The original systemd-docker

The original systemd-docker was developed by @ibuildthecloud (aka Darren Shepherd, einer der Gründer von Rancher) to solve a very specific problem: running Docker containers cleanly under systemd.

At the time, using systemd to manage containers often led to broken behavior—missing logs, zombie processes, improper signal handling, and containers that wouldn’t restart or shut down properly.

systemd-docker wraps docker run in a way that makes it compatible with how systemd expects to manage services: it forwards signals, connects logs correctly, and ensures that the container’s PID is tracked properly.

It was a small but crucial tool for anyone running Docker with systemd before features like docker run --init or --pid=host became more common.

Although the original repo is now archived, its purpose remains relevant in many setups today.