How to List Services with systemctl in Linux

systemctl is the read-only listing layer for systemd services: which units are loaded in memory right now, which unit files are installed on disk, and whether each one is running, enabled, or failed. This page covers only those list and query commands. For start, stop, restart, enable, status, and daemon-reload, use the systemctl command cheat sheet.

Quick reference: systemctl service listing commands

Always add --type=service when you mean daemons. Without it, list-units also shows sockets, mounts, targets, and other unit types.

1. List all running and loaded services

systemctl list-units shows units currently loaded in systemd's memory — not every unit file on disk. By default it lists active units, units with pending jobs, and failed units. Add --all to include inactive loaded units too.

Restrict the list to service units:

systemctl list-units --type=service

The table has four columns that matter for day-to-day checks:

• LOAD — whether the unit definition was loaded (loaded, not-found, masked, …)
• ACTIVE — high-level activation (active, inactive, failed, …)
• SUB — fine-grained state (running, dead, exited, …)
• DESCRIPTION — text from the unit file

UNIT                                     LOAD   ACTIVE SUB     DESCRIPTION
  accounts-daemon.service                  loaded active running Accounts Service
  alsa-state.service                       loaded active running Manage Sound Card State (restore and store)
  atd.service                              loaded active running Deferred execution scheduler
  auditd.service                           loaded active running Security Audit Logging Service
  avahi-daemon.service                     loaded active running Avahi mDNS/DNS-SD Stack
  chronyd.service                          loaded active running NTP client/server
  colord.service                           loaded active running Manage, Install and Generate Color Profiles

On this lab host the command ends with a line such as 38 loaded units listed — that count is loaded service units matching the default filter, not every service on the system.

To include inactive loaded units (for example dead services that systemd has already parsed), add --all:

systemctl list-units --type=service --all

That widens the ACTIVE column to inactive and dead units while still showing only what is loaded in memory, not every file under /usr/lib/systemd/system.

2. List all installed service unit files

Installed unit files and their enablement state live in a separate view. systemctl list-unit-files walks unit files on disk and reports whether each one is enabled, disabled, static, masked, and so on.

systemctl list-unit-files --type=service

UNIT FILE                                             STATE           PRESET
accounts-daemon.service                               enabled         enabled
alsa-card-wait@.service                               static          -
alsa-restore.service                                  static          -
alsa-state.service                                    static          -
arp-ethers.service                                    disabled        disabled
atd.service                                           enabled         enabled
audit-rules.service                                   enabled         enabled

The footer on this host reports 329 unit files listed — far more than the list-units count because it includes service unit files available to systemd, including those not loaded right now.

3. List running services only

Runtime state filters apply to list-units, not list-unit-files. To print only services whose active state is running:

systemctl list-units --type=service --state=running

UNIT                       LOAD   ACTIVE SUB     DESCRIPTION
  accounts-daemon.service    loaded active running Accounts Service
  alsa-state.service         loaded active running Manage Sound Card State (restore and store)
  atd.service                loaded active running Deferred execution scheduler
  auditd.service             loaded active running Security Audit Logging Service
  avahi-daemon.service       loaded active running Avahi mDNS/DNS-SD Stack

Here the footer shows 38 loaded units listed on the lab VM — every row is active with SUB=running. That is the usual filter when you want a snapshot of live daemons, not unit files waiting on boot policy.

4. List enabled and disabled services

Enablement is a property of the unit file on disk. Use list-unit-files with --state=:

systemctl list-unit-files --type=service --state=enabled

UNIT FILE                          STATE   PRESET
accounts-daemon.service            enabled enabled
atd.service                        enabled enabled
audit-rules.service                enabled enabled
auditd.service                     enabled enabled
avahi-daemon.service               enabled enabled

The lab host lists 52 unit files in the enabled set. STATE is enablement; PRESET reflects distribution policy from systemd-preset when the package was installed.

Disabled unit files:

systemctl list-unit-files --type=service --state=disabled

UNIT FILE                                             STATE    PRESET
arp-ethers.service                                    disabled disabled
autofs.service                                        disabled disabled
blk-availability.service                              disabled disabled
brltty.service                                        disabled disabled
canberra-system-bootup.service                        disabled disabled

Combine states in one query with a comma-separated list:

systemctl list-unit-files --type=service --state=enabled,disabled

That returns 124 unit files listed here — enabled and disabled rows only, excluding static and other states.

5. List failed and inactive services

Failed units are a runtime state. List them with list-units:

systemctl list-units --type=service --state=failed

UNIT                               LOAD   ACTIVE SUB    DESCRIPTION
● NetworkManager-wait-online.service loaded failed failed Network Manager Wait Online

1 loaded units listed.

The bullet (●) marks a unit that needs attention. The same list appears from the shortcut:

systemctl --failed

Inactive loaded services — parsed but not running (often inactive (dead)):

systemctl list-units --type=service --state=inactive

UNIT                                   LOAD      ACTIVE   SUB  DESCRIPTION
  alsa-restore.service                   loaded    inactive dead Save/Restore Sound Card State
  audit-rules.service                    loaded    inactive dead Load Audit Rules
  auth-rpcgss-module.service             loaded    inactive dead Kernel Module supporting RPCSEC_GSS
● auto-cpufreq.service                   not-found inactive dead auto-cpufreq.service
  autofs.service                         loaded    inactive dead Automounts filesystems on demand

inactive is normal for oneshot or on-demand units between runs. failed means the last start attempt did not succeed — check journalctl -u unitname after you identify the unit here.

6. list-units vs list-unit-files

Both commands accept --type=service, but they answer different questions:

--state= values differ between the two subcommands. Run systemctl --state=help when you need the full vocabulary — load states such as masked, active states such as activating, and file states such as static and indirect.

7. Check one service: active, enabled, or failed

Listing every unit is noisy when you care about one daemon. is-active and is-enabled return a single word suitable for scripts and exit codes.

Check whether sshd is running:

systemctl is-active sshd

active

Check whether the unit is enabled:

systemctl is-enabled sshd

enabled

A unit can be enabled but inactive if nothing has started it yet, or active while static if another unit pulls it in. Compare both checks when troubleshooting.

For a missing unit name, is-active prints inactive or unknown and is-enabled may print not-found — as with postfix on this lab host where no unit file is installed:

systemctl is-active postfix

inactive

Enablement on a missing unit uses a different keyword:

systemctl is-enabled postfix

not-found

systemctl status sshd still shows the full picture (loaded, active, PID, recent log lines). This article stays on list-style queries; see the systemctl command cheat sheet for status and lifecycle actions.

8. Filter and script systemctl service output

Add a unit name pattern to narrow either list command:

systemctl list-units --type=service 'sshd*'

The same glob syntax applies to installed unit files when you are hunting package units such as PostgreSQL:

systemctl list-unit-files --type=service 'postgresql*'

Patterns follow systemd unit glob rules — the same style as systemctl status postgresql*.

For scripts, --no-legend --no-pager skips the column header, footer legend, and pager:

systemctl list-units --type=service --state=running --no-legend --no-pager

Pipe through awk to collect unit names only:

systemctl list-units --type=service --state=running --no-legend --no-pager | awk '{print $1}'

accounts-daemon.service
alsa-state.service
atd.service
auditd.service
avahi-daemon.service

The same pattern works on list-unit-files when you need enabled names:

systemctl list-unit-files --type=service --state=enabled --no-legend --no-pager | awk '{print $1}'

accounts-daemon.service
atd.service
audit-rules.service
auditd.service
avahi-daemon.service

Combine is-active / is-enabled in shell conditionals when you only need a pass-or-fail check for one unit.

Summary

Use systemctl list-units --type=service when you need loaded units and runtime state — running, inactive, or failed. Use systemctl list-unit-files --type=service when you need installed unit files and enablement — enabled, disabled, or static. The search phrases "list all services" and "list running services" map to those two commands with different --state= filters, not to one interchangeable invocation.

Keep the distinction in scripts: is-enabled reads disk policy; is-active reads the current process state. When a full table is too wide, add a name pattern, --no-legend --no-pager, and awk or grep to trim columns. For everything beyond listing — starting a daemon, enabling a unit, or reading a long status block — continue with the systemctl command cheat sheet and journalctl when failed units need log context.

References

• systemctl(1) — freedesktop.org
• systemd unit states