systemd-run(1)



SYSTEMD-RUN(1)                    systemd-run                   SYSTEMD-RUN(1)

NAME
       systemd-run - Run programs in transient scope units, service units, or
       path-, socket-, or timer-triggered service units

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

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

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

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

DESCRIPTION
       systemd-run may be used to create and start a transient .service or
       .scope unit and run the specified COMMAND in it. It may also be used to
       create and start a transient .path, .socket, or .timer unit, that
       activates a .service unit when elapsing.

       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 --wait 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 path, socket, or timer options such as
       --on-calendar= (see below), a transient path, socket, or timer unit is
       created alongside the service unit for the specified command. Only the
       transient path, socket, or timer unit is started immediately, the
       transient service unit will be triggered by the path, socket, or timer
       unit. If the --unit= option is specified, the COMMAND may be omitted.
       In this case, systemd-run creates only a .path, .socket, or .timer unit
       that triggers the specified unit.

       By default, services created with systemd-run default to the simple
       type, see the description of Type= in systemd.service(5) for details.
       Note that when this type is used the service manager (and thus the
       systemd-run command) considers service start-up successful as soon as
       the fork() for the main service process succeeded, i.e. before the
       execve() is invoked, and thus even if the specified command cannot be
       started. Consider using the exec service type (i.e.
       --property=Type=exec) to ensure that systemd-run returns successfully
       only if the specified command line has been successfully started.

OPTIONS
       The following options are understood:

       --no-ask-password
           Do not query the user for authentication for privileged operations.

       --scope
           Create a transient .scope unit instead of the default transient
           .service unit (see above).

       --unit=, -u
           Use this unit name instead of an automatically generated one.

       --property=, -p
           Sets a property on the scope or service unit that is created. This
           option takes an assignment in the same format as systemctl(1)'s
           set-property command.

       --description=
           Provide a description for the service, scope, path, socket, or
           timer unit. If not specified, the command itself will be used as a
           description. See Description= in systemd.unit(5).

       --slice=
           Make the new .service or .scope unit part of the specified slice,
           instead of system.slice (when running in --system mode) or the root
           slice (when running in --user mode).

       -r, --remain-after-exit
           After the service process has terminated, keep the service around
           until it is explicitly stopped. This is useful to collect runtime
           information about the service after it finished running. Also see
           RemainAfterExit= in systemd.service(5).

       --send-sighup
           When terminating the scope or service unit, send a SIGHUP
           immediately after SIGTERM. This is useful to indicate to shells and
           shell-like processes that the connection has been severed. Also see
           SendSIGHUP= in systemd.kill(5).

       --service-type=
           Sets the service type. Also see Type= in systemd.service(5). This
           option has no effect in conjunction with --scope. Defaults to
           simple.

       --uid=, --gid=
           Runs the service process under the specified UNIX user and group.
           Also see User= and Group= in systemd.exec(5).

       --nice=
           Runs the service process with the specified nice level. Also see
           Nice= in systemd.exec(5).

       --working-directory=
           Runs the service process with the specified working directory. Also
           see WorkingDirectory= in systemd.exec(5).

       --same-dir, -d
           Similar to --working-directory= but uses the current working
           directory of the caller for the service to execute.

       -E NAME=VALUE, --setenv=NAME=VALUE
           Runs the service process with the specified environment variable
           set. Also see Environment= in systemd.exec(5).

       --pty, -t
           When invoking the command, the transient service connects its
           standard input, output and error to the terminal systemd-run is
           invoked on, via a pseudo TTY device. This allows running programs
           that expect interactive user input/output as services, such as
           interactive command shells.

           Note that machinectl(1)'s shell command is usually a better
           alternative for requesting a new, interactive login session on the
           local host or a local container.

           See below for details on how this switch combines with --pipe.

       --pipe, -P
           If specified, standard input, output, and error of the transient
           service are inherited from the systemd-run command itself. This
           allows systemd-run to be used within shell pipelines. Note that
           this mode is not suitable for interactive command shells and
           similar, as the service process will not become a TTY controller
           when invoked on a terminal. Use --pty instead in that case.

           When both --pipe and --pty are used in combination the more
           appropriate option is automatically determined and used.
           Specifically, when invoked with standard input, output and error
           connected to a TTY --pty is used, and otherwise --pipe.

           When this option is used the original file descriptors systemd-run
           receives are passed to the service processes as-is. If the service
           runs with different privileges than systemd-run, this means the
           service might not be able to re-open the passed file descriptors,
           due to normal file descriptor access restrictions. If the invoked
           process is a shell script that uses the echo "hello" > /dev/stderr
           construct for writing messages to stderr, this might cause
           problems, as this only works if stderr can be re-opened. To
           mitigate this use the construct echo "hello" >&2 instead, which is
           mostly equivalent and avoids this pitfall.

       --shell, -S
           A shortcut for "--pty --same-dir --wait --collect
           --service-type=exec $SHELL", i.e. requests an interactive shell in
           the current working directory, running in service context,
           accessible with a single switch.

       --quiet, -q
           Suppresses additional informational output while running. This is
           particularly useful in combination with --pty when it will suppress
           the initial message explaining how to terminate the TTY connection.

       --on-active=, --on-boot=, --on-startup=, --on-unit-active=,
       --on-unit-inactive=
           Defines a monotonic timer relative to different starting points for
           starting the specified command. See OnActiveSec=, OnBootSec=,
           OnStartupSec=, OnUnitActiveSec= and OnUnitInactiveSec= in
           systemd.timer(5) for details. These options are shortcuts for
           --timer-property= with the relevant properties. These options may
           not be combined with --scope or --pty.

       --on-calendar=
           Defines a calendar timer for starting the specified command. See
           OnCalendar= in systemd.timer(5). This option is a shortcut for
           --timer-property=OnCalendar=. This option may not be combined with
           --scope or --pty.

       --on-clock-change, --on-timezone-change
           Defines a trigger based on system clock jumps or timezone changes
           for starting the specified command. See OnClockChange= and
           OnTimezoneChange= in systemd.timer(5). These options are shortcuts
           for --timer-property=OnClockChange=yes and
           --timer-property=OnTimezoneChange=yes. These options may not be
           combined with --scope or --pty.

       --path-property=, --socket-property=, --timer-property=
           Sets a property on the path, socket, or timer unit that is created.
           This option is similar to --property= but applies to the transient
           path, socket, or timer unit rather than the transient service unit
           created. This option takes an assignment in the same format as
           systemctl(1)'s set-property command. These options may not be
           combined with --scope or --pty.

       --no-block
           Do not synchronously wait for the unit start operation to finish.
           If this option is not specified, the start request for the
           transient unit will be verified, enqueued and systemd-run will wait
           until the unit's start-up is completed. By passing this argument,
           it is only verified and enqueued. This option may not be combined
           with --wait.

       --wait
           Synchronously wait for the transient service to terminate. If this
           option is specified, the start request for the transient unit is
           verified, enqueued, and waited for. Subsequently the invoked unit
           is monitored, and it is waited until it is deactivated again (most
           likely because the specified command completed). On exit, terse
           information about the unit's runtime is shown, including total
           runtime (as well as CPU usage, if --property=CPUAccounting=1 was
           set) and the exit code and status of the main process. This output
           may be suppressed with --quiet. This option may not be combined
           with --no-block, --scope or the various path, socket, or timer
           options.

       -G, --collect
           Unload the transient unit after it completed, even if it failed.
           Normally, without this option, all units that ran and failed are
           kept in memory until the user explicitly resets their failure state
           with systemctl reset-failed or an equivalent command. On the other
           hand, units that ran successfully are unloaded immediately. If this
           option is turned on the "garbage collection" of units is more
           aggressive, and unloads units regardless if they exited
           successfully or failed. This option is a shortcut for
           --property=CollectMode=inactive-or-failed, see the explanation for
           CollectMode= in systemd.unit(5) for further information.

       --user
           Talk to the service manager of the calling user, rather than the
           service manager of the system.

       --system
           Talk to the service manager of the system. This is the implied
           default.

       -H, --host=
           Execute the operation remotely. Specify a hostname, or a username
           and hostname separated by "@", to connect to. The hostname may
           optionally be suffixed by a port ssh is listening on, separated by
           ":", and then a container name, separated by "/", which connects
           directly to a specific container on the specified host. This will
           use SSH to talk to the remote machine manager instance. Container
           names may be enumerated with machinectl -H HOST. Put IPv6 addresses
           in brackets.

       -M, --machine=
           Execute operation on a local container. Specify a container name to
           connect to.

       -h, --help
           Print a short help text and exit.

       --version
           Print a short version string and exit.

       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, the first argument needs to be an absolute program
       path.

EXIT STATUS
       On success, 0 is returned. If systemd-run failed to start the service,
       a non-zero return value will be returned. If systemd-run waits for the
       service to terminate, the return value will be propagated from the
       service. 0 will be returned on success, including all the cases where
       systemd considers a service to have exited cleanly, see the discussion
       of SuccessExitStatus= in systemd.service(5).

EXAMPLES
       Example 1. Logging environment variables provided by systemd to
       services

           # 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

       Example 6. Return value

           $ systemd-run --user --wait true
           $ systemd-run --user --wait -p SuccessExitStatus=11 bash -c 'exit 11'
           $ systemd-run --user --wait -p SuccessExitStatus=SIGUSR1 bash -c 'kill -SIGUSR1 $$$$'

       Those three invocations will succeed, i.e. terminate with an exit code
       of 0.

SEE ALSO
       systemd(1), systemctl(1), systemd.unit(5), systemd.service(5),
       systemd.scope(5), systemd.slice(5), systemd.exec(5), systemd.resource-
       control(5), systemd.timer(5), systemd-mount(1), machinectl(1)

systemd 245                                                     SYSTEMD-RUN(1)

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