systemd, the Next-Generation Linux System Manager

Half Day Afternoon
(1:30 pm-5:00 pm)

Thurgood Marshall West

LISA15: Syseng
M7
Alison Chaiken, Mentor Graphics
Description: 

Systemd is now at the heart of all major Linux distributions. The fundamental design principle is to pull duplicate daemon-management code out of SysVinit's bash scripts and migrate it to systemd's core or the kernel. systemd is modular, asynchronous and fully configurable via ASCII-formatted declarative config files.

Attendees will learn to configure, diagnose and control systemd using its native tools like systemctl and journalctl. Hands-on examples will show systemd's unit files and directory hierarchy, illustrate socket-based activation, and demonstrate management of resources and security. Time permitting, attendees will learn about systemd and containers.

Who should attend: 

Linux system administrators, package maintainers and developers who are transitioning to systemd, or who are considering doing so.

Take back to work: 

Familiarity with systemd's configuration, tools, and basic principles.

Topics include: 
  • The basic principles of systemd
  • systemd's major components
  • Anatomy of a systemd unit file
  • Understanding and optimizing the boot sequence
  • Improved system monitoring with journald
  • Resource management via systemd's cgroups interface 
  • Simple security management with systemd and the kernel's capabilities
  • systemd and virtualization
Additional Materials: 

If network connectivity permits, we will try to offer virtual machine instances with systemd baked in. However, attendees should be able to work the examples on any fully patched, up-to-date Linux system that includes systemd and that can be rebooted. A Linux instance inside a VM will be most convenient in either case, but native installation should also work.

Presentation Type: 
Training