How to run a shell script as a servive/daemon

[abhijitsarangi]

Hi all,

I have a script as report.sh which prints its out put in some file.

Now I want to run this as a service so that when I start this service it shud run in the background and give me the out put.

Again I should be able to stop it and I should able to configure its so that it can start when I start my system.


What I have done

In the /etc/services

I have added report 5555/tcp

Then in the /etc/xinetd.d I have created a file report_com where I have given

service report
{
socket_type = stream
protocol = tcp
wait = no
user = root
server = /home/openuser/Desktop/report.sh
port = 5555
}


now ehen I type /etc/init.d/xinetd restart it shows no such files or directory.


Now I dont know what to do..


Could anyone guide me Whether I have done correct or not?

If not then how can I run My scrip as a service..


Please...

[giulix]

xinetd is for network services. You would probably be better off with chkconfig. Have a look at the service scripts in /etc/init.d for examples. Anyway, for a report, the most appropriate solution would probably be to run it as a cron job

[abhijitsarangi]

actually am a bit new to services..

could you plese tell me the commands/steps how to place the sript to make it a service.

I know about cron but cron will run the service at a perticular time and once script is finish it will stop which wont solve my problem...

Thank you in advance..

[giulix]

Ok, I see... have a look at chkconfig, then. Two ways to do that:
1) Open a terminal and type `man chkconfig'
2) Press F1 on the desktop, then type `chkconfig' in the Search box and press Return/Enter; click on `chkconfig manual page'

As for examples, have a look at the files contained in the /etc/init.d directory. These are all the scripts that are run by init to start/stop services when the system switches from one runlevel to another. Google these terms for a better understanding of what's going on when the system starts up/shuts down...

P.S. Anyway, that won't solve the problem about the service running once and then dying. More work is necessary in order to write a daemon service

[abhijitsarangi]

My script is

#!/bin/sh
w >> /home/openuser/Desktop/report.txt

[giulix]

May I ask how many times/how frequently does it need to be run? Has it got to be triggered by some event? Is this some kind of exercise?

[abhijitsarangi]

no actually I am trying to create a service which can be run at the atarting of the system like any other service like (psacct or httpd) so that I can monitor whcich user is using which command...

---------- Post added at 01:45 PM CDT ---------- Previous post was at 01:42 PM CDT ----------

c the psacct will not solve my purpose as it is not giving the entair command like..


let say 10 users have used "rm" command then I want to know which user have used which "rm" command..

[giulix]

Then you need two more things:
1) A loop (see while and for in the bash manual page)
2) A timeout (see sleep manual page)

Something like:

while(forever)
    append results of w command to output file
    wait n seconds
end

[assen]

Hi,

If you do not want to write a full safe-sustainable program, (daemon), you can use an external program to start your script and keep it alive.

You may simply run your script in background mode from rc.local (call it by name and add "&" after it).

You may have the init process start your script at boot time; it can also respawn it if it dies. With traditional SystemV system this is done in /etc/inittab. However, F13 has moved away and this will not do the trick; F13 is based on upstart.

If feeling curious, take a look at a tool called "svc" (aka "supervise") by D.J.Bernstein (http://cr.yp.to). It is designed to start, monitor and stop processes which are not daemons. ("Designed to run forever", sigh...)

WWell,