SysVinit and systemd command comparison table

With the release of RHEL 7, users need to adapt to a different service manager: systemd replaces SysVinit. It offers several advantages, including parallel operation, mount point handling, and cgroups support. Since nearly all the commands have changed, I have provided tables comparing SysVinit and systemd so users can find the equivalents of familiar commands. *** The example service in these tables is named abc.

Service Command

	Sysvinit Command	Systemd Command
Start service (does not configure startup at boot)	service abc start	systemctl start abc
Stop service (does not configure stopping at boot)	service abc stop	systemctl stop abc
Restart service	service abc restart	systemctl restart abc
Reload configuration without interrupting operation (if supported)	service abc reload	systemctl reload abc
Restart service if it is running	service abc condrestart	systemctl condrestart abc
Check service status	service abc status	systemctl status abc
List services in the system (which can be stopped or started)	ls /etc/rc.d/init.d/	systemctl or systemctl list-unit-files —type=servicels /lib/systemd/system/*.service /etc/systemd/system/*.service
Enable service at boot	chkconfig abc on	systemctl enable abc
Disable service at boot	chkconfig abc off	systemctl disable abc
Check whether service is enabled at boot in the current environment	chkconfig abc	systemctl is-enabled abc
Show a table of services enabled or disabled in each runlevel	chkconfig —list	systemctl list-unit-files —type=service or ls /etc/systemd/system/*.wants/
List runlevels where the service is enabled or disabled	chkconfig abc —list	ls /etc/systemd/system/*.wants/abc.service
Add a service file or change configuration	chkconfig abc —add	systemctl daemon-reload

system log

	Sysvinit	Systemd
Check system logs	tail /var/log/messages or tail /var/log/syslog	journalctl -f

Runlevels

	Sysvinit	Systemd
System halt	0	runlevel0.target or poweroff.target
Single user mode	1, s, single	runlevel1.target or rescue.target
Multi user	2	runlevel2.target or multi-user.target
Multi user with Network	3	runlevel3.target or multi-user.target
Experimental	4	runlevel4.target or multi-user.target
Multi user with network and graphic	5	runlevel5.target or graphic.target
Reboot	6	runlevel6.target or reboot.target
Emergency shell	emergency	emergency.target
Change runlevel/target to multi user	telinit 3	systemctl isolate multi-user.target or systemctl isolate runlevel3.target
Set multi user runlevel/target for the next boot	sed s/^id:*:initdefault:/id:3:initdefault:/	ln -sf /lib/systemd/system/multi-user.target /etc/systemd/system/default.target
Check current runlevel	runlevel	systemctl get-default
Change current runlevel	sed s/^id:*:initdefault:/id:3:initdefault:/	systemctl set-default multi-user.target

Machine state

	Sysvinit	Systemd
system halt	halt	systemctl halt
Shut down (power off)	poweroff	systemctl poweroff
Reboot	reboot	systemctl reboot
Suspend system	pm-suspend	systemctl suspend
Hibernate	pm-hibernate	systemctl hibernate

Systemd new commands

	Systemd
Run systemd command on a remote host	systemctl abc.service start -H user@remotehost
Check boot time	systemd-analyze or systemd-analyze time
Kill every process associated with a service	systemctl kill abc
Check today’s event log	journalctl —since=today
Manage hostname	hostnamectl
Manage date/time (including timezone)	timedatectl