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Managing systemd Targets in CentOS
Changing `systemd` targets isn't something that will come up too often, but knowing how to manipulate and understand a target unit file can be a useful skill. In this lab, we practice with `systemd` targets without risking a production failure.

Lab Info
Table of Contents
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Challenge
Verify the Default Target
First we need to see what the current default target is. We can do that by running:
systemctl get-default
Since
graphical.target
isn't what we need, let's set it to what it should be and then make sure we're in that target.systemctl set-default multi-user.target
systemctl isolate multi-user.target
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Challenge
Create `custom.target`
Since this is a new server in your environment, you need to make sure
custom.target
is set up.Navigate to
/etc/systemd/system
and create a file that looks like this:[Unit] Description=Custom Target Documentation=man:systemd.special(7) Requires=basic.target Wants=httpd.service Conflicts=rescue.service rescue.target After=basic.target rescue.service rescue.target AllowIsolate=yes
Once that is done, you should be able to run
systemctl isolate custom.target
. Check to see ifhttpd
is running after the isolate — if it's not, you might need to install it and run theisolate
again to verify your configuration is correct.
About the author
Real skill practice before real-world application
Hands-on Labs are real environments created by industry experts to help you learn. These environments help you gain knowledge and experience, practice without compromising your system, test without risk, destroy without fear, and let you learn from your mistakes. Hands-on Labs: practice your skills before delivering in the real world.
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