bootvine is a terminal-based utility that displays the progress of systemd jobs during Linux startup and shutdown. It presents a live tree of system activity, helping users understand which services are starting, what they are waiting for and where delays occur.
The Linux boot process involves numerous systemd units with dependencies and ordering requirements. Some services initialise concurrently, while others must wait for prerequisite jobs to finish. Conventional boot messages do not always make these relationships easy to interpret.
bootvine addresses this by presenting systemd activity in a structured tree. Rather than requiring users to inspect lengthy journal output, the application provides a visual representation of service progress and the relationships between startup jobs.
The utility is particularly useful when investigating slow boot sequences, delayed services and failures that occur during system initialisation. It also provides visibility into shutdown activity, helping administrators identify services that prolong the process of stopping the system.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Live visualisation of systemd jobs during Linux startup and shutdown.
- Tree-based display represents relationships between system services and their associated jobs.
- Displays services that are still starting and identifies jobs waiting for other operations to finish.
- Shows service execution timings, helping identify operations that contribute to slow startup.
- Highlights failed services and provides information about associated errors.
- Displays recent log messages to assist with investigating service failures.
- Provides descriptive information about systemd units to help explain their purpose.
- Supports monitoring of early startup stages when the initial environment uses systemd.
- Console-based presentation allows startup activity to be examined without a graphical desktop environment.
Website: codeberg.org/wvhulle/bootvine
Support:
Developer: wvhulle
License: GNU General Public License v3.0
bootvine is written in Rust. Learn Rust with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Boot Utilities | |
|---|---|
| Ventoy | Create bootable USB drive for ISO/WIM/IMG/VHD(x)/EFI files |
| Limine | Multiprotocol bootloader and boot manager |
| rEFInd | EFI boot manager |
| Plymouth | Boot splash and boot logger |
| UNetbootin | Universal Netbook installer |
| sbctl | Create, enroll and manage Secure Boot keys |
| Grub Customizer | Graphical interface to configure the grub2/burg settings |
| bootchart2 | Merge of bootchart-collector and pybootchartgui |
| OProfile | Low-overhead, transparent system-wide profiler |
| e4rat | Ext4 - Reducing Access Times; toolset to accelerate the boot process |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
LinuxLinks helps you discover the best free and open source software for Linux. Explore our extensive collection of recommended applications, including alternatives to popular proprietary software.We also publish software reviews, Linux tutorials, hardware reviews, free programming books and articles covering the wider open source community. Browse our Linux resources to discover more. Know a useful free and open source Linux application we haven't covered? Suggest a program for inclusion. Has your software been featured on LinuxLinks? Display one of our Featured on LinuxLinks badges on your website or GitHub README. |



Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.