In NixOS, all system services are started and monitored using the systemd program. systemd is the init process of the system (i.e. PID 1), the parent of all other processes. It manages a set of so-called units, which can be things like system services (programs), but also mount points, swap files, devices, targets (groups of units) and more. Units can have complex dependencies; for instance, one unit can require that another unit must be successfully started before the first unit can be started. When the system boots, it starts a unit named default.target; the dependencies of this unit cause all system services to be started, file systems to be mounted, swap files to be activated, and so on.

The command systemctl is the main way to interact with systemd. The following paragraphs demonstrate ways to interact with any OS running systemd as init system. NixOS is of no exception. The next section explains NixOS specific things worth knowing. Without any arguments, systemctl the status of active units: $ systemctl -.mount loaded active mounted / swapfile.swap loaded active active /swapfile sshd.service loaded active running SSH Daemon graphical.target loaded active active Graphical Interface ... You can ask for detailed status information about a unit, for instance, the PostgreSQL database service: $ systemctl status postgresql.service postgresql.service - PostgreSQL Server Loaded: loaded (/nix/store/pn3q73mvh75gsrl8w7fdlfk3fq5qm5mw-unit/postgresql.service) Active: active (running) since Mon, 2013-01-07 15:55:57 CET; 9h ago Main PID: 2390 (postgres) CGroup: name=systemd:/system/postgresql.service ├─2390 postgres ├─2418 postgres: writer process ├─2419 postgres: wal writer process ├─2420 postgres: autovacuum launcher process ├─2421 postgres: stats collector process └─2498 postgres: zabbix zabbix [local] idle Jan 07 15:55:55 hagbard postgres[2394]: [1-1] LOG: database system was shut down at 2013-01-07 15:55:05 CET Jan 07 15:55:57 hagbard postgres[2390]: [1-1] LOG: database system is ready to accept connections Jan 07 15:55:57 hagbard postgres[2420]: [1-1] LOG: autovacuum launcher started Jan 07 15:55:57 hagbard systemd[1]: Started PostgreSQL Server. Note that this shows the status of the unit (active and running), all the processes belonging to the service, as well as the most recent log messages from the service. Units can be stopped, started or restarted: # systemctl stop postgresql.service # systemctl start postgresql.service # systemctl restart postgresql.service These operations are synchronous: they wait until the service has finished starting or stopping (or has failed). Starting a unit will cause the dependencies of that unit to be started as well (if necessary).

Packages in Nixpkgs sometimes provide systemd units with them, usually in e.g #pkg-out#/lib/systemd/. Putting such a package in environment.systemPackages doesn't make the service available to users or the system. In order to enable a systemd system service with provided upstream package, use (e.g): systemd.packages = [ pkgs.packagekit ]; Usually NixOS modules written by the community do the above, plus take care of other details. If a module was written for a service you are interested in, you'd probably need only to use services.#name#.enable = true;. These services are defined in Nixpkgs' nixos/modules/ directory . In case the service is simple enough, the above method should work, and start the service on boot. User systemd services on the other hand, should be treated differently. Given a package that has a systemd unit file at #pkg-out#/lib/systemd/user/, using will make you able to start the service via systemctl --user start, but it won't start automatically on login. However, You can imperatively enable it by adding the package's attribute to and then do this (e.g): $ mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user/default.target.wants $ ln -s /run/current-system/sw/lib/systemd/user/syncthing.service ~/.config/systemd/user/default.target.wants/ $ systemctl --user daemon-reload $ systemctl --user enable syncthing.service If you are interested in a timer file, use timers.target.wants instead of default.target.wants in the 1st and 2nd command. Using systemctl --user enable syncthing.service instead of the above, will work, but it'll use the absolute path of syncthing.service for the symlink, and this path is in /nix/store/.../lib/systemd/user/. Hence garbage collection will remove that file and you will wind up with a broken symlink in your systemd configuration, which in turn will not make the service / timer start on login.