Open-Source -

Why Your systemd Service Stays “activating” After a Kernel Upgrade – A Step‑by‑Step Fix

Posted on September 6, 2026 | 3 minutes | 539 words | Robert Nilsson

Why a service can stay “activating” after a kernel upgrade

When you bump the kernel, systemd does a hard reset of almost everything.
If a unit you depend on never leaves the activating state, the rest of the boot can stall or the service simply never runs.
The usual suspect is a dependency on a kernel‑provided resource that is missing or delayed after the upgrade.

Below is a practical checklist that shows how to diagnose the issue, why it happens, and how to fix it without compromising security or stability.

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linux open-source

Taming the DNS Resolver: Mastering resolvectl for Faster and More Reliable Internet Connections

Posted on September 5, 2026 | 5 minutes | 951 words | Robert Nilsson

Why systemd‑resolved matters

On most modern distros the DNS stack is no longer a simple /etc/resolv.conf.
systemd‑resolved runs in the background, pulls DNS servers from every interface, does caching, validates with DNSSEC, and even acts as a local DNS‑over‑TLS (DoT) proxy.
resolvectl (now systemd-resolve in newer releases) is the CLI that lets you look inside this stack and tweak it without hunting through config files.

If you run a home lab, self‑hosted services, or just want a snappier, more reliable lookup, mastering resolvectl can shave milliseconds off each query and give you a clear view of what the resolver is actually doing.