XK0-006 System Management Practice Question
A system administrator wants to ensure a service starts automatically at boot and also starts immediately without rebooting. Which of the following systemctl commands or command combinations achieve both goals? (Choose all that apply.)
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
systemctl start service && systemctl enable service
Both options C and D are correct. Option C uses two commands: 'systemctl start service' to start immediately and 'systemctl enable service' to enable boot-time start. Option D uses a single command 'systemctl enable --now service' which simultaneously enables the service for boot and starts it immediately. Options A and B are incorrect because A enables but doesn't start immediately (unless restart is used, which assumes already running), and B starts immediately but doesn't enable for boot.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
systemctl enable service && systemctl restart service
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: systemctl enable configures boot-time start, but systemctl restart only restarts if already running; it does not guarantee an immediate first start.
- ✗
systemctl start --now service
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: systemctl start --now is not a valid combination; the --now flag is used with enable, not start. This command would start the service but not enable it for future boots.
- ✓
systemctl start service && systemctl enable service
Why this is correct
Correct: This two-command sequence starts the service immediately and configures it to start at boot.
- ✓
systemctl enable --now service
Why this is correct
Correct: systemctl enable --now service is a valid systemctl command that both enables the service for boot and starts it immediately.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Process Management and System Monitoring
Key term
systemctl
systemctl is the command-line tool used to inspect, start, stop, enable, or disable services managed by the systemd init system in Linux.
Key term
Service
A service is a software component or system that performs a specific function and is available to be used by other programs or users over a network.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
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