---
author: ~ben
published: true
title: daemonize with user units
description: a quick tutorial on creating and managing daemonized processes with systemd user units
category:
- guides
- technical
---

so you've got a process that you want to keep running. you might have it in a
tmux or screen session. let's use systemd user units to manage it!

1. ensure that your user unit loadpath is set up:

       mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user/

2. create a basic service. save something like this in
  `~/.config/systemd/user/my-new-service.service` (using the name of the unit
  you're creating)

       [Unit]
       Description=foo

       [Service]
       ExecStart=/bin/bash -c "while true do; echo hi; done"

       [Install]
       WantedBy=default.target

3. enable it

       systemctl --user enable --now my-new-service.service

4. enable-linger for your user account

       loginctl enable-linger

this allows your user units to run even when you're not logged in.

done!

you can now use `systemctl --user` to manage your daemonized process.

pro-tip: add `alias sysu='systemctl --user'` to your shell's configuration
for a handy shortcut (or any other alias as you choose)

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