HERD(1)

📦
version 1.0.9 · 3 versions
, in ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 HERD — like, the manual page, bestie 💖

okay so real talk: this is herd, a User Commands page, and it's the little command-line bestie you use to boss around the shepherd(1) service manager. yes THAT shepherd. the init system one. iconic behaviour honestly.

✨ NAME ✨

herd — control the shepherd(1) service manager 🐑💅

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

the whole vibe is:

herd [OPTIONS...] ACTION SERVICE [ARG...]

so you take an ACTION — like start, stop, status, whatever — and you apply it to a SERVICE, with any ARGs you wanna pass along. that's the whole thing. chef's kiss. 🫶

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

one bullet per flag, no skips, we do not gatekeep here:

  • --group=GROUP — run the given program as GROUP 💜
  • --user=USER — run the given program as USER 💜
  • -E, --environment-variable=ENVIRONMENT — pass along the environment variable that ENVIRONMENT names ✨
  • -d, --working-directory=DIRECTORY — run the service from DIRECTORY (this one's for the transient services, iykyk) 🦋
  • --log-file=FILE — dump the service output into FILE 📝
  • -N, --service-name=NAME — register a brand new service under NAME 👑
  • -n, --log-history=NUMBER — show up to NUMBER lines of service log, that's the limit, periodt 🔥
  • -s, --socket=FILE — send your commands over to FILE 🧚
  • --help — display this help and exit 🥰
  • --usage — display the short usage message and exit ⭐
  • --version — display version information and exit 🌈
lowkey important: mandatory or optional arguments to long options are also mandatory or optional to the corresponding short options. same energy, both directions. no cap. 💀

😭 REPORTING BUGS 😭

found a bug? do NOT suffer in silence, bestie. tell the devs:

Copyright © 2025 the Shepherd authors License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html

This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. like, none. zero. don't come for them. 🙈

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

the full documentation for herd is maintained as a Texinfo manual — the whole deep lore, not just the highlights reel. if the info and herd programs are properly installed at your site, this command

info shepherd

should give you access to the complete manual. go read it, it's giving encyclopedia but make it slay. 📚✨

and that's the whole page, babe — brought to you by GNU, dated February 2026, which is genuinely so soon it's basically tomorrow. bye bestie, go manage some services 💜🐑

📦 where this page comes from