man > systemd-run(1)

TLDR: systemd-run (tldr-pages)

Run programs in transient scope units, service units, or path-, socket-, or timer-triggered service units.

  • Start a transient service
    sudo systemd-run {{command}} {{argument1 argument2 ...}}
  • Start a transient service under the service manager of the current user (no privileges)
    systemd-run --user {{command}} {{argument1 argument2 ...}}
  • Start a transient service with a custom unit name and description
    sudo systemd-run {{-u|--unit}} {{name}} --description {{string}} {{command}} {{argument1 argument2 ...}}
  • Start a transient service that does not get cleaned up after it terminates with a custom environment variable
    sudo systemd-run {{-r|--remain-after-exit}} --set-env={{name}}={{value}} {{command}} {{argument1 argument2 ...}}
  • Start a transient timer that periodically runs its transient service (see `man systemd.time` for calendar event format)
    sudo systemd-run --on-calendar={{calendar_event}} {{command}} {{argument1 argument2 ...}}
  • Share the terminal with the program (allowing interactive input/output) and make sure the execution details remain after the program exits
    systemd-run {{-r|--remain-after-exit}} --pty {{command}}
  • Set properties (e.g. CPUQuota, MemoryMax) of the process and wait until it exits
    systemd-run {{-p|--property}} MemoryMax={{memory_in_bytes}} {{-p|--property}} CPUQuota={{percentage_of_cpu_time}}% --wait {{command}}
  • Use the program in a shell pipeline
    {{command1}} | systemd-run {{-P|--pipe}} {{command2}} | {{command3}}
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 similarly 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.

       After systemd-run passes the command to the service manager, the manager performs variable
       expansion. This means that dollar characters ("$") which should not be expanded need to be
       escaped as "$$". Expansion can also be disabled using --expand-environment=no.

OPTIONS
       The following options are understood:

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

           Added in version 226.

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

           Added in version 206.

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

           Added in version 206.

       --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.

           Added in version 211.

       --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).

           Added in version 206.

       --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).

           Added in version 206.

       --slice-inherit
           Make the new .service or .scope unit part of the inherited slice. This option can be
           combined with --slice=.

           An inherited slice is located within systemd-run slice. Example: if systemd-run slice is
           foo.slice, and the --slice= argument is bar, the unit will be placed under the
           foo-bar.slice.

           Added in version 246.

       --expand-environment=BOOL
           Expand environment variables in command arguments. If enabled, environment variables
           specified as "${VARIABLE}" will be expanded in the same way as in commands specified via
           ExecStart= in units. With --scope, this expansion is performed by systemd-run itself, and
           in other cases by the service manager that spawns the command. Note that this is similar
           to, but not the same as variable expansion in bash(1) and other shells.

           The default is to enable this option in all cases, except for --scope where it is
           disabled by default, for backward compatibility reasons. Note that this will be changed
           in a future release, where it will be switched to enabled by default as well.

           See systemd.service(5) for a description of variable expansion. Disabling variable
           expansion is useful if the specified command includes or may include a "$" sign.

           Added in version 254.

       -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).

           Added in version 207.

       --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).

           Added in version 207.

       --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.

           Added in version 211.

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

           Added in version 211.

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

           Added in version 211.

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

           Added in version 240.

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

           Added in version 240.

       -E NAME[=VALUE], --setenv=NAME[=VALUE]
           Runs the service process with the specified environment variable set. This parameter may
           be used more than once to set multiple variables. When "=" and VALUE are omitted, the
           value of the variable with the same name in the program environment will be used.

           Also see Environment= in systemd.exec(5).

           Added in version 211.

       --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.

           Added in version 219.

       --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.

           Added in version 235.

       --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.

           Added in version 240.

       --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.

           Added in version 219.

       --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.

           Added in version 218.

       --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.

           Added in version 218.

       --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.

           Added in version 242.

       --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.

           Added in version 218.

       --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.

           Added in version 220.

       --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.

           Added in version 232.

       -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.

           Added in version 236.

       --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,
           optionally prefixed by a user name to connect as and a separating "@" character. If the
           special string ".host" is used in place of the container name, a connection to the local
           system is made (which is useful to connect to a specific user's user bus: "--user
           --machine=lennart@.host"). If the "@" syntax is not used, the connection is made as root
           user. If the "@" syntax is used either the left hand side or the right hand side may be
           omitted (but not both) in which case the local user name and ".host" are implied.

       -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.

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 IOWeight=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 IOWeight= 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
           -- Journal begins at Fri 2014-12-05 19:09:21 KST, ends 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
           -- Journal begins at Fri 2014-12-05 19:09:21 KST, ends 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 bash(1) as a service passing its standard input, output and
       error to the calling TTY.

           # systemd-run -t --send-sighup 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. Variable expansion by the manager

           $ systemd-run -t echo "<${INVOCATION_ID}>" '<${INVOCATION_ID}>'
                 <> <5d0149bfa2c34b79bccb13074001eb20>


       The first argument is expanded by the shell (double quotes), but the second one is not
       expanded by the shell (single quotes).  echo(1) is called with ["/usr/bin/echo", "<>",
       "<${INVOCATION_ID}>"] as the argument array, and then systemd(1) generates ${INVOCATION_ID}
       and substitutes it in the command-line. This substitution could not be done on the client
       side, because the target ID that will be set for the service isn't known before the call is
       made.

       Example 7. Variable expansion and output redirection using a shell

       Variable expansion by systemd(1) can be disabled with --expand-environment=no.

       Disabling variable expansion can be useful if the command to execute contains dollar
       characters and escaping them would be inconvenient. For example, when a shell is used:

           $ systemd-run --expand-environment=no -t bash \
                 -c 'echo $SHELL $$ >/dev/stdout'
           /bin/bash 12345


       The last argument is passed verbatim to the bash(1) shell which is started by the service
       unit. The shell expands "$SHELL" to the path of the shell, and "$$" to its process number,
       and then those strings are passed to the echo built-in and printed to standard output (which
       in this case is connected to the calling terminal).

       Example 8. 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 --expand-environment=no \
                 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 255                                                                           SYSTEMD-RUN(1)
systemd-run(1)
NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION OPTIONS
--no-ask-password --scope --description= --slice= --slice-inherit -r, --remain-after-exit --send-sighup --service-type= --nice= --working-directory= -E NAME[=VALUE], --setenv=NAME[=VALUE] --on-calendar= --no-block --wait -G, --collect --user --system -H, --host= -M, --machine= -h, --help --version
EXIT STATUS EXAMPLES
Example 1. Logging environment variables provided by systemd to services Example 2. Limiting resources available to a command Example 3. Running commands at a specified time Example 4. Allowing access to the tty Example 5. Start screen as a user service Example 6. Variable expansion by the manager Example 7. Variable expansion and output redirection using a shell Example 8. Return value
SEE ALSO

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