If you’re using nrpe socket activation and don’t have a template file, try this in /etc/systemd/system/nrpe@.service : [Unit] Description=nrpe socket service Requires=nrpe.socket [Service] User=nrpe ExecStart=-/usr/bin/nrpe -c /etc/nrpe/nrpe.cfg –inetd StandardInput=socket StandardOutput=inherit StandardError=journal [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target You’ll also need /etc/systemd/system/nrpe.socket : [Unit] Description=Nagios Remote Plugin Executor Documentation=http://www.nagios.org/documentation Before=nrpe.service Conflicts=nrpe.service [Socket] ListenStream=5666 Accept=yes [Install] WantedBy=sockets.target Then systemctl start nrpe.socket