Red Hat / CentOS: Check / List Running Services

by Vivek Gite on January 14, 2009 · 11 comments

Q. How do I list all currently running services in Fedora / RHEL / CentOS Linux server?

A. There are various ways and tools to find and list all running services under Fedora / RHEL / CentOS Linux systems.

service command - list running services

service --status-all service --status-all | grep ntpd service --status-all | less

Print the status of any service

To print the status of apache (httpd) service:
service httpd status

List all known services (configured via SysV)

chkconfig --list

List service and their open ports

netstat -tulpn

Turn on / off service

ntsysv chkconfig service off chkconfig service on chkconfig httpd off chkconfig ntpd on
ntsysv is a simple interface for configuring runlevel services which are also configurable through chkconfig. By default, it configures the current runlevel. Just type ntsysv and select service you want to run:

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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }

1 sankar January 22, 2009: it is help to view port status and services
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2 Diabolic Preacher January 23, 2009: would these work on a ubuntu-server install? i would really have some use for commands to list running services.
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3 Vivek Gite January 23, 2009: Yes, it should work – if you have sysvconfig package installed.
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4 Diabolic Preacher January 24, 2009: thanks vivek, am hoping its already installed coz on a server you definitely wanna check on services.
but isn’t it like ubuntu doesn’t follow the SysV model, especially in terms of the init system but has its own upstart something?
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5 anderson July 1, 2009: service httpd mysqld tomcat5 start/stop/restart/status
chkconfig service on/off
netstat -tulpn
ntsysv gui
service service start is different from chkconfig , when the server is rebooted , service start will not work .
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6 Scott July 5, 2009: In debian/ubuntu, install sysv-rc-conf and sysvinit-utils. That’s the first thing I do on any .deb box. These should be default with debian and ubuntu installs, IMO.
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7 dragmore January 5, 2010: I would love an article discribing all the “default” services in a Centos 5.x installation and which to keep for performance and secrutiy and which to turn off. Basically discribing the more common ones.
When i list with ntsysv i see a ton i have no clue what really does ;)
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8 thiyagi December 23, 2010: thanks, that was really useful..
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9 chanvoeu February 9, 2011: Dear sir!
Right now i have some question about Centos.
i can not configure some main service dns, apache …
please you help me!!!
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10 toto March 7, 2011: nice information. thank you
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11 chapise November 24, 2011: :D thank you so much dude,
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