Systemctl Equivalent on Ubuntu: How to Enable and Start Services

In the world of Linux, managing services is a crucial task for system administrators. In many Linux distributions, the systemctl command is used for this purpose. However, in Ubuntu, especially in versions prior to 15.04, the service command is often used as an equivalent to systemctl. This article will guide you on how to enable and start services on Ubuntu using these commands.

The Service Command

The service command is a utility in Ubuntu that acts as a basic and simple interface for managing services. Here is the general syntax for using the service command:

sudo service serviceName action

In this command, serviceName is the name of the service you want to manage, and action is the action you want to perform, such as start, stop, restart, or status.

For example, to start a service named apache2, you would use:

sudo service apache2 start

Unfortunately, the service command does not have a direct equivalent for the enable action in systemctl. To enable a service to start on boot, you would need to use the update-rc.d command.

The Update-rc.d Command

The update-rc.d command is used to install or remove scripts from /etc/init.d/ to the standard runlevels inside /etc/rc[0-6S].d/. This command is used to enable or disable services to start on boot.

Here is the syntax to enable a service:

sudo update-rc.d serviceName defaults

And to disable a service:

sudo update-rc.d -f serviceName remove

In these commands, serviceName is the name of the service you want to manage.

Systemctl on Ubuntu 15.04 and Later

Starting with Ubuntu 15.04, Ubuntu switched to using systemd for initialization. This means that you can use the systemctl command directly, just like in other Linux distributions that use systemd.

Here is how you can enable and start a service using systemctl:

sudo systemctl enable serviceName.service
sudo systemctl start serviceName.service

In these commands, serviceName is the name of the service you want to manage. The .service extension is optional. If you omit it, systemctl will assume that you are referring to a service.

Conclusion

Managing services on Ubuntu can be a bit different from other Linux distributions due to the use of the service and update-rc.d commands. However, starting with Ubuntu 15.04, you can use the systemctl command just like in other systemd-based distributions. Remember to replace serviceName with the actual name of the service you wish to manage in the given commands.

For more information on managing services in Ubuntu, you can refer to the Ubuntu documentation on service management: Ubuntu Service Management

Remember, the commands and procedures mentioned in this article should be executed with caution. Incorrect usage can lead to services not functioning as expected. Always double-check your commands and their parameters before executing them.