📖 ~1 min read
Table of contents
Symptom & Impact
A custom or packaged service starts manually but fails after reboot, causing application downtime.
Environment & Reproduction
Usually appears after unit file edits, path changes, or missing dependency ordering on boot.
Root Cause Analysis
Unit directives such as After=, Wants=, or ExecStart path are invalid for boot sequence timing.
Quick Triage
Run systemctl status your-service and systemctl is-enabled your-service to validate activation and failure reason.
Step-by-Step Diagnosis
Inspect logs with journalctl -u your-service -b and verify unit syntax using systemd-analyze verify /etc/systemd/system/your-service.service.
Solution – Primary Fix
Correct unit paths and dependencies, run sudo systemctl daemon-reload, then sudo systemctl enable –now your-service.
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Solution – Alternative Approaches
Use ExecStartPre checks and Restart=on-failure to improve resilience during early boot conditions.
Verification & Acceptance Criteria
Service is active after reboot and dependency units are started in expected order.
Rollback Plan
Restore previous unit file from backup and reload daemon if new configuration causes regression.
Prevention & Hardening
Track unit files in version control and validate with systemd-analyze verify before deployment.
Related Errors & Cross-Refs
Related states: ‘failed (Result: exit-code)’ and ‘Unit entered failed state’.
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
systemd.unit and systemd.service man pages plus Ubuntu systemd operations guide.
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