GNOME Shell extension for pausing selected background maintenance services from Quick Settings.
The extension delegates privileged work to /usr/local/bin/loadshed-helper.
The helper reads and writes root-owned units in /etc/loadshed/units.json and uses
systemctl freeze/systemctl thaw for services. Timers configured next to a service
are stopped while paused and only restarted if the helper stopped them. While the
Quick Settings button is paused, the root-owned loadshed-gate uses Linux
FAN_OPEN_EXEC_PERM permission events to hold direct starts of configured executable
files in execve() until resume. The pause intent is kept even when no matching
process was running when pause was activated.
git clone https://github.com/shell-extensions/loadshed
cd loadshed
./install.shinstall.sh compiles the schemas, packs the extension bundle, installs it with
gnome-extensions install -f, and sets up the privileged helper, configuration, and
sudoers rule in one step.
Log out and back in, then enable:
gnome-extensions enable loadshed@yurij.deThe source checkout is named loadshed, while the GNOME Shell UUID and installed
extension directory are loadshed@yurij.de. The helper, config directory,
gettext domain, and settings schema all use the Loadshed name.
Open the extension preferences in GNOME Extensions to add, remove, save, reload,
or restore the built-in maintenance catalog. The default catalog is installed only
when /etc/loadshed/units.json does not already exist; updates keep your
existing configuration. Each service can be enabled or disabled independently.
Disabling or replacing a service while the pause button is active releases only
that service; the other managed services remain paused.
Run ./install.sh after updating the extension so the helper and sudoers rules
include the configuration and enforce commands.
Advanced users can still edit /etc/loadshed/units.json as root. Built-in
catalog entries are marked optional, so services not installed on the machine are
ignored silently. Custom entries are not optional by default, so mistakes remain
visible in the menu. Entry format:
[
{
"id": "aide",
"label": "AIDE daily check",
"service": "dailyaidecheck.service",
"timer": "dailyaidecheck.timer",
"optional": true,
"enabled": true
}
]Process targets use an absolute executable path rather than a process name:
{
"id": "rsync",
"label": "rsync file sync",
"executable": "/usr/bin/rsync",
"optional": true
}Legacy process entries are migrated through fixed system paths. A missing
optional executable is skipped silently, like an optional service; a missing
or ambiguous non-optional executable rejects the pause with an explicit
error. v1 covers direct starts of the configured executable; interpreter
scripts, container-internal processes, and unconfigured hardlinks are
outside this guarantee. Replacing the executable in place (a routine package
upgrade) re-arms the gate on the new binary without dropping the pause. If
the gate is unavailable, the affected targets are still paused through
SIGSTOP/freeze, but status reports a non-strict pause instead of a hard one.
Snap daemons are normal systemd units and can be added here too. For example,
Snap usually exposes a daemon as snap.<snap-name>.<service-name>.service.
Use the exact unit name shown by systemd/snap for that daemon.
Not everything worth pausing is a systemd unit. The supported
Folder Size extension scans
folder sizes in Nautilus, Caja, or Nemo and stores its scan toggle in
~/.config/foldersize.conf. Loadshed ships a Folder Size file-target preset
that sets FolderSize:auto_scan=false while paused and restores the previous
state on resume. The target is handled in the user session, so no root helper is
needed for this switch.
Loadshed can also toggle arbitrary GSettings booleans together with the pause button. This is configured in Preferences under "GSettings switches", separately from the systemd service list. Each entry has a schema id, a key, and the value the key should hold while paused; entries are validated (schema installed, key exists and is boolean) before being used, and unavailable ones are skipped silently rather than breaking the extension.
Before changing a managed boolean or file-backed switch, Loadshed records its current value. Resume restores that exact value instead of assuming the opposite of the pause value. The saved state also survives a GNOME Shell restart. The same rule applies to another extension's Quick Settings visibility: a toggle that was already hidden remains hidden after Loadshed stops managing it.
Most extensions compile their schema only inside their own extension
directory rather than installing it system-wide, so it won't be found by
plain schema lookup. If that happens ("Schema not installed" in
Preferences even though the extension is installed), set the entry's
"Extension UUID" field (e.g. foldersize@yurij.de) — Loadshed then
also looks in that extension's own schemas/ directory, the same way GNOME
Shell resolves an extension's own settings.
If an entry's target extension also has its own Quick Settings toggle (like
Folder Size's "Scan on/off"), that toggle becomes redundant once Loadshed
manages it — set as own_toggle_key, it gets hidden automatically
while managed here and reappears once you disable the switch or Loadshed
itself, provided it was visible before Loadshed took control.
Desktop apps that are not systemd services can be configured in Preferences
under "Desktop apps". This is intended for apps such as Flatpak Signal, where
GNOME autostart launches a .desktop file instead of a .service unit. The
default configuration includes Signal:
{
"id": "signal",
"label": "Signal",
"kind": "flatpak",
"app_id": "org.signal.Signal",
"desktop_id": "org.signal.Signal.desktop",
"enabled": true
}kind may be flatpak or snap. Flatpak targets are stopped with
flatpak kill <app_id>. Snap desktop apps are matched by their process command
and stopped with SIGTERM. Resume only restarts an app if Loadshed found
it running when pause was activated. If no start command is configured, Loadshed
resumes Flatpak apps with flatpak run <app_id> and Snap apps with
snap run <app_id>. Set a start command only when an app needs a different
launcher or extra flags, for example a tray/background option.
sudo /usr/local/bin/loadshed-helper status
sudo /usr/local/bin/loadshed-helper resume
sudo /usr/local/bin/loadshed-helper config-getLoadshed is free software, licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later (GPL-3.0-or-later). See the LICENSE file for the full text.