systemctl-cat

Show unit file contents

$ systemctl cat [unit]

$ systemctl cat [unit1 unit2 ...]

$ systemctl cat [template@]

$ systemctl cat [unit] --user

systemctl cat PATTERN...

systemctl cat displays the full contents of unit files as systemd sees them, including the main unit file and any drop-in override files. It shows the absolute path of each file before its contents.
This is useful for debugging unit configuration, especially when drop-in files in `.d/` directories modify the base unit.

--user

Show user unit files

Show system unit files (default)

Shows the raw file contents, not the effective configuration after parsing. Use `systemctl show` to see the actual runtime values. Template units should be specified with the trailing @ symbol.

The cat subcommand is part of systemctl in the systemd project. It provides a convenient way to inspect unit configuration without manually locating files across multiple directories.

systemctl(1), systemctl-edit(1), systemctl-show(1)