service Command - Run a System V Init Script

The service command is used to run System V init scripts. It is commonly used to start, stop, restart, and check the status of system services on older Linux distributions or those not using systemd.

Syntax

service [service] [command]

Examples

sudo service ssh restart

sudo service apache2 status

Notes

• service is mainly used on SysVinit-based systems; on systemd systems, use systemctl instead.
• Requires root privileges for most operations.
• For more options, see service --help or the man page.