[pwdisswordfish8]

> Runs sudo automatically and only if necessary

So never? Because systemctl by default triggers a PolicyKit prompt when run without sufficient privileges. sudo is entirely unnecessary.

[franga2000]

Is polkit a hard requirement? I seem to recall systems where sudo was always needed for systemd stuff. Polkit was either not installed or somehow disabled.

[pwdisswordfish8]

Now that I looked, Debian lists it under ‘Suggests’, so apparently it’s not mandatory. Still, I get the impression it’s at least preferred.

[BrightGlow]

Polkit is compile-time optional in systemd, debian has it disabled by default.