To run fetchmail as a systemd user service, for an individual user: (1) Configuration Set up your .fetchmailrc so that "fetchmail --nodetach" actually fetches your mail correctly. (2) Tell systemd to run it as a service Allow daemons to keep running after you log out (optional): $ sudo loginctl enable-linger $USERNAME Make the service available: $ systemctl --user enable fetchmail.service Actually turn it on: $ systemctl --user start fetchmail.service Monitor it, to check if it's okay: $ systemctl --user status fetchmail.service Monitor it harder: $ journalctl --user -xeu fetchmail.service