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DOCTEAM-1553: adds topic-set targets #612

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Amrita42 merged 2 commits into from
Dec 2, 2025
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DOCTEAM-1553: adds topic-set targets #612

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set targets
Amrita42 Nov 28, 2025
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Amrita42 Dec 2, 2025
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132 changes: 125 additions & 7 deletions concepts/systemd-targets.xml
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -15,22 +15,26 @@
xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
xmlns:trans="http://docbook.org/ns/transclusion">
<info>
<title>&systemd; targets</title> <!-- can be changed via merge in the assembly -->
<title>Understanding &systemd; targets</title> <!-- can be changed via merge in the assembly -->
<!--add author's email address-->
<meta name="maintainer" content="[email protected]" its:translate="no"/>
<abstract> <!-- can be changed via merge in the assembly -->
<para>
&systemd; uses units and targets. A &systemd; unit defines a service or action on the system, which consists of a name, type, and configuration file.
A &systemd; target combines several units and defines which services have to be started to reach the target.
</para>
</abstract>
</info>
<section xml:id="systemd-what-are-targets">
<title>What are &systemd; targets?</title>
<para>
A &systemd; target combines several units and defines which services have to be started to reach the target.
On a server, for example, this is a state where the network is running and multiple users can log in.
These files are identified by the suffix <literal>.target</literal>.
</para>
<para>Similar to unit files, different targets may be nested via dependencies. For example, <literal>multi-user.target</literal> requires (among others) the targets
that set up login and user session services.
</para>
</abstract>
</info>
<para>
<para>
Common &systemd; targets:
</para>
<variablelist>
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -87,7 +91,121 @@
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para>For more information on &systemd; targets, refer to <emphasis>man 5 systemd.target</emphasis>
and <emphasis>man 7 systemd.special</emphasis>.
</section>
<section xml:id="systemd-set-targets">
<title>Setting up a &systemd; target</title>
<para>To set up a &systemd; target, you need to create a new target unit file and define any required dependencies.
A target is a group of unit files that manages the state of services. A target can be used to control groups of services
or to define system states.</para>
<procedure>
<step>
<para>Create a new file with the <literal>.target</literal> extension in <filename>/etc/systemd/system/</filename>. </para>
<para>For example:</para>
<screen>&prompt.sudo; <command>vi /etc/systemd/system/test.target</command></screen>
</step>
<step>
<para>Define the target with basic configuration.</para>
<para>For example:</para>
<screen>[Unit]
Description= Test target
Requires=multi-user.target
After=multi-user.target

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
</screen>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
<emphasis>Requires:</emphasis> specifies that <literal>multi-user.target</literal> must be reached
for <literal>test.target</literal> to be active.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<emphasis>After:</emphasis> specifies that this target starts after the <literal>multi-user.target</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<emphasis>WantedBy:</emphasis> specifies that this target should be part of <literal>multi-user.target</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</step>
<step>
<para>Set permissions for the target file. </para>
<para>For example:</para>
<screen>&prompt.sudo; <command>chmod 644 /etc/systemd/system/test.target
</command></screen> </step>
<step>
<para>Link the required services to the target file. Create a <literal>.wants</literal> directory and then create
symbolic links to the services you want to include in your custom target.</para>
<para>For example:</para>
<screen>&prompt.sudo; <command>mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system/custom.target.wants/ </command></screen>
<screen>&prompt.sudo; <command>ln -s /etc/systemd/system/test.service /etc/systemd/system/custom.target.wants/
</command></screen>
</step>
<step>
<para>Reload &systemd;. </para>
<para>For example:</para>
<screen>&prompt.sudo; <command>systemctl daemon-reload</command></screen> </step>
<step>
<para>Start and enable the target. </para>
<para>For example:</para>
<screen>&prompt.sudo; <command>systemctl start test.target</command></screen>
<screen>&prompt.sudo; <command>systemctl enable test.target</command></screen>
</step>
<step>
<para>Verify the status of the custom target. </para>
<para>For example:</para>
<screen>&prompt.sudo; <command>systemctl status test.target</command></screen>
</step>
<step>
<para>Verify all the units that are part of this target. </para>
<para>For example:</para>
<screen>&prompt.sudo; <command>systemctl list-dependencies test.target </command></screen>
</step>
<step><para>Your custom &systemd; target is set up and configured.</para></step>
</procedure>
<para>You can use the following common configuration options: </para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
<emphasis>Description:</emphasis> A human-readable description of the target.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<emphasis>Documentation:</emphasis> URIs pointing to documentation.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<emphasis>AllowIsolate:</emphasis>
If set to <literal>true</literal>, this unit can be used with the <command>systemctl isolate</command> command.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<emphasis>Wants:</emphasis>
Units that can be started but are not mandatory.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<emphasis>After/Before:</emphasis>
Defines the order of dependencies.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<emphasis>Conflicts:</emphasis>
Units that should not be active while this target is active.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>For more information on &systemd; targets, refer to <emphasis>man 5 systemd.target</emphasis>
and <emphasis>man 7 systemd.special</emphasis>.
</para>
</section>
</topic>