Services

The OS's service manager, one live palette: systemd units on Linux, launchd jobs on macOS. What it lists depends on the platform; on both the rows are listed again when the panel shows once they are older than ttl, and cmd+r lists now. The backend is picked from the platform (PAL_SERVICES_BACKEND=systemd|launchd forces one; the tests run both on one machine against fake binaries).

Linux: systemd

Filters: User (systemctl --user), System, Failed and Running (the last two span both managers, in a User and a System section). The row is the unit without .service, its description the subtitle; on the right the unit file's state (enabled, disabled; nothing for static, generated and transient units) and a tag with the active state: the sub state alone when active (running, exited, green), active/sub otherwise (inactive/dead grey, failed/failed red, activating amber). Units are what list-units --all has loaded, then the unit files it has not (a disabled service that never ran), inactive and without a description; templates, masked and alias files are skipped. An instance (app-foo@autostart.service) shows its template's enabled state. The detail pane lists the unit, its scope, the load and active states and the unit file's state.

A system unit's Stop, Restart and Disable ask first (a user unit's too with confirm_user). A system verb runs as systemctl --no-ask-password <verb>; when that is refused for want of authentication it is tried through sudo -n (a credential window opened by sudo -v in a terminal), then pkexec (a polkit agent's prompt, when one is running). When none is allowed the panel stays open with a toast quoting all three refusals. A verb still running after 8 s (a stop waiting on TimeoutStopSec, a polkit prompt) goes on without the panel; cmd+r shows the outcome. A journalctl for a system unit shows what your user may read.

macOS: launchd

Filters: Agents (the plists in the agent_dirs folders, one section per folder), Loaded (everything launchctl list knows, sorted; the application.* jobs of running apps skipped) and Running (those with a pid). The row is the label, the program from the plist (its Program, or the first ProgramArguments entry) the subtitle, and on the right the pid and a tag: running (green), loaded (blue, no process right now), exit N (red, the last exit was not 0), not loaded (grey, a plist launchd has not been given). A binary plist is read through plutil.

Keyboard

Linux:

macOS:

Setup

Nothing to install: systemctl and journalctl on Linux, launchctl and plutil on macOS are the OS's own. For system units on Linux, either an open sudo window (sudo -v in a terminal) or a running polkit agent lets a verb through; without both, the toast says what was refused.

Settings, [extensions.services]:

What it does not do

• Ask for a password itself: the host has no way to; a system verb goes through sudo -n or pkexec and needs one of them to be allowed.
• Edit a unit or a plist: Open plist file hands it to the default app.
• Timers, sockets, mounts: on Linux only .service units are listed; on macOS launch daemons (/Library/LaunchDaemons, root's) are not.
• Follow logs: Logs is a snapshot of the last 200 lines.

Platforms

Both, with a different backend each: systemd on Linux, launchd on macOS. The filters, the tags and the verbs are the backend's own, as above.