creating a daemon?

[bmgx]

This is what I am trying to find out, instruction on how to create a
simple daemon on unix systems(Linux), can't find any info on usual sources..

[Diez B. Roggisch]

bmgx wrote:

This is what I am trying to find out, instruction on how to create a
simple daemon on unix systems(Linux), can't find any info on usual
sources..

google: daemonize python fork

Works perfect for me.

Diez

[Harry George]

bmgx <bm********@mgleesonprop.co.za> writes:

This is what I am trying to find out, instruction on how to create a
simple daemon on unix systems(Linux), can't find any info on usual
sources..

1. The idea is to fork, clean up all the inheritable stuff like files
and environment vars, and then fork again. The resulting process
can then be left running to do the daemon work. I recall there is
a daemon.py module somewhere which does this all for you. Here are
the basics:

def main(args):
#---first fork---
try:
pid = os.fork()
if pid > 0:
#---first parent---
sys.exit(0)
except OSError,e:
print >>sys.stderr, "fork #1 failed %d (%s)" % (e.errno,e.strerror)
sys.exit(1)
#---make a clean process---
os.chdir('/')
os.setsid()
os.umask(000)
child_in =open('/dev/null','r')
child_out=open('/dev/null','w')
os.dup2(child_in.fileno(), sys.stdin.fileno())
os.dup2(child_out.fileno(), sys.stdout.fileno())
os.dup2(child_out.fileno(), sys.stderr.fileno())

#---second fork---
try:
pid = os.fork()
if pid > 0:
#---second parent---
sys.exit(0)
except OSError,e:
print >>sys.stderr, "fork #2 failed %d (%s)" % (e.errno,e.strerror)
sys.exit(1)
#---in clean child---
x=MyApp()
x.run()
2. To talk to that daemon, you can use a) files at known locations, b)
pipes (see popen), c) sockets with ad hoc protocols (see asyncchat
and SocketServer), d) predefined protocols (see Internet Protocols
and Services). The various "server" modules have the setup code
from "1" above builtin, so you can ignore that level of detail.
["see" references can be found in the normal python documentation's
Library Reference"].

3. Once you have a working daemon, you need a way to start and stop
it. You could manually start it each time you need it and then
"kill" it when done. More commonly you would do it (in Linux and
UNIX) via a boot-time initialization script (typically found in
/etc/init.d). Each *NIX has its own flavor of setting these up, so
you need to look at existing services and maybe copy-and-edit a
working script.

4. If security is an issue (it probably is), you may also want to hide
the service behind xinetd. That is a whole setup story in its own
right. And if security is really troublesome, you may need to
assure the python interpreter itself is safe. That kind of
consideration is way out of my league.

--
ha************@boeing.com
6-6M31 Knowledge Management
Phone: [phone]

[bmgx]

Yeah ok, "FORK" being the golden word I failed to see at first, got some
answers @ google groups but the most helpful was this link:

http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Coo...n/Recipe/66012

now to stick those DAEMONS with my fork()! anyone have an os.knife()?

Harry George wrote:

bmgx <bm********@mgleesonprop.co.za> writes:

This is what I am trying to find out, instruction on how to create a
simple daemon on unix systems(Linux), can't find any info on usual
sources..

1. The idea is to fork, clean up all the inheritable stuff like files
and environment vars, and then fork again. The resulting process
can then be left running to do the daemon work. I recall there is
a daemon.py module somewhere which does this all for you. Here are
the basics:

def main(args):
#---first fork---
try:
pid = os.fork()
if pid > 0:
#---first parent---
sys.exit(0)
except OSError,e:
print >>sys.stderr, "fork #1 failed %d (%s)" % (e.errno,e.strerror)
sys.exit(1)
#---make a clean process---
os.chdir('/')
os.setsid()
os.umask(000)
child_in =open('/dev/null','r')
child_out=open('/dev/null','w')
os.dup2(child_in.fileno(), sys.stdin.fileno())
os.dup2(child_out.fileno(), sys.stdout.fileno())
os.dup2(child_out.fileno(), sys.stderr.fileno())

#---second fork---
try:
pid = os.fork()
if pid > 0:
#---second parent---
sys.exit(0)
except OSError,e:
print >>sys.stderr, "fork #2 failed %d (%s)" % (e.errno,e.strerror)
sys.exit(1)
#---in clean child---
x=MyApp()
x.run()
2. To talk to that daemon, you can use a) files at known locations, b)
pipes (see popen), c) sockets with ad hoc protocols (see asyncchat
and SocketServer), d) predefined protocols (see Internet Protocols
and Services). The various "server" modules have the setup code
from "1" above builtin, so you can ignore that level of detail.
["see" references can be found in the normal python documentation's
Library Reference"].

3. Once you have a working daemon, you need a way to start and stop
it. You could manually start it each time you need it and then
"kill" it when done. More commonly you would do it (in Linux and
UNIX) via a boot-time initialization script (typically found in
/etc/init.d). Each *NIX has its own flavor of setting these up, so
you need to look at existing services and maybe copy-and-edit a
working script.

4. If security is an issue (it probably is), you may also want to hide
the service behind xinetd. That is a whole setup story in its own
right. And if security is really troublesome, you may need to
assure the python interpreter itself is safe. That kind of
consideration is way out of my league.