Graphical interfaces for systemd

Conclusions

The graphical tools for systemd meet the most diverse demands and enormously facilitate the work with processes and services. Basic knowledge of systemd is enough for users to control their sessions. Users do not need to memorize cryptic parameters beforehand.

However, introductory documentation for explaining further options and configuration options beyond the mainly tabular unit lists is still missing from many of the fledgling projects. This shortcoming is particularly striking for Kcmsystemd. Here, you can configure everything down to the tiniest detail (as is usual with KDE), but the software should provide a better explanation of a few technical peculiarities of the Journald and Logind options.

The GTK-based applications Systemd System Manager and Systemd Manager are much more rudimentary compared to the Qt-based tools and are limited to basic administrative tasks. They are more suitable for occasionally disabling and enabling processes.

Cockpit, the interface used in the browser for admins, breaks character a little. It is intended less as an administration tool for local systems and instead simplifies and centralizes complete server management on the intranet. The tool offers very easy access to systemd on the respective servers and allows the admin to manage the init system's services and processes from every workstation.

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