systemd for Linux SysAdmins: All You Need to Know About the systemd Suite for Linux Users

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to APress Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025

D. Bothsystemd for Linux SysAdminshttps://doi.org/10.1007/979-8-8688-1328-3_13

13. Replacing rc.local in systemd

David Both¹  

(1)

Raleigh, NC, USA

 

Objectives

After reading this chapter, you will be able to

• Describe the function of rc.local

• State the reason that rc.local needs to be replaced with a systemd service unit

• Create a service unit that can launch one or more programs during Linux startup

• Test that service from the command line

• Enable the service to run during startup

Introduction

Have you been missing rc.local for adding commands to run on startup in a systemd system? Here’s how to set up similar functionality with today’s systemd.

A few years ago, I encountered ...