[Technology][Linux][Systemd] — Automate Your Custom Applications Startup with Systemd on Linux

In this post, we will talk about how to configure your applications to run as a system service in Linux.

What is systemd?

systemd is a system and service manager for Linux, responsible for bootstrapping the user space and managing system processes. It uses unit files, usually located in /etc/systemd/system/, to define how services behave. These unit files replace traditional init scripts and provide a more powerful and consistent way of managing services.

Let’s get started.

STEP 1. Make a backoffice.service file in /etc/systemd/system/ directory.

#/etc/systemd/system/backoffice.service[Unit] 
 Description= Back office service 
 After=mysqld.service 
 StartLimitIntervalSec=0[Service] 
 Type=simple 
 Restart=always 
 RestartSec=1 
 User=root 
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/env node /path/to/server/app.js 
 
 [Install] 
 WantedBy=multi-user.target

Service Unit File Breakdown

This unit file is divided into three main sections: [Unit], [Service], and [Install]. Each section serves a specific purpose in defining how the service should behave.

1. [Unit] Section