dec  8 20:44:24 KST 2014
Running as unit: run-71.timer
Will run service as unit: run-71.service
# journalctl -b -u run-71.timer
-- Logs begin at Fri 2014-12-05 19:09:21 KST, end at Mon 2014-12-08 20:44:54 KST. --
Dec 08 20:44:38 container systemd[1]: Starting /bin/touch /tmp/foo.
Dec 08 20:44:38 container systemd[1]: Started /bin/touch /tmp/foo.
# journalctl -b -u run-71.service
-- Logs begin at Fri 2014-12-05 19:09:21 KST, end at Mon 2014-12-08 20:44:54 KST. --
Dec 08 20:44:48 container systemd[1]: Starting /bin/touch /tmp/foo...
Dec 08 20:44:48 container systemd[1]: Started /bin/touch /tmp/foo.

Example 4. Allowing access to the tty

The following command invokes /bin/bash as a service passing its standard input, output and error to the calling TTY.

# systemd-run -t --send-sighup /bin/bash

Example 5. Start screen as a user service

$ systemd-run --scope --user screen
Running scope as unit run-r14b0047ab6df45bfb45e7786cc839e76.scope.
$ screen -ls
There is a screen on:
        492..laptop     (Detached)
1 Socket in /var/run/screen/S-fatima.

This starts the screen process as a child of the systemd --user process that was started by user@.service, in a scope unit. A systemd.scope(5) unit is used instead of a systemd.service(5) unit, because screen will exit when detaching from the terminal, and a service unit would be terminated. Running screen as a user unit has the advantage that it is not part of the session scope. If KillUserProcesses=yes is configured in logind.conf(5), the default, the session scope will be terminated when the user logs out of that session.

The user@.service is started automatically when the user first logs in, and stays around as long as at least one login session is open. After the user logs out of the last session, user@.service and all services underneath it are terminated. This behavior is the default, when "lingering" is not enabled for that user. Enabling lingering means that user@.service is started automatically during boot, even if the user is not logged in, and that the service is not terminated when the user logs out.

Enabling lingering allows the user to run processes without being logged in, for example to allow screen to persist after the user logs out, even if the session scope is terminated. In the default configuration, users can enable lingering for themselves:

$ loginctl enable-linger

SEE ALSO¶