Unbound won't start on system boot

[Robert Moskowitz]

On 6/12/25 12:24 PM, Jeffrey Walton wrote:
> On Thu, Jun 12, 2025 at 11:03 AM Robert Moskowitz via ubuntu-users
> <ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com> wrote:
>> I am still fighting with local resolution.  That is a separate
>> question.  But
>>
>> On reboot, unbound fails to start, but restarts just fine later. One
>> google dig found:
>>
>> "The problem seems to relate to "nss-lookup", and I suspect that the
>> network interface is not available fast enough"
>>
>> So put in your /etc/crontab
>>
>> @reboot     /bin/systemctl restart unbound
>>
>> !!!  that seems rather heavy-handed!
>>
>> So here is what status is showing after booting:
>>
>> × unbound.service - Unbound DNS server
>>        Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/unbound.service; enabled;
>> preset: enabled)
>>        Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Thu 2025-06-12 10:47:17
>> EDT; 1min 31s ago
>>          Docs: man:unbound(8)
>>       Process: 1056 ExecStartPre=/usr/libexec/unbound-helper chroot_setup
>> (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
>>       Process: 1058 ExecStartPre=/usr/libexec/unbound-helper
>> root_trust_anchor_update (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
>>       Process: 1061 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/unbound -d -p $DAEMON_OPTS
>> (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
>>       Process: 1064 ExecStopPost=/usr/libexec/unbound-helper
>> chroot_teardown (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
>>      Main PID: 1061 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
>>           CPU: 43ms
>>
>> ================= later on restart:
>>
>> Jun 12 10:47:17 onlo systemd[1]: unbound.service: Scheduled restart job,
>> restart counter is at 5.
>> Jun 12 10:47:17 onlo systemd[1]: unbound.service: Start request repeated
>> too quickly.
>> Jun 12 10:47:17 onlo systemd[1]: unbound.service: Failed with result
>> 'exit-code'.
>> Jun 12 10:47:17 onlo systemd[1]: Failed to start unbound.service -
>> Unbound DNS server.
>> ● unbound.service - Unbound DNS server
>>        Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/unbound.service; enabled;
>> preset: enabled)
>>        Active: active (running) since Thu 2025-06-12 10:49:20 EDT; 27s ago
>>          Docs: man:unbound(8)
>>       Process: 1262 ExecStartPre=/usr/libexec/unbound-helper chroot_setup
>> (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
>>       Process: 1265 ExecStartPre=/usr/libexec/unbound-helper
>> root_trust_anchor_update (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
>>      Main PID: 1267 (unbound)
>>         Tasks: 1 (limit: 8175)
>>        Memory: 8.3M (peak: 8.3M)
>>           CPU: 88ms
>>        CGroup: /system.slice/unbound.service
>>                └─1267 /usr/sbin/unbound -d -p
>>
>> Jun 12 10:49:20 onlo systemd[1]: Starting unbound.service - Unbound DNS
>> server...
>> Jun 12 10:49:20 onlo (unbound)[1267]: unbound.service: Referenced but
>> unset environment variable evaluates to an empty string: DAEMON_OPTS
>> Jun 12 10:49:20 onlo unbound[1267]: [1267:0] notice: init module 0:
>> subnetcache
>> Jun 12 10:49:20 onlo unbound[1267]: [1267:0] warning: subnetcache:
>> prefetch is set but not working for data originating from the subnet
>> module cache.
>> Jun 12 10:49:20 onlo unbound[1267]: [1267:0] notice: init module 1:
>> validator
>> Jun 12 10:49:20 onlo unbound[1267]: [1267:0] notice: init module 2: iterator
>> Jun 12 10:49:20 onlo unbound[1267]: [1267:0] info: start of service
>> (unbound 1.19.2).
>> Jun 12 10:49:20 onlo systemd[1]: Started unbound.service - Unbound DNS
>> server.
> <https://www.google.com/search?q=systemd+backoff+retry+start+service>

this makes more sense, in this case, then using after=

the advantage is, perhaps I add another service that causes problems?  
This is a general, oops, try a bit later.

thanks!

One for the notes.