# Running Cascade CMS as a Linux service

> This article contains samples using systemd and init.d service files.

URL: https://www.hannonhill.com/cascadecms/latest/articles/cascade-administration/installation-and-upgrades/running-cascade-cms-as-a-linux-service.html
category: Cascade Administration
article-type: how-to
content-kind: article
release-availability: all
tags: installation
updated: 2026-10-06

## Using systemd

A sample systemd file can be found below:

```xml
[Unit]
Description=Cascade CMS
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=forking
User=cascade
ExecStart=/path/to/cascade/cascade.sh start
ExecStop=/path/to/cascade/cascade.sh stop 15 -force
ExecReload=/path/to/cascade/cascade.sh stop 15 -force | sleep 5 | /path/to/cascade/cascade.sh start
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=30s

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
```

> **Note**
>
> The sample above assumes that your O/S account is named `cascade`.

> **Note**
>
> **Using Apache as a proxy?** You'll want to change lines 3 and 4 above to the following:
>
> ```markup
> Wants=network-online.target httpd.service
> After=network-online.target httpd.service
> ```

## Using init.d

A sample init.d file can be found below:

```xml
#!/bin/bash
# Cascade startup script
#chkconfig: 2345 80 05
#description: Hannon Hill Cascade CMS

# Source function library.
. /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions

# Wait time for stopping (and restarting) the service
WAIT_TIME=15

# Cascade Linux service controller script
APP=CASCADE
BASE=/path/to/cascade
USER=cascade
cd $BASE

function start {
 echo "Starting $APP"
 sudo -u $USER $BASE/cascade.sh start
 return $?
}

function stop {
 echo "Stopping $APP"
 sudo -u $USER -c $BASE/cascade.sh stop $WAIT_TIME -force
 return $?
}

case "$1" in
 start)
  start
  RETVAL=$?
  ;;
 stop)
  stop
  RETVAL=$?
  ;;
 restart)
  stop
  sleep $(($WAIT_TIME + 1))
  start
  RETVAL=$?
  ;;
 *)
  echo "Usage: $0 {start|restart|stop}"
  RETVAL=2
  ;;
esac

exit $RETVAL
```

> **Note**
>
> The sample above assumes that your O/S account is named `cascade`.

## Creating a system user for the service

### Create a new system user and group

To create a new `cascade` system user without a home directory and without login/bash ability, along with a corresponding group, execute the following command:

```bash
sudo useradd -M -s /usr/sbin/nologin cascade
```

To verify the new user was created:

```bash
sudo id cascade
```

### Configure ulimit for the new user

Cascade CMS can potentially open many files at a time which can sometimes lead to issues such as "too many open files" error messages. To add a user-specific ulimit configuration:

```bash
sudo touch /etc/security/limits.d/cascade_limits.conf
sudo bash -c 'echo "cascade - core unlimited" >> /etc/security/limits.d/cascade_limits.conf'
sudo bash -c 'echo "cascade - nofile 999999" >> /etc/security/limits.d/cascade_limits.conf'
```

To verify the new limits:

```bash
sudo -u cascade bash -c "ulimit -Ha"
```

> **Note:**
>
> The commands above may vary depending on the flavor of Linux you are using.