Chapter 4. General Updates

This update introduces the SYSTEMD_COLORS environment variable for systemd, which enables turning on or off systemd color output. SYSTEMD_COLORS should be set to a valid boolean value. (BZ#1265749)

The systemd init system uses aliases. Aliases are symbolic links to the service files, and can be used in commands instead of the actual names of services. For example, the package providing the /usr/lib/systemd/system/nfs-server.service service file also provides an alias /usr/lib/systemd/system/nfs.service, which is a symbolic link to the nfs-server.service. This enables, for example, using the systemctl status nfs.service command instead of systemctl status nfs-server.service.

Previously, running the systemctl enable command using an alias instead of the real service name failed with an error. With this update, the bug is fixed, and systemctl enable successfully enables units referred to by their aliases. (BZ#1142378)

This update introduces the RandomizedDelaySec option for systemd timers, which schedules an event to occur later by a random number of seconds. For example, setting the option to 10 will postpone the event by a random number of seconds between 0 and 10. The new option is useful for spreading workload over a longer time period to avoid several events executing at the same time. (BZ#1305279)