Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

systemd VS Supervisor

Compare systemd VS Supervisor and see what are their differences

systemd logo systemd

systemd is a replacement for the init daemon for Linux (either System V or BSD-style).

Supervisor logo Supervisor

Supervisor is a client/server system that allows its users to monitor and control a number of...
  • systemd Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-03-24
  • Supervisor Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-29

systemd features and specs

  • Fast Boot Times
    systemd can significantly reduce boot times compared to traditional init systems due to its parallelization capabilities, dependency-based booting, and services starting only when needed.
  • Unified Management
    It provides a unified framework for service management across various Linux distributions, simplifying the administration tasks as most commands and configurations remain consistent.
  • Socket Activation
    Services can be started on-demand using socket activation, which can save resources by only starting services when actually needed.
  • Logging and Monitoring
    systemd integrates with journald for logging, providing a centralized and structured logging mechanism that makes it easier to track system events and diagnose problems.
  • Service Dependency Management
    By managing service dependencies, systemd ensures that services start in the correct order and can restart services that fail or get stopped unexpectedly.

Possible disadvantages of systemd

  • Complexity
    systemd is more complex than traditional init systems, which can make it more challenging to learn and troubleshoot, especially for newcomers or those accustomed to simpler systems.
  • Monolithic Design
    Critics argue that systemd attempts to do too much, integrating multiple components and functionalities under one umbrella, which goes against the UNIX philosophy of 'doing one thing and doing it well.'
  • Compatibility Issues
    Older scripts and software that rely on traditional init systems might face compatibility issues or require modifications to work with systemd.
  • Performance Overhead
    Although generally optimized for performance, the additional features and logging can lead to performance overhead compared to simpler init systems.
  • Community Division
    The adoption of systemd has been controversial, leading to divisions in some open-source communities, with some users and developers preferring alternatives like OpenRC or runit.

Supervisor features and specs

  • Ease of Installation and Configuration
    Supervisor is relatively simple to install and configure, even for those who may not have extensive background experience. The configuration files are straightforward, making it easier to manage processes.
  • Web-based UI
    It offers a web-based user interface to monitor and control processes, which can be a convenient way to visually manage operations without using the command line.
  • Process Management
    Supervisor allows users to start, stop, and restart processes programmatically and automatically, ensuring processes are running and are restarted if they unexpectedly stop.
  • Extensive Language and Application Support
    Supervisor works independently of the programming language or application, making it a versatile tool for managing a variety of applications and services.
  • Event Notification
    It provides an event notification system, allowing administrators to be notified of state changes or failures, thus improving responsiveness to operational issues.

Possible disadvantages of Supervisor

  • Python Dependency
    Supervisor requires Python to run, which might be a drawback in environments that do not use Python or have restrictions on adding new dependencies.
  • Limited Built-in Security Features
    By default, Supervisor does not include extensive security features for its web interface, which could be a concern in environments requiring robust security measures.
  • Single Host Management
    Supervisor is designed for process control on a single server, so it may not directly support distributed systems or environments requiring multi-host orchestration.
  • Lack of Built-in Process Dependency Management
    Supervisor does not handle dependencies between processes directly, which might necessitate additional scripting or configuration management to ensure proper start order.
  • Resource Intensive for Very Large Number of Processes
    Although generally efficient, managing a very large number of processes with Supervisor may become resource-intensive, which could impact performance.

systemd videos

Demystifying systemd

More videos:

  • Review - Archbang (systemd) Install & Review
  • Review - Review Devuan Linux - Un Debian Sin Systemd

Supervisor videos

Ups supervisor review why are so many hard hearted?

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to: Complete the Mid-Year Review (Supervisor)
  • Review - Convictions Get Supervisor Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to systemd and Supervisor)
Log Management
56 56%
44% 44
Monitoring Tools
55 55%
45% 45
Fintech
59 59%
41% 41
Performance Monitoring
57 57%
43% 43

User comments

Share your experience with using systemd and Supervisor. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Supervisor seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 28 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

systemd mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of systemd yet. Tracking of systemd recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Supervisor mentions (28)

  • Deploying a Simple Flask API Using Gunicorn, Supervisor & Nginx
    Supervisor: A process control system to ensure the Gunicorn server stays alive. - Source: dev.to / 3 days ago
  • Supervisor Guide for PHP Developers
    Supervisor is a powerful process control system widely used to manage background processes. As a PHP developer, you often need to handle long-running processes, queue workers, and other background tasks. Supervisor simplifies this by keeping processes running, restarting them if they fail, and providing easy monitoring and management. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Installing Supervisor On Amazon Linux 2023
    Amazon Linux 2023 stands as a reliable choice for developers and system administrators. However, users may face a hiccup: Supervisor, is absent from the default RPM packages. This omission poses a challenge for efficiently managing and monitoring processes on Amazon Linux instances. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • An Internet of PHP
    What I went with was having both a web server (Apache/Nginx) and PHP-FPM in the same container image, held together by Supervisor: http://supervisord.org/ In my case, the Dockerfile looks a bit like the following:
      # Whatever base web server image you want, Debian/Ubuntu based here.
    - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Private Python Packages With devpi
    As you can see there are several methods of running devpi server including cron, launchd (OSX service), nginx, Windows service, and supervisord. It also has a systemd service file which we can use to manage the service easily as Ubuntu uses it for primary service management. First off though we're going to need a proxy script to ensure that devpi is running in the virtual environment:. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing systemd and Supervisor, you can also consider the following products

runit - runit is a cross-platform Unix init scheme with service supervision, a replacement for sysvinit...

sysvinit - Savannah is a central point for development, distribution and maintenance of free software, both GNU and non-GNU.

M/Monit - Monit is a free open source utility for managing and monitoring, processes, files, directories and filesystems on a UNIX system. Monit conducts automatic maintenance and repair and can execute meaningful causal actions in error situations.

s6 - s6 is a small suite of programs for UNIX, designed for process supervision. It can be used as an init system, or as separate supervision components.

Dinit - Dinit is a service supervisor with dependency support which can also act as the system "init" program.

PM2 - Advanced, production process manager for Node.js