Systemd Service Unit Template

Create a systemd service to run any binary or script as a managed background service on Linux.

May 16, 2026

Systemd manages services on most modern Linux distros. Use this template to turn any binary, script, or application into a managed service with automatic restarts, logging, and boot-time startup.

/etc/systemd/system/myapp.serviceini

[Unit]
Description=My Application
After=network.target
Wants=network-online.target
 
[Service]
Type=simple
User=appuser
Group=appuser
WorkingDirectory=/opt/myapp
ExecStart=/opt/myapp/bin/myapp --config /etc/myapp/config.yaml
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal
SyslogIdentifier=myapp
 
# Hardening
NoNewPrivileges=true
ProtectSystem=strict
ProtectHome=true
ReadWritePaths=/var/lib/myapp
 
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start the servicebash

# Reload systemd after creating/editing the unit file
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
 
# Enable (auto-start on boot) and start now
sudo systemctl enable --now myapp
 
# Check status
sudo systemctl status myapp
 
# View logs
journalctl -u myapp -f

Use Type=notify if your app supports sd_notify, or Type=forking if it daemonizes itself. Most modern apps work fine with Type=simple.

1	[Unit]
2	Description=My Application
3	After=network.target
4	Wants=network-online.target
5
6	[Service]
7	Type=simple
8	User=appuser
9	Group=appuser
10	WorkingDirectory=/opt/myapp
11	ExecStart=/opt/myapp/bin/myapp --config /etc/myapp/config.yaml
12	Restart=on-failure
13	RestartSec=5
14	StandardOutput=journal
15	StandardError=journal
16	SyslogIdentifier=myapp
17
18	# Hardening
19	NoNewPrivileges=true
20	ProtectSystem=strict
21	ProtectHome=true
22	ReadWritePaths=/var/lib/myapp
23
24	[Install]
25	WantedBy=multi-user.target

1	# Reload systemd after creating/editing the unit file
2	sudo systemctl daemon-reload
3
4	# Enable (auto-start on boot) and start now
5	sudo systemctl enable --now myapp
6
7	# Check status
8	sudo systemctl status myapp
9
10	# View logs
11	journalctl -u myapp -f