I am running Manjaro KDE Plasma 26.1.0. When I run systemctl --failed, I got
UNIT LOAD ACTIVE SUB DESCRIPTION
● archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync.service loaded failed failed Refresh existing keys of archlinux-keyring
Is having a non-working keyring service as shown above serious and what effects does it have on the OS? How to fix it?
The keyring is important with regard to checking the integrity of the packages you install, and/or during an update. Sometimes the packagers’ keys expire, and the service is there to periodically check them and update them, so that you wouldn’t have to do it manually if you run into an issue during a system update.
What’s more important to investigate here is why the service failed. 
I am in for the investigation, which places in the system should I check? I searched online, is it correct that restrictive network can cause the failure? FYI, I am based in China and is using vpn. However, I have another machine running the same Manjaro DE and using the same vpn, but systemctl --failed shows an empty list.
In theory, yes, that is possible.
Well, then it may have been a simple network glitch which happened to coincide with the scheduled time when the service was being run.
I’d recommend keeping an eye on it, but I don’t think it would be a permanent problem.
Please post the output of:
systemctl status archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync.timer
and
systemctl status archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync.service
The output of the first and second commands, respectively:
● archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync.timer - Refresh existing PGP keys of archlinux-keyring regularly
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync.timer; static)
Active: active (waiting) since Mon 2026-08-17 23:32:26 CST; 1 week 2 days ago
Invocation: 42bdac86c98f4f30ba44c5d30c738aa8
Trigger: Tue 2026-09-01 03:46:43 CST; 5 days left
Triggers: ● archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync.service
Aug 17 23:32:26 hpspectrex360 systemd[1]: Started Refresh existing PGP keys of archlinux-keyring regularly.
and
× archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync.service - Refresh existing keys of archlinux-keyring
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync.service; static)
Active: failed (Result: start-limit-hit) since Tue 2026-08-25 21:07:14 CST; 1 day 3h ago
Invocation: 57056a054c574c17b677dbfb3c8812ae
TriggeredBy: ● archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync.timer
Process: 1443679 ExecStart=/usr/bin/archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
Main PID: 1443679 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
Mem peak: 3.4M
CPU: 2.512s
Aug 25 21:07:14 hpspectrex360 systemd[1]: archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 6.
Aug 25 21:07:14 hpspectrex360 systemd[1]: archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
Aug 25 21:07:14 hpspectrex360 systemd[1]: archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync.service: Failed with result 'start-limit-hit'.
Aug 25 21:07:14 hpspectrex360 systemd[1]: Failed to start Refresh existing keys of archlinux-keyring.
Aug 25 21:07:14 hpspectrex360 systemd[1]: archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync.service: Consumed 2.512s CPU time over 5min 111ms wall clock time, 3.4M memory peak.
What happens if you run it manually?
sudo archlinux-keyring-wkd-sync
If I do that, it seems to run something. A stream of texts are printed in the terminal. Is the text stream supposed to stop on its own at some point because I manually pressed ctrl+c to stop it?
Yes, it will stop eventually. It’s a shell script which fetches the signatures of the Arch maintainers.
The issue is solved after I updated the system. I should have realized that the service synchronizes with the update server so that any inconsistencies between the local and the update server could be a possible cause. Whenever there is a big update, I always try to pick the right time to download and install them because some packages or parts of the system can break after an update and I have been needing my PC lately to be in a reliably working state due to several deadlines.