How to check whether a service is running or not on Linux Mint

Question

How do I check whether a service is running or not on Linux Mint?

If that service is not running, I need to start it.

I have tried using

service <service-name> status

But for some services it is not returning any results.

service --status-all is not of much use either as it has ? marks for some services.

Answer 1

In Linux Mint 16 and 17, by default you should be able to use a combination of sudo service <options> and sudo update-rc.d <options>.

For example, to get a list of services, try:

sudo service --status-all (as you said).

On the displayed list, + = started, - = stopped and ? is unknown.

To disable a listed service from starting at boot try:

sudo update-rc.d <service name> disable

To enable a service to start at boot:

sudo update-rc.d <service name> enable

There are many more options for update-rc.d, try man update-rc.d for details.

A service that has been disabled (or stopped) can be manually started with:

sudo service <service name> start

A service (started manually or at boot) can stopped with:

sudo service <service name> stop

Many services also have other options like restart and force-reload but all should have start and stop.

Answer 2

• update-rc.d - install and remove System-V style init script links

• sysv-rc-conf - Run-level configuration for SysV like init script links

sudo apt-get install sysv-rc-conf

sudo sysv-rc-conf

• top - display Linux processes

sudo apt-get install top

• bum Boot-Up Manager - Graphical runlevel configuration tool

Answer 3

There are two methods of starting and managing services in Ubuntu/Mint. The old System-V style init way and upstart.

Your service can either be managed by upstart or not. If you don't see it with service --status-all that means it is. To list services managed by upstart, use sudo initctl list. For more info, check the man pages for service and initctl.