Can't start a service

[branchard]

I'm trying to start nginx service like this:

systemctl start nginx

but i get the following error:

System has not been booted with systemd as init system (PID 1). Can't operate.

I know that WSL currently uses a proprietary init process, but I don't know how to use it to start/restart/stop services.

It's also interesting to note that with Ubuntu WSL the command service nginx start works fine. Is it possible to do the same thing with Arch WSL ?

[branchard]

I finally got nginx started 🎉

I just opened the nginx service file (\usr\lib\systemd\system\nginx.service) and run the command at the line that contains ExecStart:

/usr/bin/nginx -g 'pid /run/nginx.pid; error_log stderr;'

It's probably possible to make a script that run services this way automatically.

[ScriptSmith]

microsoft/WSL#1579

WSL does not support systemd / an init system, so you cannot use services. You have to run the commands yourself.

[grzekru]

It seems to be possible in Debian WSL.

[yuk7]

We can't use service command on Arch Linux,because Arch Linux doesn't supports openrc,.
Arch Linux designed for use systemd.
but you can install openrc from AUR,probably you can use rc-* command for control services.

[mithunpp4u]

i m getting below error when i run
'systemctl start postgresql '

please help me...

System has not been booted with systemd as init system (PID 1). Can't operate.

[mithunpp4u]

@yuk7

Sir i m a newbie ,
And when i exicute run /usr/bin/postgres -D /usr/pgsql/data

I m getting, bash: run command not found

[yuk7]

@mithunpp4u
excute this line↓
postgres -D /usr/local/pgsql/data

[imbavirus]

I'm currently using batch scripts in the windows startup folder as an alternative, for example:

bash <environment variables of service> <ExecStart of service>

Could probably even configure it to launch as a windows service somehow to have auto restart and stopping working correctly

[imbavirus]

I wasn't mentioning an issue @yuk7 , was merely offering a temporary workaround until the problem is fixed.

[unixfox]

I couldn't get working OpenRC so I used Supervisor which is working great for automatically starting my services and managing it.

[ertwro]

I couldn't get working OpenRC so I used Supervisor which is working great for automatically starting my services and managing it.

I don't seem to be able to start cronie or crontab with supervisor, how would you add it to supervisor and start it @unixfox ?

[hdk5]

People, who need to run services on Arch on WSL, might also be interested in runit and/or Artix.

I provide daily Artix for WSL builds on my repo, along with the simple script to start service supervisor right from Windows Powershell

[acomagu]

Replacing /init is safe?

[ertwro]

For anyone, still interested runit is pretty good. I even use it in my real arch linux machine. All you need to do is download runit-systemd. The services can be written with simple shell scripts that can run super fast if you use link dash to sh in arch. It's amazing.

[karuboniru]

Replacing /init is safe?

safe but not working at all---wsl will still use Microsoft's init

[PSzczepanski1996]

What about WSL2? I heard that there can be ported systemd by using fake namespacing or so?

[bimimicah]

You can work around the issues with systemctl by replacing it with this script by @gdraheim:
https://github.com/gdraheim/docker-systemctl-replacement/blob/master/files/docker/systemctl.py

just do the following (assumes /usr/bin/systemctl) :

mv /usr/bin/systemctl /usr/bin/systemctl.old
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gdraheim/docker-systemctl-replacement/master/files/docker/systemctl.py > /usr/bin/systemctl
chmod +x /usr/bin/systemctl

[arlllk]

It's possible to bypass that in a hacky way using genie

[yuk7]

I created systemctl alternative package and documented it.
If you use WSL2,you can use genie.
that's all we can do.

This is a common problem with container Linux and WSL.

[datdinhquoc]

You can work around the issues with systemctl by replacing it with this script by @gdraheim:
https://github.com/gdraheim/docker-systemctl-replacement/blob/master/files/docker/systemctl.py

just do the following (assumes /usr/bin/systemctl) :

mv /usr/bin/systemctl /usr/bin/systemctl.old
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gdraheim/docker-systemctl-replacement/master/files/docker/systemctl.py > /usr/bin/systemctl
chmod +x /usr/bin/systemctl

Thanks, i can confirm this script is working, i have my systemctl now :)

[chaitanyarahalkar]

microsoft/WSL#1579

WSL does not support systemd / an init system, so you cannot use services. You have to run the commands yourself.

I don't get it. If you use the Ubuntu image from the Microsoft Store, it ships with Systemd. No idea why it does not work with this Arch distro!

[maphew]

I created systemctl alternative package and documented it.

The document link in comment #20 (comment) is broken. From some looking around this might be the next/newest info:
https://wsldl-pg.github.io/ArchW-docs/Known-issues/#systemdsystemctl

[barcellos-pedro]

You can work around the issues with systemctl by replacing it with this script by @gdraheim: https://github.com/gdraheim/docker-systemctl-replacement/blob/master/files/docker/systemctl.py

just do the following (assumes /usr/bin/systemctl) :

mv /usr/bin/systemctl /usr/bin/systemctl.old
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gdraheim/docker-systemctl-replacement/master/files/docker/systemctl.py > /usr/bin/systemctl
chmod +x /usr/bin/systemctl

That worked for me! Thanks!

[snowman]

You can work around the issues with systemctl by replacing it with this script by @gdraheim: https://github.com/gdraheim/docker-systemctl-replacement/blob/master/files/docker/systemctl.py
just do the following (assumes /usr/bin/systemctl) :

mv /usr/bin/systemctl /usr/bin/systemctl.old
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gdraheim/docker-systemctl-replacement/master/files/docker/systemctl.py > /usr/bin/systemctl
chmod +x /usr/bin/systemctl

That worked for me! Thanks!

You need to install python2 first

$ sudo pacman -Syuu
$ sudo pacman -S python2
$ sudo mv /usr/bin/systemctl /usr/bin/systemctl.old
$ sudo curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gdraheim/docker-systemctl-replacement/master/files/docker/systemctl.py -o /usr/bin/systemctl
$ sudo chown root /usr/bin/systemctl
$ sudo chgrp root /usr/bin/systemctl
$ sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/systemctl

[muhimron90]

You can work around the issues with systemctl by replacing it with this script by @gdraheim: https://github.com/gdraheim/docker-systemctl-replacement/blob/master/files/docker/systemctl.py

just do the following (assumes /usr/bin/systemctl) :

mv /usr/bin/systemctl /usr/bin/systemctl.old
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gdraheim/docker-systemctl-replacement/master/files/docker/systemctl.py > /usr/bin/systemctl
chmod +x /usr/bin/systemctl

its worked, thanks a lot sir , savior !