I started down this path because I won't always be able to physically access the server and I don't want the -R port to stop working, as it is the only way I can access the system to do anything, as it is behind a firewall.

If I just ran the ssh port forward in the background, I could get the famouns "pipe broken" error.  I was  hoping systemd would restart if this happened.  I don't think it will, but I'll have to wait and see.

I have the Restart=on-failure.  With Restart=always, it wouldn't run and seemed to be restarting a lot.  But, I didn't see any restart limit errors in the logs, so I'm not exactly sure what was up.

Perhaps I'll look into the watchdog feature.  I don't think this will get me anything though, since systemctl status thinks everything is fine and I have no reason to believe it wouldn't keep sending the necessary signal.

I'm thinking I'll have to implement my own watchdog feature, which is what I was hoping to avoid.

I had a lot of issues.  I attributed these to systemd.  Really, I think it was ssh.  But it does seem that systemd is complex and might be a bit fragile.  Lots of logging was generated but not visible.  Gemini/Google suggest that these kind of "terminal configuration" issues can cause that problem.  When things get fixed, the log entries are there, but it's not optimal.


On Tue, Nov 25, 2025 at 08:37:52PM -0800, Gary wrote:
> Perhaps, but it seems to work intermittently and unpredictably.  I looked for contention on the port, but couldn't find any.
>
> ....So, I rebooted the client and restarted the systemd unit/service on the server and everything works.  Interestingly systemctl status for the unit showed that everything was OK before the restart, but nothing worked.
>
> During the course of all this I learned, what is perhaps obvious, that SSH does a lot of things at the terminal config level.  If something in SSH terminates at an unexpected point, things can be messed up.  Reset should fix this, but apparently not.
>
> That's my story and I'm sticking to it LOL.
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 25, 2025 at 06:23:03PM -0700, Linus Sphinx wrote:
> > It's always permissions. B-)
> >
> > On Tue, Nov 25, 2025 at 3:27 PM Gary <saclug@garymcglinn.com> wrote:
> >
> > > So, I've put some more time into this.  After learning a lot, I got my ssh
> > > -g -R  port to connect using the systemd user unit.  But, when I try to use
> > > the port, the connection is made, but hangs before the password prompt.  I
> > > see lots of examples that look just like what I am doing that apparently
> > > work fine LOL.
> > >
> > > I was just at the system I want to connect to, after my most recent
> > > changes, and ssh to my remote system and could connect back using -p xxx
> > > localhost.  So the tunnel worked, at least once.
> > >
> > > Now, I'm at the remote system.  I try ssh -pxxx localhost, and it just
> > > hangs after the client sends the banner. I think this is same as before.
> > >
> > > So, when I run my ExecStart command from the command line, it works.  But
> > > when running it inside a systemd unit, I have this issue.
> > >
> > > It can't be firewall.  It can't be network or DNS vs. straight IP.  It
> > > can't be almost anything except systemd.  But there is nothing in the logs.
> > >
> > > I'm thinking the next step is wiresharking everything.  But that sounds
> > > painful.
> > >
> > > Having written cron jobs in the past, I'm sort of used to this kind of
> > > mystery.  Same with rc.local stuff, sort of.  So it isn't the ultimate
> > > condemnation.  But, like, it should work LOL.
> > >
> > > Any thoughts?
> > >
> > > On Tue, Nov 11, 2025 at 10:58:40PM -0800, Gary wrote:
> > > > I've felt that sisvinit is really all you need for a laptop or desktop,
> > > or possibly even a stand alone server.
> > > >
> > > > But, after looking around, I took the path of least resistance and began
> > > using distros that use systemd.
> > > >
> > > > Systemd has a lot of issues.  It's monolithic.  They went and built
> > > something that is very flexible, and then used it a way that hardly
> > > utilizes it.  It is way more than someone with a laptop, desktop, or server
> > > really needs.  It solves a problem that is really only a problem for
> > > someone who has lots of systems to maintain each of which may have
> > > different configurations.  Unfortunately, they didn't make this as easy as
> > > it should be; see not using flexibility previouly mentioned.
> > > >
> > > > It does get around some of the awkwardness of rc.local, for example.  If
> > > only I could get it to work.  That was an issue with rc.local too,as I
> > > recall.
> > > >
> > > > I'm thinking that if I get some time, I'll play around with it.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Sat, Nov 08, 2025 at 07:09:03AM -0800, Charles Polisher wrote:
> > > > > On 11/7/25 12:45, Brian E. Lavender wrote:
> > > > > > Install Fedora 43 from a clean install and systemd should work fine.
> > > Is
> > > > > > Slackware still on non systemd?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Brian
> > > > > Slackware is still running on sysvinit. Years of
> > > > > experience with Slackware, Fedora, Ubuntu, CentOS,
> > > > > Red Hat, FreeBSD, ... haven't has a problem with
> > > > > sysvinit, have spent dozens of hours "supporting"
> > > > > systemd. I haven't experienced any tangible benefit,
> > > > > but from previous posts, and private conversations
> > > > > on this topic, you do. Could it be because you're
> > > > > a laptop user? I believe that laptops would be
> > > > > ideal for me, except that the keyboards are always
> > > > > a non-starter. I haven't ever tried a laptop
> > > > > keyboard that didn't make my fingers feel retarded.
> > > > >
> > > > > --
> > > > > Chuck Polisher
> > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > Lug-nuts mailing list -- lug-nuts@bigbrie.com
> > > > > To unsubscribe send an email to lug-nuts-leave@bigbrie.com
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > -Gary
> > > >
> > > > It is a simple thing to make things complex,
> > > > a complex thing to make things simple.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > Lug-nuts mailing list -- lug-nuts@bigbrie.com
> > > > To unsubscribe send an email to lug-nuts-leave@bigbrie.com
> > >
> > > --
> > > -Gary
> > >
> > > It is a simple thing to make things complex,
> > > a complex thing to make things simple.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Lug-nuts mailing list -- lug-nuts@bigbrie.com
> > > To unsubscribe send an email to lug-nuts-leave@bigbrie.com
> > >
>
> > _______________________________________________
> > Lug-nuts mailing list -- lug-nuts@bigbrie.com
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>
> _______________________________________________
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--
-Gary

It is a simple thing to make things complex,
a complex thing to make things simple.



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