Find failed systemd units fast and fix services with concrete commands. 16.11.2025 | reading time: 2 min When a service stops unexpectedly the admin needs a fast way to find it and start investigation; `systemctl --failed` lists units in the failed state so he can act immediately. See it happen Reproduce a failure quickly by running `sudo systemd-run --unit=broken /bin/sh -c 'exit 1'` then run `systemctl --failed` to see the transient broken.service listed as failed and use `journalctl -u broken.service --no-pager` to read the service log. Inspect and recover Check details with `systemctl status broken.service` read logs with `journalctl -u broken.service` clear bookkeeping with `sudo systemctl reset-failed broken.service` and attempt restart with `sudo systemctl start broken.service` so the admin can move from diagnosis to recovery. Filters and display tricks Use `systemctl list-units --state=failed --no-legend --no-pager` to get a compact view combine `--all` to include inactive units and pipe results to text tools so he can script alerts or integrate checks into monitoring. Related utilities Logs and deeper analysis come from `journalctl` for unit logs and `systemd-analyze` for boot timing add `systemctl mask` to prevent restart loops and `systemctl cat` to inspect unit files when chasing configuration errors. Where to go next Mastering failed units is a core troubleshooting skill and practicing the commands shown will pay off in real incidents; learn more about Linux and consider certification such as CompTIA Linux+ or LPIC-1 with intensive exam preparation at bitsandbytes.academy. Join Bits & Bytes Academy First class LINUX exam preparation. troubleshooting boot-process processes utilities
