[systemd-devel] "OnUnitInactiveSec Timer not firing" issue

[Mantas Mikulėnas]

On Mon, Jul 29, 2024 at 9:33 AM Windl, Ulrich <u.windl at ukr.de> wrote:

> Hi!
>
>
>
> I tried to use my first systemd timer, but failed: Either I don’t
> understand it correctly, or there is a bug in systemd (228 of SLES12 SP5):
>
> (See also https://unix.stackexchange.com/q/779714/320598)
>
>
>
> It seems it’s not enough to “enable” the timer, but also “start” it (well,
> it may seem logical from the systemd point of view, but from a cron user’s
> point of view enabling should be enough)
>

"Start" is the primary action in systemd. Starting a .service runs it;
starting a .mount mounts it; starting a .timer schedules it; starting a
.socket listens on it.


> Furthermore it seems to be necessary to run the service unit itself,  too
> (assuming it must be enabled also, right?)
>

No. The purpose of the timer is to start the service, so starting the
service manually (or "enabling" it, to be started on boot) would be
redundant.


> But the biggest thing is that systemd seems to lose the point-in-time of
> the last activation, so the timer won’t fire any more (e.g. after package
> upgrade when everything enabled would be re-enabled, and everything started
> would be re-started).
>
> But most of all if the system reboots, the timer also won’t fire any more.
>
>
>
> So can anybody explain how things should work?
>
>
>
> My expectation was that an OnUnitInactiveSec timer would fire immediately if it never ran, and then every day from that.
>
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Ulrich
>
>
>
>
>


-- 
Mantas Mikulėnas
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