Service Files

When you need to auto start or keep something running in the background, a systemd service is the best option.

All user created service files should be inside of etc/systemd/system. The name you give to the service file, for example some.service is what you use with the systemctl or service command.

For added security, consider creating a system user for each service. Make sure to not reuse an existing one.

Systemd expects the full path of the tool you wish to use.

Here's a basic systemd service file template.

[Unit]
Description=Details about the service
 
[Service]
User=<user>
Group=<group>
ExecStart=<command-to-start>
WorkingDirectory=/path
KillMode=process
Restart=on-failure ; restarts if it fails
 
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

# reload systemd
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
 
# start it
sudo systemctl enable <app-service>
sudo systemctl start <app-service>
 
# status
sudo systemctl status <app-service>
 
# logs
journalctl -u <app-service>