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Service Troubleshooting: Bad Unit Directive
MediumRHCSA Prep20-25 minThe brief
A service refuses to start. The journal shows systemd can't set up the service user — the unit's User= names an account that doesn't exist. Your per-session assignment is in /root/case/assignment.env (SERVICE, RUN_USER = the correct service account, which already exists on the box). Read /root/case/service.log, correct the User= directive in the unit, and enable the service. Grading reads the unit file + enablement symlink (systemd isn't PID 1 on a lab box, so the durable on-disk config is graded, not a running service).
What you'll do
- Read the journal to find why the service can't start
- Fix the User= directive to the correct, existing account
- Enable the service so it starts on boot
Hands-on lab: you work on a real Linux box in your browser, graded on the machine's actual state.
