You are on page 1of 13

Linux 101: A comprehensive list of Linux

Version 1.0
services available for all distributions January 4, 2006

By Jaqui Greenlees

Takeaway
This document lists the majority of services available for any distribution of Linux. The list includes a description of
each service's purpose, and a comment regarding whether it is a required service.

Linux services
This document lists the majority of services available for any distribution of Linux. The list includes a description of
each service's purpose, and a comment regarding whether it is a required service. This listing is not specifically
directed at desktop or a server installation; it includes the services for both types.
I will also list as required only those services that the system must have functioning to run, not services which act
as enhancements. This listing is from the Mandriva Free 2006 Distribution and there are two distribution specific
items in the list, which I have specified within Table A.
I generated this list by installing absolutely everything from the three CD-ROMs, not something you will need to
do. If you use this list as a guideline and see services listed here that are not in your list, this is a good thing. You
should actually never see this long a list on any installation you intend to use.

Page 1
Copyright ©2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more downloads and a free TechRepublic membership, please visit http://techrepublic.com.com/2001-6240-0.html
Linux 101: A comprehensive list of Linux services available for all distributions

Table A
Alphabetical Listing of Services

Service Name Required [Yes/No] Description Comments

acon No Language support Specifically for the right to


left written languages:
Arabic, Farsi and Hebrew

acpi No Power Management laptop battery fan monitor

acpid No Listening daemon This listens for and


dispatches acpi events from
the kernel

adsl No Internal ADSL switch control Use this only if you have an
internal adsl switch for your
internet connection.

alsa No Advanced Linux Sound The only sound system


Architecture actually included in the
kernel

anacron No Periodic Command a task scheduling tool


Scheduler

apmd No Power Management Laptop power management

apmiser No Power Management Yet another laptop battery


extender

arpwatch No Ethernet ip address pairing monitors and logs remote ip


monitor addresses with hostnames.

atd No Periodic Command a task scheduling tool


Scheduler

autofs No Automount services one of the several


automounting of file
systems on demand
services. Some of which are
distro specific, if the distro
you are using has its own
automount system, do not
use this one.

bluetooth No The core of Bluetooth For all Bluetooth services.

Page 2
Copyright ©2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more downloads and a free TechRepublic membership, please visit http://techrepublic.com.com/2001-6240-0.html
Linux 101: A comprehensive list of Linux services available for all distributions

Alphabetical Listing of Services

Service Name Required [Yes/No] Description Comments

bootparamd No boot server old means for booting


diskless clients / thin clients,
the newer method is the
zeroconf system.

canna No Japanese conversion


engine

capi4linux No Basic CAPI subsystem

cpqarrayd No Hardware Service Compaq Raid Array Monitor

cpufreq No Hardware Service Probes and configured CPU


frequency daemon modules

cpufreqd No Hardware Service This one will automatically


scale cpu frequency to
reduce overheating. Should
be useful for over-clocking.

crond Yes Periodic Command THE task scheduling tool.


Scheduler

cups-lpd No Enables older Linux and Useful only if you have to


commercial Unix systems to allow older systems access
connect to cups server to the printers

cups Yes Common Unix Printing A must have to enable


System printing

cvs No Concurrent Versioning For managing multi user


system documents.

devfsd No System Maintenance This service only cleans up


dynamic desktop
directories; it is not needed
unless your system crashes
often.

dhcpd No The DHCP server Is your network large


enough that static IPs are a
pain, then this will make it
easier, giving you DHCP IP
configuration for your
network.

Page 3
Copyright ©2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more downloads and a free TechRepublic membership, please visit http://techrepublic.com.com/2001-6240-0.html
Linux 101: A comprehensive list of Linux services available for all distributions

Alphabetical Listing of Services

Service Name Required [Yes/No] Description Comments

diald No Smart auto dialer for dialup This service will connect to
networking the network on demand, as
in you type an email and hit
send, it will connect you,
send the email and
disconnect you.

dkms No Autoinstall Boot for DKMS Distro specific tool, for


OEM style installations. This
allows for a first boot setting
of root password and user
name password for regular
use. the final configuration
of the system.

dm Yes Display Manager The core of the x-server,


required for using any GUI.

dnbc No Digital Network Bind This is a simple bash script


Chrooter that puts a BIND server in a
chroot jail. Install BIND,
launch the script, and restart
named

drakxtools_http No Miniserve administration Distro specific tool for


server remote system
administration

dund No Bluetooth Dialup networking

fam No File system Alteration Logger for all changes to a


Monitor file system.

finger No Remote access of data. This server will allow remote


access of user login data,
last login date and time.
useful for monitoring
employee work habits when
you are not in the office,
major breach of security, in
that you are effectively
publishing confidential
company data online

freshclam Yes ClamAV updater Automatic updates for


ClamAV

gpm Yes Mouse Console mode mouse driver

Page 4
Copyright ©2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more downloads and a free TechRepublic membership, please visit http://techrepublic.com.com/2001-6240-0.html
Linux 101: A comprehensive list of Linux services available for all distributions

Alphabetical Listing of Services

Service Name Required [Yes/No] Description Comments

haldaemon No Hardware Monitoring This monitors for hardware


System changes, will alter you to
new or altered hardware.

harddrake No Hardware Service Distro specific hardware


detection and configuration

heartbeat No High Availability services This is intended to increase


the priority of critical servers
and services

hidd No Bluetooth H.I.D. Server

hplip No HP Linux Printing and Older version of HP


Imaging supplied drivers for their all
in one products

hpoj No Pital-init, HP office jet printer Older drivers for HP office


drivers jet, newer drivers are
included with cups drivers
for the printers

httpd No Apache Web server There are two reasons for


this to be on a system, one
is it is to be used as a Web
server, the other it will be a
Web site development
machine. If neither is true,
do not install Apache and
this won't be here.

hylafax-server No Enterprise Fax-modem This works for class 1 and


service class 2 fax modems only.
This must be running if you
intend to use hylafax to
send a fax through the
modem. This is not the only
fax tool available.

ibod No ISDN MPPP bandwidth on Useful with dialup


demand networking, this will connect
as needed to the network.

identd No Identification through TCP


connection

imaps No secure IMAP server

Page 5
Copyright ©2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more downloads and a free TechRepublic membership, please visit http://techrepublic.com.com/2001-6240-0.html
Linux 101: A comprehensive list of Linux services available for all distributions

Alphabetical Listing of Services

Service Name Required [Yes/No] Description Comments

imaps No IMAP server

iplog No Logs TCP, UDP, ICMP Useful network monitoring


connections with hostname tool.
of remote host

ipop2 No POP2 mail server

ipop3 No POP3 mail server

ipsec No Encrypted and KLIPS is the kernel half,


Authenticated PLUTO is the user space
communications half. very useful for remote
access situations

iptables Yes kernel based Packet All good Linux firewalls are
Filtering firewall based on this service.

ipvsadmin No Linux Kernel IP virtual This is one of the oldest


server networking systems in
Linux, not used very much
any more.

irda No Infra Red Device Interface Older wireless device


support

keytable Yes keyboard map This tells the system exactly


which keyboard you are
using.

kheader No Boot Services This automatically


regenerates the kernel
header in /boot

lads No Login Anomaly Detection A tool to track login attempts


System and warn of attempted
intrusion.

laptop-mode No Power Management A tool to reduce power


consumption, extending the
life of the laptop battery

leafnode No NNTP service for X-INETD

lisa No LAN information server

Page 6
Copyright ©2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more downloads and a free TechRepublic membership, please visit http://techrepublic.com.com/2001-6240-0.html
Linux 101: A comprehensive list of Linux services available for all distributions

Alphabetical Listing of Services

Service Name Required [Yes/No] Description Comments

lmsensors No Hardware health monitor This requires that the


mainboard of the system
supports and has monitoring
systems in place, such as
the CPU temperature and
voltage monitors.

mailman No GNU Mailing List Manager A commonly used mailing


list tool, with a Web
interface for administration,
written in Python. It allows
list members to
communicate by sending an
email to one address, and
replying to the same
address. Can also be used
to send out newsletters /
product updates to those
that requested such

mandi No Interactive Firewall Special service to allow for


temporary wireless access
to the system, will open the
iptables firewall for current
session only access for
wireless devices, on user
approval only, not
automatically.

mdadm No Monitoring Service for This also is a management


software raid tools for said software raid
volumes.

mdnsresponder No Zeroconf DNS configuration


tool

messagebus Yes Event monitoring service This one sends broadcast


messages to all users when
needed, like the server is
going down for reboot.

mon Yes System Monitoring daemon A lot of system services


require this in order to
function

mysqld No MySQL server If you don't need this


database, why turn it on?

Page 7
Copyright ©2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more downloads and a free TechRepublic membership, please visit http://techrepublic.com.com/2001-6240-0.html
Linux 101: A comprehensive list of Linux services available for all distributions

Alphabetical Listing of Services

Service Name Required [Yes/No] Description Comments

named No BIND server yes, the infamous name


server.

netplugd No Network Card daemon This service monitors the


network interface, turning it
off or on depending on
signal, used mainly for
laptops that may not always
be connected.

network Yes Networking This turns the network card


on, or powers the modem.

nfs No Network File Share This enables the clients to


access NFS shares, it is
required for the client
machines in an NFS
system.

nfsfs No The Network File Share This should only be active


Server on the network server

nfslock No NFS file locking This should only be active if


you are using NFS
networking / file share
functionality.

nifd No Howl Client This provides ipv4 link-local


services for zeroconf
networks / systems

nscd No Password and group lookup This works for slow


service protocols like N.I.S/Y.P. nist,
ldap and hesiod. It is
designed to have a longer
timeout specifically for these
protocols

ntpd No Version 4 of the NTP server

numlock No number lock light control This will keep the Numlock
activated, turning the
keyboard number pad on.

oki4daemon No compatibility daemon for only useful if you have one


OKI4 and compatible of these printers
winprinters

Page 8
Copyright ©2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more downloads and a free TechRepublic membership, please visit http://techrepublic.com.com/2001-6240-0.html
Linux 101: A comprehensive list of Linux services available for all distributions

Alphabetical Listing of Services

Service Name Required [Yes/No] Description Comments

pand No Bluetooth Personal Area For home area Bluetooth


Networking based networking.

partmon Yes Partition Monitoring This service keeps track on


free space on mounted
partitions. used by most file
system browsers for
calculating free space on a
given partition.

pcmcia No Personal Computer Memory


Card International
Association

pg_autovacum No PostgreSQL maintenance This will automatically run


the vacuum needed by
PostgreSQL to reduce disk
space, pulling temp tables
from the db as well as
deleting temp files created
by PostgreSQL.

pop3s No Secure POP3 server SSL enabled POP3 server

portmap No RPC support Support for those rare apps


that use rpc.

Postgresql No The Postgresql Database You only need this if you are
Engine either running a postgresql
db drives application or are
developing one.

postfix No email server a sendmail compatible email


server, newer than sendmail
itself, becoming more
commonly used than
sendmail.

pptp No Shutdown service for ppp A clean shutdown service


for PPP tunnels, used when
on ups to avoid lock file
problems when power
returns to the system.

prelude No IDS Intrusion Detection system

Page 9
Copyright ©2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more downloads and a free TechRepublic membership, please visit http://techrepublic.com.com/2001-6240-0.html
Linux 101: A comprehensive list of Linux services available for all distributions

Alphabetical Listing of Services

Service Name Required [Yes/No] Description Comments

psacct No Process Accounting A Tracker of active


processes, a waste of
resources really

rawdevices Yes Assigns rawdevices to This is needed for DVDS,


blocks for use and oracle DBMS among
other things

rsync No Remote Synchronization A server to enable remote


synchronization of files in a
specified directory tree.
Commonly used for
maintaining mirror sites, can
also be used to keep
company files current for
backup purposes.

saned No Network Scanner Service To provide access to your


scanner from any
workstation in the network.

shorwall Yes Firewall A very good IPTables based


firewall.

smartd No Self Monitor Service For OS access to smart


enabled devices, this will
allow Linux to tell you if the
device is starting to go bad,
but relies on the device
smart feature for accuracy.

smb No Samba Network Services This provides the samba


services to enable Windows
network compatibility.

snmpd No Simple Network For use in a small [ home


management Protocol office ] network

sound No Sound System This is the core of the Linux


sound system, nice for
desktops, a waste of
resources on a server

squid No Caching Tool Used to cache Web pages


and DNS entries

ssh-xinetd No OpenSSH server for x-inetd a run on demand version of


OpenSSH

Page 10
Copyright ©2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more downloads and a free TechRepublic membership, please visit http://techrepublic.com.com/2001-6240-0.html
Linux 101: A comprehensive list of Linux services available for all distributions

Alphabetical Listing of Services

Service Name Required [Yes/No] Description Comments

sshd No OpenSSH server Only turn this on if you


require SSH access to your
system, and are not going to
use the x-inetd version.

subversion No Concurrent Versioning New alternative to CVS


system

swat No Samba Web Administration Web based Samba


Tool administration

syslog Yes System Logging A Required service, it


controls all logging on the
entire system.

tmdns No Multicast dns responder For use in zeroconf


environments

ultrabayed No ThinkPad tool This detects the presence of


the ultrabay for your IBM
ThinkPad and starts / stops
the IDE interface as
appropriate.

upsd No NUT daemon and drivers An uninterrupted power


supply monitoring and
reporting tool. This tool
reports to a central site to
generate a database on ups
statistics.

upsmon No Monitoring tool for UPS This will monitor the status
of the ups, and shut the
system down when it's
running low.

vncserver No Server for Virtual network Very useful for using VNC in
computing projects.

Webmin No Remote Administration tool Distro Agnostic Remote


administration tool. Useful
for when the machine will
not be physically accessible
at all times; such as Web
server farm.

Page 11
Copyright ©2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more downloads and a free TechRepublic membership, please visit http://techrepublic.com.com/2001-6240-0.html
Linux 101: A comprehensive list of Linux services available for all distributions

Alphabetical Listing of Services

Service Name Required [Yes/No] Description Comments

winbind No Samba Name Server Required for samba


networking to function. This
maps user and group data
from the windows network
to the Linux workstation

wine No Wine Is Not an Emulator This enables running MS


Windows executables in
Linux. WINE is a limited
version of the commercial
product Crossover Office.

wlan No Control Daemon This Controls services, it is


not commonly used as the
services are generally
controlled through the init
process.

x-inetd Yes Server for monitoring and This is required service, and
controlling other servers it actually reduces CPU load
on a server. if you need
SSH, ftp, etc but not all the
time, the x-inetd version will
start them on request, even
remote request. This allows
for them to be available, but
frees the clock-cycles if they
are only being used a few
times a day / week.

xfs Yes X Font Server If you are going to be


running a GUI at any point
in time, this will be required.

ypbind No Name Server for Sun's YP This is for GLIBC based NIS
server / YP networked systems.

Page 12
Copyright ©2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more downloads and a free TechRepublic membership, please visit http://techrepublic.com.com/2001-6240-0.html
Linux 101: A comprehensive list of Linux services available for all distributions

Additional resources
• TechRepublic's Downloads RSS Feed
• Sign up for our Downloads Weekly Update newsletter
• Sign up for TechRepublic's Linux NetNote newsletter
• Check out all of TechRepublic's free newsletters
• Linux 101: Configuring and managing iptables for better network security
• Linux 101: How to set up Linux on a personal computer
• 10 things you should do to a new Linux PC before connecting to the Internet

Version history
Version: 1.0
Published: January 4, 2006

Tell us what you think


TechRepublic downloads are designed to help you get your job done as painlessly and effectively as possible.
Because we're continually looking for ways to improve the usefulness of these tools, we need your feedback.
Please take a minute to drop us a line and tell us how well this download worked for you and offer your
suggestions for improvement.

Thanks!
—The TechRepublic Downloads Team

Page 13
Copyright ©2005 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more downloads and a free TechRepublic membership, please visit http://techrepublic.com.com/2001-6240-0.html

You might also like