systemctl status: Check a Service's State and Logs
Inspect any systemd unit's loaded/enabled state, active state, main PID, and its most recent log lines in one command.
01Command
$ systemctl status nginx02What it does
systemctl status answers three questions at once. "Loaded" shows whether the unit file was read and whether it is enabled/disabled (i.e., will it start at boot); "Active" shows whether it is running now, since when, and the main PID; the final block shows the most recent log entries from the journal. Exit code note for scripts: status returns 0 for a running unit, non-zero otherwise (3 for inactive). Use journalctl -u <unit> for the full log history.
03Risk
04Undo
✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.
05Sources
- Ubuntu Manpage: systemctl - Control the systemd system and service managerEvidence: "status [PATTERN...|URL...] Show terse runtime status information about one or more units ... This function is intended to generate human-readable output ... along with the most recent log data."
- systemctl(1) — Arch Linux manualEvidence: "status [PATTERN...|URL...] — Show terse runtime status information about one or more units, followed by most recent log data from the journal."
Last verified: 2026-09-19 · Category: System & Settings
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