Most Linux distributions - including Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, and Arch - use systemd as their default init system. However, there are several notable non-systemd distributions as well. This difference can become a problem when you're following a tutorial or guide that assumes you're using systemd. Commands and services may behave differently - or not exist at all - if your system uses an alternative init system. This tutorial provides 2 methods how to check if Linux system uses systemd.
Method 1 - readlink command
To find out whether the system is using systemd, simply run the following command:
readlink /sbin/init
The readlink
command directly shows where /sbin/init
points. If you see systemd
in the path, then the system uses it.
Output example:
/lib/systemd/systemd
Method 2 - ls command
You can also extract the symlink target using ls -l
combined with awk
to print the destination:
ls -l /sbin/init | awk '{print $NF}'
Again, the presence of systemd
in the output confirms it's in use.
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