service

Run a SysV init script / systemctl wrapper

medium risk

interactive breakdown — edit the command and press Explain

$

⚠ Risks & cautions

Restart drops active connections — reload if supported.
Stopping sshd, networking or firewalls on a remote host can lock you out.

What it does

`service name action` is a compatibility wrapper; on systemd it calls systemctl.

Examples

service nginx statusCheck status · explain & risk-check →

service nginx restartRestart a service · explain & risk-check →

Related

systemctl journalctl

Open the full explainer →More in System & Processes

Reference text is hand-written and may be incomplete — check man service for your version. Test destructive commands on a non-production system first.