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Christopher Schultz
Asked: 2020-02-11 05:49:11 +0800 CST

How can I have systemd auto-start a service after a manual service is started?

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I have a server with an encrypted filesystem which must be manually brought online after a reboot. Some services require that encrypted filesystem to be mounted in order to read configuration/data files, etc.

Is there a way to tell systemd that whenever service X starts (even manually), services Y and X should be started automatically?

I know I can script this with a "start all my stuff" script that starts the encrypted filesystem service (which isn't really a service; just a complicated mount command) and then starts everything else I need, but I was wondering if this is something systemd can handle on its own.

linux systemd

1 Answers

  1. So if we name your service X and the other service which should be started automatically (the filesystem) service Y, the following should do the job:

    shell# vim /usr/lib/systemd/serviceX.service

#Inside the unit file of service x add the following in the [unit] section:
[Unit]
Requires=serviceY.service

#For multiple services
[Unit]
Requires=serviceY.services serviceZ.services

# Don't forget to relaod systemd
shell# systemctl daemon-reload

    Now if you start service x, service y (the file system) should be started autaomatically. Furthermore if there is an error with service y and it can't start service x won't start either. Sidenote: There are other keywords like "after" or "wants", which are less strict than "Requires". But in your example "Requires" should be the right choice.

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