How To Manage Systemd with Chkservice on Linux

We explain what Chkservice is and what it is for, its installation in Debian and Fedora and how to use it in Linux.

One of the most common terms in Linux distros is Systemd, remember that Systemd, (System Daemon) is a system daemon which manages various parameters within the distribution. Systemd is a replacement for the well-known init that was responsible for operating system administration.

What is Chkservice?

Chkservice is a command line tool which is based on ncurses, and as such is simple to use and implement to manage systemd drives on a Linux machine.

Install Chkservice on Debian

Now we will see how to install chkservice in some of the most used Linux distros in a simple and secure way.

In case of using Debian and its derivatives we must first execute the PPA repository with the following line:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linuxenko/chkservice

Update the repository packages by executing:

sudo apt update

Finally we install chkservice running the following line:

sudo apt install chkservice

Install Chkservice on Fedora, Arch & Other Distros

For Fedora we must execute the following lines:

dnf copr enable srakitnican/default
dnf install chkservice

In Arch Linux environments it will be necessary to run the following:

git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/chkservice.git
cd chkservice
makepkg -si

In the other distributions of Linux executing the following lines:

git clone https://github.com/linuxenko/chkservice.git
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ../
make

How To Use Chkservice on Linux

Once installed chkservice, we can start it with root privileges using the sudo command in the following way:

sudo chkservice

The result will be the following:

We can see four columns distributed as follows:

• In the first, the activated/disabled/ masked state is displayed

• The second one shows the status started/stopped

• In the third will be displayed the name and type of the unit

• In the last column, we have the description of the unit.

Chkservice Status Explanation

We can see that we have the following options:

Shows that a unit is enabled

[x]

Shows that a unit is disabled

[]

Indicates a unit is static

[s]

Shows that a unit is masked

-m-

Means that the unit has been stopped

=

It shows that the unit is working

>

Navigation Keys of Chkservice

To navigate between the various functions we have the following possibilities:

Cursor up

Up / k

Cursor down

Down / j

Move the page up

PgUp / b

Move the page down

PgDown / f

Action Keys in Chkservice

With chkservice we have the following options:

Update or reload information

r

It is used to activate or deactivate a unit

Space bar

It allows us to start or stop a unit

s

We left chkservice

q

To see the help page

?

In this way chkservice becomes an ally for the management of systemd in Linux environments and have a much more precise control over the units and components that systemd allows us to manage.