RHEL/CentOS 7: Problem with systemctl --root= option

imperialguy · 01-17-2019, 06:30 AM

It is my understanding that --root= option in systemctl command is used to explicitly specify an alternate root path to find the service unit files.

On RHEL/CentOS 7, the following error occurs when attempting to use the above mentioned systemctl option:

Code:

[root@server-02 system]# systemctl --root=/myservices/mds start xyz.service
Failed to get D-Bus connection: Operation not permitted

Please note that the above command is run as root.

So, the idea behind the above command is that I am telling systemctl to find the service called xyz.service in the path /myservices/mds, as opposed to the default search paths like /etc/systemd/system or /run/systemd/system

Any idea why this is not working? If --root is not going to work, is there any other way to specify a custom search path?

Would really appreciate the help.

syg00 · 01-17-2019, 06:41 AM

The message tells why it is not working. Try sudo.

imperialguy · 01-17-2019, 07:00 AM

@syg00 I am running the command as root

berndbausch · 01-17-2019, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by imperialguy

@syg00 I am running the command as root

Then remove the sudo. It might remove some environment variables that are required for this to work (just guessing).

EDIT: From the man page:

Code:

--root=

    When used with enable/disable/is-enabled (and related commands), 
    use the specified root path when looking for unit files. 
    If this option is present, systemctl will operate on the file system 
    directly, instead of communicating with the systemd daemon to carry out
    changes.

It says nothing about starting a service.

imperialguy · 01-17-2019, 07:08 AM

@berndbausch Still doesn't work

imperialguy · 01-17-2019, 07:13 AM

Now I am getting this:

Code:

[root@server-02 ~]# systemctl --root=/myservices/mds enable xyz.service
Operation failed: No such file or directory