systemd

aid: systemd
name: systemd
description: |
  systemd is a suite of basic building blocks for a Linux system. It runs as PID 1 and is the system and service
  manager that bootstraps the rest of the userspace, supervises long-running services, and exposes a coordinated
  set of D-Bus and Varlink IPC interfaces for managing services (systemd1), users and sessions (logind),
  network interfaces (networkd), name resolution (resolved), containers/VMs (machined), home directories
  (homed), boot entries (boot1/sysupdate1), system hostname/locale/timedate, OOM protection (oomd), portable
  services, and image imports. The project also publishes a stable command-line surface (systemctl,
  journalctl, networkctl, resolvectl, loginctl, machinectl, hostnamectl, timedatectl, localectl, busctl,
  varlinkctl, bootctl, homectl, coredumpctl, oomctl, portablectl, importctl, systemd-analyze and more).
  systemd is dual-licensed (LGPL-2.1-or-later for libraries and most code, GPL-2.0-or-later for select tools)
  and developed openly on GitHub at systemd/systemd.
type: Index
position: Consumer
access: 3rd-Party
image: https://systemd.io/assets/systemd-logo.svg
tags:
- Boot
- Cgroups
- Container
- D-Bus
- Init
- IPC
- Journal
- Linux
- Logging
- Network
- Open Source
- PID 1
- Service Manager
- System
- Systemd
- Varlink
created: '2026-05-23'
modified: '2026-05-23'
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/systemd/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
specificationVersion: '0.19'
apis:
- aid: systemd:org-freedesktop-systemd1
  name: systemd Manager (org.freedesktop.systemd1)
  description: |
    Core D-Bus API exposed by PID 1 on the system bus. The Manager object at /org/freedesktop/systemd1
    enumerates and controls units (services, sockets, mounts, targets, timers, paths, slices, scopes, swaps,
    devices), starts and stops jobs, loads/reloads configuration, manages cgroup-backed transient units, and
    emits lifecycle signals (UnitNew, UnitRemoved, JobNew, JobRemoved, Reloading, StartupFinished). Per-unit
    interfaces (Unit, Service, Socket, Mount, Slice, Scope, Path, Swap, Timer, Target) expose state,
    properties, and operations on individual units.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.systemd1.html
  baseURL: dbus:org.freedesktop.systemd1
  tags:
  - Cgroups
  - D-Bus
  - Service Manager
  - Systemd
  - Units
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.systemd1.html
  - type: InterfaceDefinition
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/man/org.freedesktop.systemd1.xml
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/systemd1-openapi.yml
  - type: NaftikoCapability
    url: capabilities/systemd1-units.yaml
  - type: NaftikoCapability
    url: capabilities/systemd1-jobs.yaml
  - type: NaftikoCapability
    url: capabilities/systemd1-manager.yaml
- aid: systemd:org-freedesktop-login1
  name: systemd-logind (org.freedesktop.login1)
  description: |
    D-Bus API of systemd-logind for tracking user logins, seats, sessions, and inhibitor locks. Manages
    session creation, switching, idle hints, lock/unlock, power-button handling, lid-switch handling,
    suspend/hibernate/reboot/power-off operations, and ACLs for hot-pluggable devices.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.login1.html
  baseURL: dbus:org.freedesktop.login1
  tags:
  - D-Bus
  - Logind
  - Sessions
  - Users
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.login1.html
  - type: InterfaceDefinition
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/man/org.freedesktop.login1.xml
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/login1-openapi.yml
  - type: NaftikoCapability
    url: capabilities/login1-sessions.yaml
- aid: systemd:org-freedesktop-network1
  name: systemd-networkd (org.freedesktop.network1)
  description: |
    D-Bus API of systemd-networkd for managing network interfaces, link configuration, DHCP server state,
    and netdev/network unit reload. Exposes Manager and per-Link interfaces with methods to set link
    properties, reconfigure, force renew, and query link state.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.network1.html
  baseURL: dbus:org.freedesktop.network1
  tags:
  - D-Bus
  - DHCP
  - Network
  - Networkd
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.network1.html
  - type: InterfaceDefinition
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/man/org.freedesktop.network1.xml
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/network1-openapi.yml
  - type: NaftikoCapability
    url: capabilities/network1-links.yaml
- aid: systemd:org-freedesktop-resolve1
  name: systemd-resolved (org.freedesktop.resolve1)
  description: |
    D-Bus API of systemd-resolved for DNS/mDNS/LLMNR resolution, DNSSEC validation, per-link DNS
    configuration, search domain management, DNS-over-TLS settings, and cache flushing. Exposes
    ResolveHostname, ResolveAddress, ResolveRecord, ResolveService and per-Link configuration methods.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.resolve1.html
  baseURL: dbus:org.freedesktop.resolve1
  tags:
  - D-Bus
  - DNS
  - DNSSEC
  - Resolved
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.resolve1.html
  - type: InterfaceDefinition
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/man/org.freedesktop.resolve1.xml
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/resolve1-openapi.yml
  - type: NaftikoCapability
    url: capabilities/resolve1-dns.yaml
- aid: systemd:org-freedesktop-machine1
  name: systemd-machined (org.freedesktop.machine1)
  description: |
    D-Bus API of systemd-machined for tracking and managing local containers and virtual machines,
    enumerating their associated images, opening shells/login sessions inside them, copying files in/out,
    and binding mounts across container boundaries.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.machine1.html
  baseURL: dbus:org.freedesktop.machine1
  tags:
  - Containers
  - D-Bus
  - Machined
  - VMs
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.machine1.html
  - type: InterfaceDefinition
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/man/org.freedesktop.machine1.xml
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/machine1-openapi.yml
  - type: NaftikoCapability
    url: capabilities/machine1-machines.yaml
- aid: systemd:org-freedesktop-hostname1
  name: systemd-hostnamed (org.freedesktop.hostname1)
  description: |
    D-Bus API of systemd-hostnamed for getting and setting the system hostname (static, transient, pretty),
    deployment/location/icon metadata, chassis type, and machine info.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.hostname1.html
  baseURL: dbus:org.freedesktop.hostname1
  tags:
  - D-Bus
  - Hostname
  - Hostnamed
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.hostname1.html
  - type: InterfaceDefinition
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/man/org.freedesktop.hostname1.xml
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/hostname1-openapi.yml
- aid: systemd:org-freedesktop-locale1
  name: systemd-localed (org.freedesktop.locale1)
  description: |
    D-Bus API of systemd-localed for getting and setting the system locale, X11 keymap, and console keymap.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.locale1.html
  baseURL: dbus:org.freedesktop.locale1
  tags:
  - D-Bus
  - Locale
  - Localed
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.locale1.html
  - type: InterfaceDefinition
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/man/org.freedesktop.locale1.xml
- aid: systemd:org-freedesktop-timedate1
  name: systemd-timedated (org.freedesktop.timedate1)
  description: |
    D-Bus API of systemd-timedated for getting and setting the system time, timezone, NTP enablement, and
    RTC-in-local-time policy.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.timedate1.html
  baseURL: dbus:org.freedesktop.timedate1
  tags:
  - D-Bus
  - NTP
  - Time
  - Timedated
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.timedate1.html
  - type: InterfaceDefinition
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/man/org.freedesktop.timedate1.xml
- aid: systemd:org-freedesktop-timesync1
  name: systemd-timesyncd (org.freedesktop.timesync1)
  description: |
    D-Bus API of systemd-timesyncd exposing the current NTP server, peers, root delay/dispersion, and
    synchronization status.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.timesync1.html
  baseURL: dbus:org.freedesktop.timesync1
  tags:
  - D-Bus
  - NTP
  - SNTP
  - Timesyncd
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.timesync1.html
  - type: InterfaceDefinition
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/man/org.freedesktop.timesync1.xml
- aid: systemd:org-freedesktop-home1
  name: systemd-homed (org.freedesktop.home1)
  description: |
    D-Bus API of systemd-homed for managing portable, encrypted user home directories (LUKS, btrfs subvol,
    fscrypt, CIFS, directory) including create/remove/update/list operations, activation, authentication,
    and rebalancing.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.home1.html
  baseURL: dbus:org.freedesktop.home1
  tags:
  - D-Bus
  - Home Directories
  - Homed
  - LUKS
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.home1.html
  - type: InterfaceDefinition
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/man/org.freedesktop.home1.xml
- aid: systemd:org-freedesktop-import1
  name: systemd-importd (org.freedesktop.import1)
  description: |
    D-Bus API of systemd-importd for importing, exporting, downloading, listing, and removing container/VM
    machine images (tar, raw, dkr/OCI, qcow2) used by machined and portable services.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.import1.html
  baseURL: dbus:org.freedesktop.import1
  tags:
  - Containers
  - D-Bus
  - Images
  - Importd
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.import1.html
  - type: InterfaceDefinition
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/man/org.freedesktop.import1.xml
- aid: systemd:org-freedesktop-oom1
  name: systemd-oomd (org.freedesktop.oom1)
  description: |
    D-Bus API of systemd-oomd, the userspace out-of-memory killer that uses cgroup v2 PSI signals to kill
    cgroups under memory or swap pressure. Exposes per-slice/cgroup state and policy.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.oom1.html
  baseURL: dbus:org.freedesktop.oom1
  tags:
  - Cgroups
  - D-Bus
  - OOM
  - Oomd
  - PSI
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.oom1.html
  - type: InterfaceDefinition
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/man/org.freedesktop.oom1.xml
- aid: systemd:org-freedesktop-portable1
  name: systemd-portabled (org.freedesktop.portable1)
  description: |
    D-Bus API of systemd-portabled for attaching/detaching portable service images, listing attached
    images, inspecting them, and managing their lifecycle on the host.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.portable1.html
  baseURL: dbus:org.freedesktop.portable1
  tags:
  - D-Bus
  - Portable Services
  - Portabled
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.portable1.html
  - type: InterfaceDefinition
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/man/org.freedesktop.portable1.xml
- aid: systemd:org-freedesktop-sysupdate1
  name: systemd-sysupdated (org.freedesktop.sysupdate1)
  description: |
    D-Bus API of systemd-sysupdated for transactional A/B updates of system/host/portable/container images
    using systemd-sysupdate transfers, including target enumeration, version listing, and update jobs.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.sysupdate1.html
  baseURL: dbus:org.freedesktop.sysupdate1
  tags:
  - A/B Updates
  - D-Bus
  - Sysupdated
  - System Updates
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.sysupdate1.html
  - type: InterfaceDefinition
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/man/org.freedesktop.sysupdate1.xml
- aid: systemd:org-freedesktop-logcontrol1
  name: LogControl1 (org.freedesktop.LogControl1)
  description: |
    Generic D-Bus interface that systemd daemons (and other services) implement to expose runtime log
    level and log target configuration. Allows tools like systemd-analyze to change verbosity without
    restart.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.LogControl1.html
  baseURL: dbus:org.freedesktop.LogControl1
  tags:
  - D-Bus
  - Logging
  - Observability
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/org.freedesktop.LogControl1.html
  - type: InterfaceDefinition
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/man/org.freedesktop.LogControl1.xml
- aid: systemd:io-systemd-varlink
  name: systemd Varlink Interfaces (io.systemd.*)
  description: |
    Modern JSON-line IPC surface exposed by systemd daemons via Varlink (single-fd, self-describing,
    discoverable through `varlinkctl`). Covers ~39 interfaces including io.systemd.Manager, io.systemd.Unit,
    io.systemd.Job, io.systemd.Login, io.systemd.Machine, io.systemd.Machine.Image,
    io.systemd.MachineInstance, io.systemd.VirtualMachineInstance, io.systemd.Network,
    io.systemd.Network.Link, io.systemd.Resolve, io.systemd.Resolve.Hook, io.systemd.Resolve.Monitor,
    io.systemd.Journal, io.systemd.JournalAccess, io.systemd.Hostname, io.systemd.BootControl,
    io.systemd.Credentials, io.systemd.FactoryReset, io.systemd.Import, io.systemd.InstanceMetadata,
    io.systemd.AskPassword, io.systemd.Metrics, io.systemd.ManagedOOM, io.systemd.MountFileSystem,
    io.systemd.MuteConsole, io.systemd.NamespaceResource, io.systemd.PCRExtend, io.systemd.PCRLock,
    io.systemd.Repart, io.systemd.Shutdown, io.systemd.StorageProvider, io.systemd.Udev,
    io.systemd.UserDatabase, io.systemd.oom, io.systemd.oom.Prekill, io.systemd.service, io.systemd.sysext.
  humanURL: https://systemd.io/USER_GROUP_API/
  baseURL: varlink:io.systemd
  tags:
  - IPC
  - JSON
  - Varlink
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/varlinkctl.html
  - type: SourceCode
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/tree/main/src
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/varlink-openapi.yml
  - type: NaftikoCapability
    url: capabilities/varlink-manager.yaml
  - type: NaftikoCapability
    url: capabilities/varlink-userdb.yaml
common:
- type: Website
  url: https://systemd.io
- type: Documentation
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/systemd
- type: GitHubRepository
  url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd
- type: SourceCode
  url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd
- type: License
  url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/LICENSES/LGPL-2.1-or-later.txt
- type: License
  url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/LICENSES/GPL-2.0-or-later.txt
- type: ReleaseNotes
  url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/releases
- type: ChangeLog
  url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/NEWS
- type: IssueTracker
  url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues
- type: PullRequests
  url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/pulls
- type: MailingList
  url: https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
- type: Mastodon
  url: https://mastodon.social/@pid_eins
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/systemctl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/journalctl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/networkctl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/resolvectl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/loginctl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/machinectl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/hostnamectl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/timedatectl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/localectl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/busctl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/varlinkctl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/bootctl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/homectl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/coredumpctl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/oomctl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/portablectl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/importctl.html
- type: Tool
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/systemd-analyze.html
- type: SDK
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/sd-bus.html
- type: SDK
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/sd-varlink.html
- type: SDK
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/sd-journal.html
- type: SDK
  url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/sd-event.html
- type: Vocabulary
  url: vocabulary/systemd-vocabulary.yml
- type: JSONLD
  url: json-ld/systemd-context.jsonld
license: LGPL-2.1-or-later AND GPL-2.0-or-later
maintainer:
  FN: systemd developers
  email: [email protected]
  url: https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel