$ systemctl
Control the systemd system and service manager
DOCUMENTEDServicesUbuntu 24.04 LTS baseline
Synopsis
systemctl [OPTIONS...] COMMAND [UNIT...]What it does
- `systemctl` communicates with systemd and controls units such as services.
- `enable` affects boot-time activation; `start` affects the current runtime. `enable --now` performs both.
Examples
Check a service
systemctl status nginxStart a service
sudo systemctl start nginxEnable a service at boot
sudo systemctl enable nginxEnable and start now
sudo systemctl enable --now nginxImportant details
These examples are intentionally conservative. Command behavior can still depend on filesystem state, permissions, locale, shell, installed package version, and other system configuration.
For exact option semantics, the linked authoritative documentation is the source of truth.