DEB-SYSTEMD-HELPER(1p)

📦
version 1.69 · 6 versions
, in ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ DEB-SYSTEMD-HELPER ✨

okay bestie, so this is deb-systemd-helper(1p) — like, the manual page for it, from the init-system-helpers package. it's giving "systemctl's chill little cousin" and honestly? we're obsessed. 💅

🦋 NAME 🦋

deb-systemd-helper — a subset of systemctl for machines that are not running systemd, no cap.

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

deb-systemd-helper enable | disable | purge | mask | unmask | is-enabled
| was-enabled | debian-installed | update-state | reenable unit file ...

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

deb-systemd-helper is a Debian-specific helper script that re-implements the enable, disable, is-enabled and reenable commands from systemctl. like, it's a whole reimagining. main character energy, but make it Debian. 🫶

the enable action is only ever performed once — specifically when the package is first installed. on that first enable, a state file gets created, and that state file gets deleted when you purge. so, one and done, bestie. ✨

the mask action keeps state on whether the service was enabled or disabled before you masked it, and will properly return to that exact state on unmask. it remembers. it's a good friend like that. 🥹

the was-enabled action? not present in systemctl at all. but Debian needs it so we can figure out whether a service was enabled before we installed an updated service file. the receipts are at http://bugs.debian.org/717603 if you want the full lore. 🔍

the debian-installed action is also not present in systemctl. it returns 0 if the state file of at least one of the given units is present.

the update-state action is also not present in systemctl. it updates deb-systemd-helper's state file — removing obsolete entries (like service files that the package no longer ships) and adding new entries (like new service files the package ships) without enabling them. glow up, but respectfully. 💅

fr fr though: deb-systemd-helper is intended to be used from maintscripts to enable systemd unit files. it is specifically NOT intended to be used interactively by users. so don't be out here just running it for fun. instead, users should run systemd and use systemctl, or just not bother about the systemd enabled state at all if they aren't running systemd. iykyk. 🧚

🌸 ENVIRONMENT 🌸

  • _DEB_SYSTEMD_HELPER_DEBUG — if you export _DEB_SYSTEMD_HELPER_DEBUG=1, deb-systemd-helper will print debug messages to stderr (which means they're visible in dpkg runs). please include these when filing a bugreport, bestie, we literally need them. 🙏
  • DPKG_ROOT — instead of working on the filesystem root /, perform all operations on a chroot system in the directory given by DPKG_ROOT. so you can vibe in a whole other root, iconic. 🌈

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Michael Stapelberg <stapelberg@debian.org>

and that's the whole page, periodt 💜 this was deb-systemd-helper(1p), version 1.69, dated 2025-08-15, living its best life inside init-system-helpers. mwah, bye bestie 🎀✨

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