systemctl vs service in Linux

TL;DR; both systemctl and service are used to manage services in Linux. systemctl is a newer command that was introduced with Systemd. You should prefer systemctl over service as it provides more advanced features.

What is a service?

A service is a program that runs in the background and performs a specific task. For example, the httpd service runs the Apache HTTP server, the mysqld service runs the MySQL database server, and the sshd service runs the OpenSSH server. To start, stop, or restart a service, you can use the systemctl or service command.

What is service command?

service is a legacy command that has been used in earlier versions of Linux to manage services. It is still available in many Linux distributions and can be used to start, stop, and restart services. For example, you might have used the following command to start, stop or restart the httpd service:

service httpd start
service httpd stop
service httpd restart

What is systemctl command?

systemctl is a newer command that was introduced with Systemd, which is a system and service manager that has become the default init system in many modern Linux distributions. It provides a more advanced way of managing services, including features like parallel startup of services, dependency-based startup, and service unit files. Above example can be rewritten using systemctl as follows:

systemctl start httpd
systemctl stop httpd
systemctl restart httpd

Which command should I use?

You should prefer systemctl over service as it provides more advanced features and is the relatively newer command. However, service is still available in many Linux distributions and can be used to start, stop, and restart services.