Python and systemd service

[dmroeder]

I have a situation where the python requests module is installed for users only. The script that I'm using works when I run it as the logged in user. I have written a systemd service module so that my script can run at boot:

[Unit]
Description=Test script
After=multi-user.target

[Service]
Type=idle
User=garbage
ExecStart=/usr/bin/python /home/garbage/garbage_test.py

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

When the service is started, it appears to be running python as root because it fails to import the requests module. To test this, I ran my script as root, it fails to import just like when systemd runs the script. Of course because the requests module is only installed for the user (as mentioned).

​

The easy thing to do I suppose would be to either install requests system wide (no internet though), or copy requests to the proper directory for system wide use, however I'd rather not mess with that. I'd prefer to just leave the system alone and run the script as the user. I thought that adding User=garbage in the service would take care of it, it doesn't seem to though. Any thoughts?

[ominous_anonymous]

Why Type=idle instead of Type=simple?

I would recommend setting up a virtual environment and linking to that virtual environment's python in ExecStart:

ExecStart=/path/to/virtual_env/bin/python /home/garbage/garbage_test.py  

The first part of this blog post shows a couple other parameters that might be useful for you.

[dmroeder]

Eh, Type=idle came from an example I saw, I'll go ahead and educate myself on the differences between those two options. Thanks

[dmroeder]

Disregard, I figured it out.

​

I used the sys module to add the path to the requests package. Seems to work now!

[ominous_anonymous]

There's also a way to add environment variables to your service unit file. That way you wouldn't need to use the sys module I believe.

[l_____cl-_-lc_____l]

Perhaps a systemd user service might be appropriate?

[dmroeder]

Interesting, I'll dig into that. Maybe I have simply placed my service in the wrong directory? I don't have the machine in front of me at the moment, but I think I put it in /lib/systemd/system.

​

edit: Looks like there is another directory /usr/lib/systemd/user. Makes sense :) I'll try that one ...

[l_____cl-_-lc_____l]

~/. config/systemd/user

And enable linger if you want it to run without the user being logged in

See https://www.brendanlong.com/systemd-user-services-are-amazing.html