changing the podman-auto-update.timer configuration

Question

I am trying to implement a system where I will be using podman quadlets and systemd for maintaining the service.

What I tried

Enabled the podman auto timer and verified
Edited the podman auto timer systemctl --user edit podman-auto-update.timer

### Anything between here and the comment below will become the new contents of the file
[Timer]
OnActiveSec=300

After edit

systemctl --user status podman-auto-update.timer
● podman-auto-update.timer - Podman auto-update timer
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/user/podman-auto-update.timer; enabled; preset: disabled)
    Drop-In: /home/kiran/.config/systemd/user/podman-auto-update.timer.d
             └─override.conf
     Active: active (waiting) since Wed 2025-09-17 09:52:52 IST; 2h 47min ago
      Until: Wed 2025-09-17 09:52:52 IST; 2h 47min ago
    Trigger: Wed 2025-09-17 12:51:51 IST; 11min left
   Triggers: ● podman-auto-update.service

The next trigger happened at the expected time Trigger: Wed 2025-09-17 12:51:51 IST; 11min left
But after that, the trigger time has changed to 11 hrs

Has anyone faced this issue?

I have tried to view the file in Drop-in

`vi /home/kiran/.config/systemd/user/podman-auto-update.timer.d/override.conf
The output

[Timer]
OnActiveSec=300

I am trying to enable automatic updates in podman + systemd setup, I need the automatic updates happen at an interval of 300 seconds.

grawity · Accepted Answer · 2025-09-17 13:26:07Z

1

OnActiveSec= is relative to when the .timer unit itself was started, so it is effectively "only once":

at time X, the .timer unit starts (becomes active);
at time X+300 (OnActiveSec), the .timer unit triggers the service;
done.

For repeated activation it would be accompanied by OnUnitActiveSec= or OnUnitInactiveSec= within the same .timer – or maybe OnCalendar= – so you need to edit those as well.

(The OnUnit*= settings are relative to when the triggered unit i.e. the Podman service starts or completes, so every time the timer fires it re-sets itself. Meanwhile OnCalendar= is inherently repeating.)

Use systemctl --user cat podman-auto-update.timer to see the entire unit together with its drop-ins.

edited Sep 17 at 13:26

answered Sep 17 at 12:51

grawity

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1 Comment

night_owl Sep 17 at 13:25

Thanks, I have tried OnUnitActiveSec= and it worked!! OnUnitActiveSec= 300 OnUnitActiveSec tells systemd timer to trigger 300 seconds after the service unit last started.

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