Featured AI Products
Compute
Build, deploy, and scale cloud compute resources
Containers and Images
Safely store and manage containers and backups
Managed Databases
Fully managed resources running popular database engines
Management and Dev Tools
Control infrastructure and gather insights
Networking
Secure and control traffic to apps
Security
Help protect your account and resources with these security features
Storage
Store and access any amount of data reliably in the cloud
Browse all products
AI/ML
CMS
Data and IoT
Developer Tools
Gaming and Media
Hosting
Security and Networking
Startups and SMBs
Web and App Platforms
See all solutions
Community
Documentation
Developer Tools
Get Involved
Utilities and Help
Become a Partner
Marketplace
Pricing

- Community
- DigitalOcean
- Community
- DigitalOcean

Trying to change WorkingDirectory of Systemd Service Unit

Posted on February 16, 2017

I make a simple shell script that opens gnome-text-editor named lauchscript.sh, in directory /home/pi/:

! /bin/sh
gnome-text-editor

And changed service file to:

#!/bin/sh -
[Unit]
Description=ATF Grafic Console

[Service]

WorkingDirectory=/home/pi
ExecStart=launchscript.sh

#ExecStart=-/RaspberryPi/ConsolaGrafica
Restart=always

#StandardOutput=syslogConsola               # Output to syslog
#StandardError=syslogConsola                # Output to syslog

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Again I try run this service, and report the same error… ExecStart= needs to have full path, but in my app i need to run in other path like this example…

This textbox defaults to using Markdown to format your answer.

You can type !ref in this text area to quickly search our full set of tutorials, documentation & marketplace offerings and insert the link!

These answers are provided by our Community. If you find them useful, show some love by clicking the heart. If you run into issues leave a comment, or add your own answer to help others.

arssuresh25

February 13, 2019

Thank you @kamaln7 and @rubengr

Kamal Nasser

February 5, 2018

ExecStart requires an absolute path, so you will have to replace it with:

WorkingDirectory=/home/pi
ExecStart=/home/pi/launchscript.sh

KFSys

June 30, 2024

To correctly change the working directory of a systemd service unit and ensure the ExecStart directive works as intended, you need to follow these steps:

Specify the full path for ExecStart: Systemd requires that the ExecStart directive contains the full path to the executable.
Ensure the script is executable: Make sure your script has the appropriate permissions.

Here’s how you can modify your service unit file:

Modify the launchscript.sh:
- Ensure it has the correct shebang line.
- Make it executable.

#!/bin/sh
gnome-text-editor

Make it executable:

chmod +x /home/pi/launchscript.sh

Update the service unit file:

Provide the full path for ExecStart.
Optionally, ensure that the working directory is correctly set.

Example service unit file (/etc/systemd/system/your_service_name.service):

[Unit]
Description=ATF Grafic Console

[Service]
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi
ExecStart=/home/pi/launchscript.sh
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Reload the systemd daemon: After creating or modifying the service file, you need to reload the systemd daemon to apply the changes.

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Start the service: Start and enable the service to ensure it runs on boot.\

sudo systemctl start your_service_name
sudo systemctl enable your_service_name

The developer cloud

Scale up as you grow — whether you're running one virtual machine or ten thousand.

View all products

Start building today

From GPU-powered inference and Kubernetes to managed databases and storage, get everything you need to build, scale, and deploy intelligent applications.