How to Create a systemd Service on Linux

systemd is the init system used by most modern Linux distributions to bootstrap the system and manage services. With systemd, you can create custom service units to control your own applications, scripts, or background tasks.

Common Uses for systemd Services

• Run applications on boot (like a Node.js app, game server, etc.)
• Keep a background script always running and restarted on failure
• Control custom daemons with start, stop, restart, and status commands

Step 1: Create Your Script or Application

First, make sure you have a script or application ready to be run. For example, a simple bash script:

#!/bin/bash
echo "Service started at $(date)" >> /var/log/my-script.log
sleep infinity

Save this file as /usr/local/bin/my-script.sh and make it executable:

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/my-script.sh

Step 2: Create the systemd Service File

Create a unit file in /etc/systemd/system. We'll call it my-script.service:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/my-script.service

Paste the following contents:

[Unit]
Description=My Custom Script
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/my-script.sh
Restart=always
User=root

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Step 3: Enable and Start the Service

Reload systemd to recognize the new service, then enable and start it:

sudo systemctl daemon-reexec
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable my-script.service
sudo systemctl start my-script.service

Check the status to confirm it’s running:

sudo systemctl status my-script.service

Step 4: Managing Your Service

You can control your service just like any systemd unit:

sudo systemctl stop my-script.service
sudo systemctl restart my-script.service
sudo journalctl -u my-script.service

The last command lets you view logs produced by the service.

Conclusion

Creating a custom systemd service is a powerful way to automate and control long-running applications or scripts. Once set up, you gain full control over startup, restart behavior, logging, and monitoring — making it perfect for developers, sysadmins, and self-hosters.