systemd Configuration

systemd reads its configuration from files in the following directories, in order of priority:

• $HOME/.config/systemd/: User specific systemd configuration entries.

• /etc/systemd/: System-wide systemd configuration customization.

• /run/systemd/: Runtime systemd configuration.

• /usr/lib/systemd: Base systemd configuration provided by packages.

Systemd configuration customization is stored in the /etc/systemd directory. For example, you could copy the /usr/lib/systemd/system.conf to /etc/systemd/system.conf file and edit it to control how systemd handles system initialization.

The systemd daemon starts services during the boot process by reading the symbolic link /etc/systemd/system/default.target. The following example shows the value of /etc/systemd/system/default.target on a system configured to boot to a multiuser mode without a graphical user interface, a target called multi-user.target:

sudo ls -l /etc/systemd/system/default.target

 /etc/systemd/system/default.target -> /usr/lib/systemd/system/multi-user.target 

Note:

You can use a kernel boot parameter to override the default system target. See Oracle Linux 8: Managing Kernels and System Boot for information about setting kernel boot parameters.