systemctl flags & options

start

Start a service immediately.

systemctl start nginx

stop

Stop a running service.

systemctl stop nginx

restart

Stop then start a service.

systemctl restart nginx

reload

Reload a service's configuration without full restart.

systemctl reload nginx

status

Show the current status, PID, and recent logs for a service.

systemctl status nginx

enable

Configure a service to start on boot.

systemctl enable nginx

disable

Prevent a service from starting on boot.

systemctl disable nginx

--now

Combine enable/disable with start/stop in one command.

systemctl enable --now nginx

systemctl disable --now nginx

list-units

List all loaded units and their states.

systemctl list-units --type=service

systemctl list-units --state=failed

daemon-reload

Reload systemd manager configuration after changing unit files.

systemctl daemon-reload

--no-pager

Don't pipe output through a pager.

systemctl status nginx --no-pager

is-active, is-enabled

Check state of a service. Useful in scripts.

systemctl is-active nginx

systemctl is-enabled nginx

cat

Show the unit file contents for a service.

systemctl cat nginx

edit

Edit a service's unit file with an override (drop-in).

systemctl edit nginx

systemctl edit --full nginx