systemctl-kexec

systemctl kexec [OPTIONS]

systemctl kexec shuts down and reboots the system via kexec, which loads and boots directly into a new kernel without going through BIOS/UEFI firmware. This provides significantly faster reboots by skipping hardware initialization.A kexec kernel must be loaded beforehand (e.g. via `kexec -l`) or this command will fail. If no kernel is loaded, use `--force` to fall back to a normal reboot.

-f, --force

Continue without a kexec kernel, performing a normal reboot instead. If specified twice, skip service shutdown and immediately reboot (may cause data loss).

Requires a kernel to be pre-loaded with `kexec -l`. Skips firmware initialization, which may cause issues with some hardware. Not all hardware supports kexec reliably. May not work with secure boot enabled.

The kexec subcommand integrates the Linux kexec facility with systemd's shutdown process, enabling fast reboots in environments where boot time is critical.

systemctl(1), systemctl-reboot(1), kexec(8)