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Ubuntu service management

Archived

This page has been archived and will receive no further updates.

Note: For Ubuntu 15.04+, see Systemd

General​

Determine whether a service is using Upstart or System V:​

ls -l /etc/init.d/SERVICENAME

Ex:

ls -l /etc/init.d/cups

If it's a symlink pointing to /lib/init/upstart-job, it's using Upstart. Otherwise, it's using System V/init.

Upstart services​

Manage the status of a particular Upstart service:​

sudo service plymouth start/stop/restart/status

Or:

sudo initctl start/stop/restart/status plymouth

Show status of all Upstart services:​

sudo initctl list

Show configuration for an Upstart service:​

sudo initctl show-config plymouth

System V services​

Manage the status of a particular System V service:​

sudo service apache2 start/stop/restart/status

Show status of all System V services:​

sudo service --status-all

Enable/disable a System V service to automatically start at boot:​

sudo update-rc.d apache2 enable/disable