Run bash script as daemon

Question

I have a script, which runs my PHP script each X times:

#!/bin/bash
while true; do
/usr/bin/php -f ./my-script.php
echo "Waiting..."
sleep 3
done

How can I start it as daemon?

Answer 1

A Daemon is just program that runs as a background process, rather than being under the direct control of an interactive user...

[The below bash code is for Debian systems - Ubuntu, Linux Mint distros and so on]

The simple way:

The simple way would be to edit your /etc/rc.local file and then just have your script run from there (i.e. everytime you boot up the system):

sudo nano /etc/rc.local

Add the following and save:

#For a BASH script
/bin/sh TheNameOfYourScript.sh > /dev/null &

The better way to do this would be to create a Daemon via Upstart:

sudo nano /etc/init/TheNameOfYourDaemon.conf

add the following:

description "My Daemon Job"
author "Your Name"
start on runlevel [2345]    

pre-start script
  echo "[`date`] My Daemon Starting" >> /var/log/TheNameOfYourDaemonJobLog.log
end script

exec /bin/sh TheNameOfYourScript.sh > /dev/null &

Save this.

Confirm that it looks ok:

init-checkconf /etc/init/TheNameOfYourDaemon.conf

Now reboot the machine:

sudo reboot

Now when you boot up your system, you can see the log file stating that your Daemon is running:

cat  /var/log/TheNameOfYourDaemonJobLog.log

• Now you may start/stop/restart/get the status of your Daemon via:

restart: this will stop, then start a service

sudo service TheNameOfYourDaemonrestart restart

start: this will start a service, if it's not running

sudo service TheNameOfYourDaemonstart start

stop: this will stop a service, if it's running

sudo service TheNameOfYourDaemonstop stop

status: this will display the status of a service

sudo service TheNameOfYourDaemonstatus status

Answer 2

You can go to /etc/init.d/ - you will see a daemon template called skeleton.

You can duplicate it and then enter your script under the start function.

Answer 3

Another cool trick is to run functions or subshells in background, not always feasible though

name(){
  echo "Do something"
  sleep 1
}

# put a function in the background
name &
#Example taken from here
#https://bash.cyberciti.biz/guide/Putting_functions_in_background

Running a subshell in the background

(echo "started"; sleep 15; echo "stopped") &

Answer 4

To run it as a full daemon from a shell, you'll need to use setsid and redirect its output. You can redirect the output to a logfile, or to /dev/null to discard it. Assuming your script is called myscript.sh, use the following command:

setsid myscript.sh >/dev/null 2>&1 < /dev/null &

This will completely detach the process from your current shell (stdin, stdout and stderr). If you want to keep the output in a logfile, replace the first /dev/null with your /path/to/logfile.

You have to redirect the output, otherwise it will not run as a true daemon (it will depend on your shell to read and write output).