systemd service file for Mathematica network license manager MathLM

mathlm.service

[Unit]
Description=Mathematica network license manager
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/mathlm -foreground -logfile /var/log/mathlm.log -pwfile /opt/Wolfram/MathLM/mathpass
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
Alias=mathlm.service

Thanks for this example!

I found the Alias=mathlm.service causes issues with SystemD. I also don't think -logfile is necessary as, by default, it will log to stdout, which can then be handled nicely by SystemD. -pwfile isn't necessary as the defaults from the setup script work fine, but worth keeping in case anyone needs it. I also wanted to use a less privileged user: wolfram.

---

In case anyone wants a more complete example:

# Create a user `wolfram` for MathLM
sudo useradd --system --home-dir /usr/local/Wolfram --create-home --skel /dev/null --gid daemon --shell /bin/false wolfram
# Run the official installer script. It starts mathlm, which we don't want, so kill it. Default paths are fine.
sudo -u wolfram ./M-UNIX-LM-*.sh \&\& killall mathlm
# Handy way to not worry about SystemD paths
sudo systemctl edit --full --force mathlm.service
# Mark it to start at boot
sudo systemctl enable mathlm
# Start it now, too
sudo systemctl start mathlm

[Unit]
Description=Wolfram Network License Manager MathLM
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/Wolfram/MathLM/mathlm -foreground -localtime
# -pwfile /usr/local/Wolfram/MathLM/mathpass
User=wolfram
Group=daemon
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Check status:

systemctl status mathlm
journalctl -u mathlm

Thx for feedback.
You are right in all points. The logfile option was for legacy behaviour.