Amazon Linux v 2.0 does support systemd and comes installed by default:
cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Amazon Linux"
VERSION="2.0 (2017.12)"
ID="amzn"
ID_LIKE="centos rhel fedora"
VERSION_ID="2.0"
PRETTY_NAME="Amazon Linux 2.0 (2017.12) LTS Release Candidate"
ANSI_COLOR="0;33"
CPE_NAME="cpe:2.3:o:amazon:amazon_linux:2.0"
HOME_URL="https://amazonlinux.com/"
rpm -qa | grep -i systemd
systemd-libs-219-42.amzn2.4.x86_64
systemd-219-42.amzn2.4.x86_64
systemd-sysv-219-42.amzn2.4.x86_64`
Top answer 1 of 7
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Amazon Linux v 2.0 does support systemd and comes installed by default:
cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Amazon Linux"
VERSION="2.0 (2017.12)"
ID="amzn"
ID_LIKE="centos rhel fedora"
VERSION_ID="2.0"
PRETTY_NAME="Amazon Linux 2.0 (2017.12) LTS Release Candidate"
ANSI_COLOR="0;33"
CPE_NAME="cpe:2.3:o:amazon:amazon_linux:2.0"
HOME_URL="https://amazonlinux.com/"
rpm -qa | grep -i systemd
systemd-libs-219-42.amzn2.4.x86_64
systemd-219-42.amzn2.4.x86_64
systemd-sysv-219-42.amzn2.4.x86_64`
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sadly that only amazon linux v2 support systemd. Amazon linux v1.0 does not https://aws.amazon.com/amazon-linux-2/
Amazon Web Services
aws.amazon.com › compute › amazon linux 2 › faqs
Amazon Linux 2 FAQs
2 weeks ago - A Linux kernel tuned for performance on Amazon EC2. A set of core packages including systemd, GCC 7.3, Glibc 2.26, Binutils 2.29.1 that receive Long Term Support (LTS) from AWS.
centos - No package systemd available on Amazon linux EC2 - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange
I am using AWS Linux machine to host Web API application. I need to make my application keep on run, so that i need systemd has to be installed on my linux machine.I tried sudo yum install systemd ... More on unix.stackexchange.com
Have the Amazon Linux AMI's Switched to Systemd?
The Release Notes for the Amazon Linux AMI are listed here, https://aws.amazon.com/amazon-linux-ami/ . As of the most current release (2016.03), systemd is still not there. More on reddit.com
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September 13, 2016When using Amazon AMI for Linux, should I use systemd or sysv init files for creating a service for my Java based app?
Amazon Linux AMI use sysv. The new Amazon Linux 2 will use systemd, but I don't think it's GA yet. More on reddit.com
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May 14, 2018How to update systemd to version >219 on Amazon Linux 2
I have an EC2 running Amazon Linux 2 with systemd version 219 installed. I want to update to newer version but after using sudo yum update systemd, the answer is "No packages marked for update". Is... More on repost.aws
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April 11, 2023 Top answer 1 of 2
41
- First check what Amazon linux version you have runnng on using the
command
cat /etc/os-release- If it is Amazon Linux Version 2, then it does support systemd and comes installed by default.
- If it is Amazon linux version 1, then it doesn't support cause Amazon Linux is ultimately based on an old version of CentOS/RHEL.
if it is version 1 (amazon linux), you just need to switch to any other linux distribution that supports systemd. You can't yum install systemd like a package
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sudo service nginx status
just use the service command
In earlier versions of RHEL use the service command as explained in the documentation here.
# service service_name start
Therefore, in your case:
# service iptables start
You can replace start with restart, stop, status.
List all services with:
# service --status-all
GitHub
github.com › robertdebock › docker-amazonlinux-systemd
GitHub - robertdebock/docker-amazonlinux-systemd: Container to test Ansible roles in, including capabilities to use systemd facilities · GitHub
This Dockerfile can build containers capable to use systemd. This repository has multiple branches that relate to amazonlinux versions.
Author robertdebock
Reddit
reddit.com › r/aws › have the amazon linux ami's switched to systemd?
r/aws on Reddit: Have the Amazon Linux AMI's Switched to Systemd?
September 13, 2016 -
Curious if the Amazon AMI's I was using back in 2014/2015 have migrated to systemd from initd? I recall them specifically keeping their AMI on initd specifically but wondering if things have changed. Is there a wiki where I can read up on the official Amazon AMI changes and updates?
Top answer 1 of 3
6
The Release Notes for the Amazon Linux AMI are listed here, https://aws.amazon.com/amazon-linux-ami/ . As of the most current release (2016.03), systemd is still not there.
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1
FWIW, I just launched a new instance with the latest Amazon Linux AMI. It doesn't have systemd available and as a result some packages fail to install.
AWS
docs.aws.amazon.com › amazon linux 2 › release notes › amazon linux 2 release notes › amazon linux 2 release notes for 2020 and earlier › amazon linux 2 release notes
Amazon Linux 2 release notes - Amazon Linux 2
Amazon Linux 2 uses the systemd 219 init system to bootstrap userspace and manage system processes. This is available as /sbin/init and replaces the System V-style init system that was available in the previous generation of Amazon Linux. Do not put initscripts sin /etc/init.d.
AWS
docs.aws.amazon.com › amazon linux › user guide › what is amazon linux 2023? › networking service
Networking service - Amazon Linux 2023
May 22, 2026 - Learn about the capabilities of the systemd-networkd project that's available in Amazon Linux distributions.
AWS
docs.aws.amazon.com › amazon linux › user guide › running applications on al2023 › limiting process resource usage in al2023 using systemd
Limiting process resource usage in AL2023 using systemd - Amazon Linux 2023
Using systemd is a powerful and easy to use replacement for either manipulating cgroups manually, or using utilities such as cpulimit, which was previously only available for Amazon Linux in the third party EPEL repository.
Medium
medium.com › @jbornhoft › upgrading-systemd-on-amazon-linux-2-70c7532b6580
Upgrading systemd on Amazon Linux 2 | by Jason Bornhoft | Medium
January 18, 2023 - How to upgrade systemd on Amazon Linux 2 to the latest version
Reddit
reddit.com › r/aws › when using amazon ami for linux, should i use systemd or sysv init files for creating a service for my java based app?
r/aws on Reddit: When using Amazon AMI for Linux, should I use systemd or sysv init files for creating a service for my Java based app?
May 14, 2018 -
Any canonical examples for creating custom services? Googling shows this.
GitHub
github.com › compwright › amazonlinux-2023-systemd
GitHub - compwright/amazonlinux-2023-systemd
Running systemd inside docker has historically been very difficult to nearly impossible. However, this has become substantially easier in recent years due to advances in Docker, the Linux kernel, systemd, and distros that use them—such as Amazon Linux 2023 (loosely based on Fedora).
Author compwright
AWS
docs.aws.amazon.com › amazon linux › user guide › comparing al2 and al2023 › systemd journal replaces rsyslog
systemd journal replaces rsyslog - Amazon Linux 2023
May 22, 2026 - In AL2023 the logging system package has changed from AL2. AL2023 doesn't install rsyslog by default, so the text based log files such as /var/log/messages that were available in AL2 aren't available by default. The default configuration for AL2023 is
Amazon Web Services
aws.amazon.com › compute › amazon linux 2 › features
Amazon Linux 2 Features
April 29, 2026 - Amazon Linux 2 includes the widely adopted systemd init system which is used to bootstrap the user space as well as manage system processes.
AWS
aws.amazon.com › blogs › aws › amazon-linux-2-modern-stable-and-enterprise-friendly
Amazon Linux 2 – Modern, Stable, and Enterprise-Friendly | Amazon Web Services
November 3, 2022 - The Amazon Linux Extras Library eliminates the age-old tradeoff between OS stability and access to fresh software. It contains open source databases, languages, and more, each packaged together with any needed dependencies. Tuned Kernel – You have access to the latest 4.9 LTS kernel, with support for the latest EC2 features and tuned to run efficiently in AWS and other virtualized environments. Systemd ...
Stack Overflow
stackoverflow.com › questions › 75752322 › why-is-systemd-service-failing-on-aws-amazon-linux-2
Why is systemd service failing on AWS Amazon Linux 2? - Stack Overflow
sudo chmod 644 /etc/systemd/system/portfolio-v3.service sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable portfolio-v3.service sudo systemctl start portfolio-v3.service
Tenable
tenable.com › plugins › nessus › 173905
Amazon Linux 2 : systemd (ALAS-2023-2004)<!-- --> | Tenable®
The remote Amazon Linux 2 host is missing a security update. The version of systemd installed on the remote host is prior to 219-78. It is, therefore, affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the ALAS2-2023-2004 advisory. systemd before 247 does not adequately block local privilege escalation for some Sudo configurations, e.g., plausible sudoers files in which the systemctl status command may be executed.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/aws › amazon linux support systemd?
r/aws on Reddit: Amazon Linux Support Systemd?
February 15, 2015 -
Looking to see if the official latest Amazon Linux AMI supports systemd w/o me having to remove / alter the default OS config from launch.