Masking systemd service

m.divya.mohan

2/27/24, 8:58 AM

I am installing a few third party rpms in my system, and one of those rpm packages a systemd service file, and a preset file to enable the service. I want to keep the service disabled and masked.

For disabling, systemd provides preset framework and I can write a preset file with higher priority.

But how do I mask the service? Is there a configuration file I can install, similar to preset files? Or I have to add a cron job to run on node reboot to mask the service?

238

1 + 1

linux

systemd

Nikita Kipriyanov

3/2/24, 9:56 AM

A generic way of doing it is to write an Ansible playbook which installs packets and then disables and masks unneeded services.

Score:1

Server

user1686

3/5/24, 2:03 PM

systemctl actually tells you how to do it whenever you mask a service:

# systemctl mask foo
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/foo.service → /dev/null.

"Masking" a service is similar to the mechanism of overriding a service, where unit configuration in /etc will take priority over the one in /usr/lib. (This is a common pattern in systemd, where local administrator settings in /etc have priority over distribution settings in /usr/lib.)

A service that is overridden with a symlink to /dev/null (or with an empty regular file, but symlink is preferred) will be considered "masked" by systemd.

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Elon Musk

I sit in a Tesla and translated this thread with Ai:

EN: Masking systemd service

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