Running Tasks as a System Daemon with systemd

Created in February 09, 2026

2026   ·   linux,   systemd,   devops,   streamlit   ·   data-science

If you want to run a Streamlit dashboard, you can use screen, but a more reliable approach is to run it as a system daemon with systemd. This post is based on a helpful tutorial by Shubham Dipt and adds a few practical details for real-world setups.

1. Create a Service File

SSH into your EC2 instance and move to the systemd unit directory:

cd /etc/systemd/system

Create a service file, for example epcaldash.service, and add the following:

[Unit]
Description=EPCAL Dashboard

[Service]
User=ubuntu
WorkingDirectory=/home/ubuntu/epcal/epcal_dashboard
ExecStart=/home/ubuntu/miniconda3/envs/py39/bin/streamlit run epcal_dashboard.py
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Notes:

  • WorkingDirectory should point to your Streamlit app directory.
  • ExecStart must use the correct Streamlit executable (e.g., from your virtual environment).

2. Optional: Run a Shell Script First

If you need extra commands (e.g., iptables for port forwarding), you can point ExecStart to a shell script instead:

[Unit]
Description=EPCAL Dashboard

[Service]
User=ubuntu
WorkingDirectory=/home/ubuntu/epcal/epcal_dashboard
ExecStart=/bin/bash epcaldash_service.sh
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Example epcaldash_service.sh:

#! /bin/bash

sudo iptables -A PREROUTING -t nat -p tcp --dport 80 -j REDIRECT --to-ports 8501
/home/ubuntu/miniconda3/envs/py39/bin/streamlit run /home/ubuntu/epcal/epcal_dashboard/epcal_dashboard.py

Make it executable:

chmod +x epcaldash_service.sh

3. Reload, Start, and Enable

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start epcaldash.service
sudo systemctl status epcaldash.service

Enable on boot:

sudo systemctl enable epcaldash.service

Disable on boot:

sudo systemctl disable epcaldash.service

4. Logs

journalctl -u epcaldash.service
journalctl -u epcaldash.service -n 1000

With this setup, your Streamlit app runs as a managed service and will restart automatically if it fails.

References