mkunit edit

Edit a unit file in your preferred editor.

mkunit edit <name> [flags]

Description

The edit command opens a unit file in your editor for manual modifications. After you save and close the editor, mkunit automatically runs daemon-reload to pick up the changes. Optionally, it can restart the service to apply changes immediately.

Arguments

Argument Description
<name> Name of the unit (with or without extension)

Flags

Flag Description Default
--system Edit a system unit (requires sudo) false
--restart Restart the unit after editing false
--no-reload Skip daemon-reload after editing false
--editor <path> Use this editor instead of $EDITOR $EDITOR

Editor Selection

mkunit uses the following order to determine which editor to use:

  1. --editor flag if provided
  2. $VISUAL environment variable
  3. $EDITOR environment variable
  4. nano (fallback)

Examples

Edit a user service

mkunit edit myapp

Edit and restart

mkunit edit myapp --restart

Edit a system service

sudo mkunit edit nginx --system --restart

Use a specific editor

mkunit edit myapp --editor vim

Edit a timer unit

mkunit edit backup.timer
Workflow

When you save the file, mkunit validates the syntax before running daemon-reload. If validation fails, you'll be prompted to fix the errors or discard changes.

See Also