What is the difference between systemd and Supervisor?

Yobi Bina Setiawan
28 Jan 2025 · DevOps

systemd and Supervisor are both tools used for process management, but they have different purposes and capabilities:

  1. systemd:

    • It is a system and service manager for Linux operating systems. It is designed to manage system services, daemons, and other processes during boot and runtime.
    • It replaces older init systems like SysVinit and Upstart.
    • systemd is highly integrated into the Linux system, controlling various system resources like networking, logging, and device management.
    • It provides features like service dependency management, parallel startup, and cgroup management for resource control.
    • systemd is used for managing system-wide services, starting them during boot, and handling shutdowns.
  2. Supervisor:

    • Supervisor is a process control system that focuses on managing user-defined processes, not the system services or the overall system startup.
    • It provides a way to keep your applications running by restarting them if they crash, logging output, and controlling the process state (start, stop, restart).
    • Supervisor is often used for managing individual applications or services in a development or production environment.
    • It is more lightweight than systemd and is often used in situations where you need to manage a few processes, not the entire system.

Key Differences:

  • Scope: systemd manages system-level processes and services, while Supervisor is more focused on managing user-level processes.
  • Integration: systemd is integrated deeply into the Linux OS for system boot and service management, whereas Supervisor is a separate tool often used alongside systemd or other init systems.
  • Features: systemd has broader functionality, including logging, resource management, and service dependencies. Supervisor is simpler and focused on ensuring specific processes run continuously.

In summary, if you need to manage system-level services, systemd is your choice. If you're looking to manage user-defined processes or applications, Supervisor is more suited for that purpose.