Book Image

Linux Service Management Made Easy with systemd

4 (1)
Book Image

Linux Service Management Made Easy with systemd

4 (1)

Overview of this book

Linux Service Management Made Easy with systemd will provide you with an in-depth understanding of systemd, so that you can set up your servers securely and efficiently.This is a comprehensive guide for Linux administrators that will help you get the best of systemd, starting with an explanation of the fundamentals of systemd management.You’ll also learn how to edit and create your own systemd units, which will be particularly helpful if you need to create custom services or timers and add features or security to an existing service. Next, you'll find out how to analyze and fix boot-up challenges and set system parameters. An overview of cgroups that'll help you control system resource usage for both processes and users will also be covered, alongside a practical demonstration on how cgroups are structured, spotting the differences between cgroups Version 1 and 2, and how to set resource limits on both. Finally, you'll learn about the systemd way of performing time-keeping, networking, logging, and login management. You'll discover how to configure servers accurately and gather system information to analyze system security and performance. By the end of this Linux book, you’ll be able to efficiently manage all aspects of a server running the systemd init system.
Table of Contents (23 chapters)
1
Section 1: Using systemd
12
Section 2: Understanding cgroups
16
Section 3: Logging, Timekeeping, Networking, and Booting

Chapter 17: Understanding systemd and Bootloaders

A bootloader is necessary for any operating system, including Linux. In this chapter, we'll look at the GRUB2 and systemd-boot bootloaders, and we'll discuss the differences between them. Becoming familiar with the material in this chapter can help you choose which bootloader is best suited for your needs, and to troubleshoot things that might go wrong.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

  • Understanding the basic computer architecture
  • Understanding GRUB2
  • Understanding systemd-boot
  • Understanding Secure Boot

Note that there are several different bootloaders in use, some of which are specific to embedded and IoT devices. In this chapter, we'll only concentrate on GRUB2 and systemd-boot, which are used on servers and normal workstations.

Now, let's get started!