📖 ~1 min read
Table of contents
Symptom & Impact
Service startup fails because dependencies require network readiness too early in boot.
Environment & Reproduction
Unit fails at boot but starts manually later once interfaces and routes are active.
Root Cause Analysis
Review unit ordering directives and inspect boot logs with journalctl -b for timing sequence.
Quick Triage
Unit lacks proper Wants or After dependencies on network-online.target and wait-online service.
Step-by-Step Diagnosis
Add network-online ordering in unit override and enable corresponding wait-online implementation.
Solution – Primary Fix
Reboot and verify unit reaches active state without retry loop or connection errors.
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Solution – Alternative Approaches
Document boot dependency contracts for all network-aware services.
Verification & Acceptance Criteria
Remove override and revert to delayed startup script if dependency model change causes regressions.
Rollback Plan
Template systemd drop-ins for common services that require strict network readiness.
Prevention & Hardening
systemctl edit ; systemctl daemon-reload; systemctl enable NetworkManager-wait-online.service; journalctl -b
Related Errors & Cross-Refs
Share unit file, override content, and boot dependency graph from systemd-analyze.
Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS.
View all Ubuntu 26.04 LTS tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →
Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.
References & Further Reading
Containers and cloud VMs may exhibit variable network-online timing across environments.
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