Provided by: daemon_0.8.4-1_amd64 
NAME
daemon - turns other processes into daemons
SYNOPSIS
usage: daemon [options] [--] [cmd arg...]
options:
-h, --help - Print a help message then exit
-V, --version - Print a version message then exit
-v, --verbose[=level] - Set the verbosity level
-d, --debug[=level] - Set the debugging level
-C, --config=path - Specify the system configuration file
-N, --noconfig - Bypass the system configuration file
-n, --name=name - Guarantee a single named instance
-X, --command="cmd" - Specify the client command as an option
-P, --pidfiles=/dir - Override standard pidfile location
-F, --pidfile=/path - Override standard pidfile name and location
-u, --user=user[:[group]] - Run the client as user[:group]
-R, --chroot=path - Run the client with path as root
-D, --chdir=path - Run the client in directory path
-m, --umask=umask - Run the client with the given umask
-e, --env="var=val" - Set a client environment variable
-i, --inherit - Inherit environment variables
-U, --unsafe - Allow execution of unsafe executable
-S, --safe - Disallow execution of unsafe executable
-c, --core - Allow core file generation
--nocore - Disallow core file generation (default)
-r, --respawn - Respawn the client when it terminates
-a, --acceptable=# - Minimum acceptable client duration (seconds)
-A, --attempts=# - Respawn # times on error before delay
-L, --delay=# - Delay between respawn attempt bursts (seconds)
-M, --limit=# - Maximum number of respawn attempt bursts
--idiot - Idiot mode (trust root with the above)
-f, --foreground - Run the client in the foreground
-p, --pty[=noecho] - Allocate a pseudo terminal for the client
-B, --bind - Stop when the user's last logind session ends
-l, --errlog=spec - Send daemon's error output to syslog or file
-b, --dbglog=spec - Send daemon's debug output to syslog or file
-o, --output=spec - Send client's output to syslog or file
-O, --stdout=spec - Send client's stdout to syslog or file
-E, --stderr=spec - Send client's stderr to syslog or file
--ignore-eof - After SIGCHLD ignore any client output
--read-eof - After SIGCHLD read any client output (default)
--running - Check if a named daemon is running
--restart - Restart a named daemon client
--stop - Terminate a named daemon process
--signal=signame - Send a signal to a named daemon
--list - Print a list of named daemons
DESCRIPTION
daemon(1) turns other processes into daemons. There are many tasks that need to be performed to correctly
set up a daemon process. This can be tedious. daemon performs these tasks for other processes.
The preparatory tasks that daemon performs for other processes are:
• First, revoke any setuid or setgid privileges that daemon may have been installed with (by system
administrators who laugh in the face of danger).
• Process command line options.
• Change the root directory if the --chroot option was supplied.
• Change the process uid and gid if the --user option was supplied. Only root can use this option. Note
that the uid of daemon itself is changed, rather than just changing the uid of the client process.
• Read the system configuration file(s) (/etc/daemon.conf and /etc/daemon.conf.d/* by default, or
specified by the --config option), unless the --noconfig option was supplied. Then read the user's
personal configuration file(s) (~/.daemonrc and ~/.daemonrc.d/*), if any. Generic options that apply
to all daemons are processed first, then options that are specific to the daemon with the given name.
Note: The root directory and the user must be set before access to the configuration file(s) can be
attempted, so neither the --chroot nor --user options may appear in the configuration file.
On BSD systems (except macOS), the system configuration file(s) are /usr/local/etc/daemon.conf and
/usr/local/etc/daemon.conf.d/* by default.
On macOS, when installed via macports, the system configuration file(s) are
/opt/local/etc/daemon.conf and /opt/local/etc/daemon.conf.d/*.
• Disable core file generation to prevent leaking potentially sensitive information in daemons that are
run by root (unless the --core option was supplied).
• Become a daemon process:
• If daemon was not invoked by init(8) (i.e. parent process id 1) or inetd(8) (i.e. stdin is a
socket):
• Ignore SIGHUP signals in case the current process session leader terminates while attached to
a controlling terminal, causing us to receive a SIGHUP signal before we start our own process
session below.
This can happen when daemon was invoked interactively via the shell builtin exec. When this
initial process terminates below, the terminal emulator that invoked the shell also
terminates, so daemon need to protect itself from that.
• Background the process to lose process group leadership.
• Start a new process session.
• Background the process again to lose process session leadership. Under SVR4, this prevents
the process from ever gaining a controlling terminal. This is only necessary under SVR4, but
is always done for simplicity. Note that ignoring SIGHUP signals earlier means that when the
newly created process session leader terminates, then even if it has a controlling terminal
open, the newly backgrounded process won't receive the corresponding SIGHUP signal that is
sent to all processes in the process session's foreground process group, because it inherited
signal dispositions from the initial process.
• Change the current directory to the root directory so as not to hamper umounts.
• Clear the umask to enable explicit file creation modes.
• Close all open file descriptors. If daemon was invoked by inetd(8), stdin, stdout and stderr are
left open, because they are open to a socket.
• Open stdin, stdout and stderr to /dev/null, in case something requires them to be open. Of
course, this is not done if daemon was invoked by inetd(8).
• If the --name option was supplied, create and lock a file containing the process id of the daemon
process. The presence of this locked file prevents two instances of a daemon with the same name
from running at the same time. The default location of the pidfile is /var/run for root (/etc on
Solaris, /opt/local/var/run on macOS when installed via macports), and /tmp for normal users. If
the --pidfiles option was supplied, its argument specifies the directory in which the pidfile
will be placed. If the --pidfile option was supplied, its argument specifies the name of the
pidfile and the directory in which it will be placed.
• If the --umask option was supplied, set the umask to its argument, which must be a valid three-digit
octal mode. Otherwise, set the umask to 022, to prevent clients from accidentally creating group- or
world-writable files.
• Set the current directory if the --chdir option was supplied.
• Spawn the client command and wait for it to terminate. The client command can be specified as command
line arguments, or as the argument of the --command option. If both the --command option and command
line arguments are present, the client command is the result of appending the command line arguments
to the argument of the --command option.
• If the --output, --stdout and/or --stderr options were supplied, the client's standard output and/or
standard error are captured by daemon, and are sent to the respective syslog destinations.
• When the client terminates, daemon respawns it if the --respawn option was supplied. If the client
ran for less than 300 seconds (or the value of the --acceptable option), then daemon sees this as a
failure. It will attempt to restart the client up to five times (or the value of the --attempts
option), before waiting for 300 seconds (or the value of the --delay option). This gives the system
administrator the chance to correct whatever is preventing the client from running successfully
without overloading system resources. If the --limit option was supplied, daemon terminates after the
specified number of respawn attempt bursts. The default is zero, which means never give up, never
surrender.
When the client terminates, and the --respawn option wasn't supplied, daemon terminates as well.
• If daemon receives a SIGTERM signal (e.g. from a separate invocation of daemon with the --stop
option), it propagates the signal to the client and then terminates.
• If daemon receives a SIGUSR1 signal (from a separate invocation of daemon with the --restart option),
it sends a SIGTERM signal to the client. If it was started with the --respawn option, the client
process will be restarted after it is terminated by the SIGTERM signal.
• If the --foreground option was supplied, the client process is run as a foreground process, and is
not turned into a daemon at all. If daemon is connected to a terminal, then the client process will
also be connected to it. If daemon is not connected to a terminal, but the client needs to be
connected to a terminal, use the --pty option.
OPTIONS
-h, --help
Display a help message and exit.
-V, --version
Display a version message and exit.
-v[level], --verbose[=level]
Set the message verbosity level to level (or 1 if level is not supplied). This only effects the
--running and --list options.
-d[level], --debug[=level]
Set the debug message level to level (or 1 if level is not supplied). Level 1 traces high-level
function calls. Level 2 traces lower-level function calls and shows configuration information. Level
3 adds environment variables. Level 9 adds every return value from select(2). Debug messages are sent
to the destination specified by the --dbglog option (by default, the syslog(3) facility,
daemon.debug).
-C path, --config=path
Specify the system configuration file to use. By default, /etc/daemon.conf is the system
configuration file, if it exists and is not group- or world-writable, and does not exist in a group-
or world-writable directory. The configuration file lets you predefine options that apply to all
clients, and to specifically named clients.
As well as the system configuration file, additional configuration files will be read from the
directory whose path matches the system configuration file with ".d" appended to it (e.g.
/etc/daemon.conf.d). Any file in that directory whose name starts with a dot character (".") is
ignored. The same checks as described above apply to these files as well.
On BSD systems (except macOS), the system configuration file(s) are /usr/local/etc/daemon.conf and
/usr/local/etc/daemon.conf.d/* by default.
On macOS, when installed via macports, the system configuration file(s) are
/opt/local/etc/daemon.conf and /opt/local/etc/daemon.conf.d/*.
-N, --noconfig
Bypass the system configuration files, /etc/daemon.conf and /etc/daemon.conf.d/*. Only the user's
~/.daemonrc and ~/.daemonrc.d/* configuration files will be read (if they exist).
-n name, --name=name
Create and lock a pidfile (name.pid), ensuring that only one daemon with the given name is active at
the same time. The standard location of the pidfile is /var/run for root (/etc on Solaris,
/opt/local/var/run on macOS when installed via macports), and /tmp for normal users. This location
can be overridden with the --pidfiles option.
The name may only consist of the following characters:
-._abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789
While a named daemon's client process is running, there will also be a separate pidfile to record the
process id of the client process. Its filename will be the same as the daemon pidfile's, except that
the filename extension will be .clientpid rather than .pid. The only reason that there should be a
.pid file, with no .clientpid file, is during the delay between respawn attempts bursts.
-X "cmd", --command="cmd"
Specify the client command as an option. If a command is specified along with its name in the
configuration file, then a daemon can be invoked merely by mentioning its name:
daemon --name ftumch
Note: If the client command is specified with the --command option, either in the configuration file,
or on the command line, then any additional command line arguments on the daemon command line are
appended to the client command that is specified with the --command option.
-P /dir, --pidfiles=/dir
Override the standard pidfile location. The standard pidfile location is /var/run for root (/etc on
Solaris, /opt/local/var/run on macOS when installed via macports), and /tmp for normal users.
This option only affects the --name and --list options. Use this option if these standard locations
are unacceptable, but make sure that you don't forget where you put your pidfiles. This option is
best used in configuration files, or in shell scripts, rather than on an interactive command line.
The pidfile location will be created automatically only if it is within the user's home directory.
-F /path, --pidfile=/path
Override the standard pidfile name and location. The standard pidfile location is described
immediately above. The standard pidfile name is the argument of the --name option followed by .pid.
Use this option if the standard pidfile name and location are unacceptable, but make sure that you
don't forget where you put your pidfile. This option is best used in configuration files, or in shell
scripts, rather than on an interactive command line.
The pidfile location will be created automatically only if it is within the user's home directory.
-u user[:[group]], --user=user[:[group]]
Run the client as a different user (and group). This only works for root. If the argument includes a
:group specifier, daemon will assume the specified group and no other. Otherwise, daemon will assume
all groups that the specified user is in. For backwards compatibility, "." may be used instead of ":"
to separate the user and group but since "." can appear in user and group names, ambiguities can
arise such as using --user=u.g when users u and u.g and group g all exist. With such an ambiguity,
daemon will assume the user u and group g. Use --user=u.g: instead for the other interpretation.
-R path, --chroot=path
Change the root directory to path before running the client. On some systems, only root can do this.
Note that the path to the client program and to the configuration file (if any) must be relative to
the new root path.
-D path, --chdir=path
Change the current directory to path before running the client. The default current directory is the
root directory (possibly after chroot).
-m umask, --umask=umask
Change the umask to umask before running the client. umask must be a valid octal mode. The default
umask is 022.
-e "var=val", --env="var=val"
Set an environment variable for the client process. This option can be used any number of times. If
it is used, only the supplied environment variables are passed to the client process. Otherwise, the
client process inherits the current set of environment variables.
-i, --inherit
Explicitly inherit environment variables. This is only needed when the --env option is used. When
this option is used, the --env option adds to the inherited environment, rather than replacing it.
-U, --unsafe
Allow reading an unsafe configuration file, and allow the execution of an unsafe executable. A
configuration file or executable is considered to be unsafe if it is group- or world-writable or is
in a directory that is group- or world-writable (following symbolic links). If an executable is a
script that is interpreted by another executable, then it is considered to be unsafe if the
interpreter is unsafe. If the interpreter is /usr/bin/env (with an argument that is a command name to
be searched for in $PATH), then that command must be safe. By default, daemon(1) will refuse to read
an unsafe configuration file or to execute an unsafe executable when run by root. This option
overrides that behaviour and hence should never be used.
-S, --safe
Disallow reading an unsafe configuration file, and disallow the execution of an unsafe executable. By
default, daemon(1) will allow reading an unsafe configuration file, and allow the execution of an
unsafe executable, when run by normal users. This option overrides that behaviour.
-c, --core
Allow the client to create a core file. This should only be used for debugging, as it could lead to
security-related information disclosures by daemons run by root.
--nocore
By default, clients are prevented from creating a core file. If the --core option has been used in a
configuration file to apply to all named daemons, then this option can be used to restore the default
behaviour for specific named daemons.
-r, --respawn
Respawn the client when it terminates. Without this option, the termination of a client process
causes daemon itself to terminate as well.
-a #, --acceptable=#
Specify the minimum acceptable duration of a client process, in seconds. This option can only be
used with the --respawn option. If a client process terminates before this threshold is reached, then
it is considered to have failed. The default value is 300 seconds. It cannot be set to less than 10
seconds, except by root when used in conjunction with the --idiot option.
-A #, --attempts=#
Specify the number of attempts to respawn before delaying. This option can only be used with the
--respawn option. The default value is 5. It cannot be set to more than 100 attempts, except by root
when used in conjunction with the --idiot option.
-L #, --delay=#
Specify the delay in seconds between each burst of respawn attempts. This option can only be used
with the --respawn option. The default value is 300 seconds. It cannot be set to less than 10 seconds
except by root when used in conjunction with the --idiot option.
-M #, --limit=#
Specify a limit to the number of respawn attempt bursts. This option can only be used with the
--respawn option. The default value is 0, which means no limit.
--idiot
Turn on idiot mode in which daemon will not enforce the minimum or maximum values normally imposed on
the --acceptable, --attempts and --delay options. The --idiot option must appear before any of these
options. Only the root user may use this option, because it can turn a slight misconfiguration into a
lot of wasted CPU energy and log messages, somewhat akin to a self-inflicted denial of service.
Idiot mode also allows the root user to expand environment variable notation (e.g. $VAR and ${VAR})
in command line option arguments, and in configuration files. By default, internal environment
variable expansion is only performed for normal users. Note that this doesn't apply to any such
expansion performed earlier by the shell that invokes daemon(1). See the EXPANSION section below for
more details.
-f, --foreground
Run the client in the foreground. The client is not turned into a daemon.
-p[noecho], --pty[=noecho]
Connect the client to a pseudo terminal. This option can only be used with the --foreground option.
This is the default when the --foreground option is supplied and daemon's standard input is connected
to a terminal. This option is only necessary when the client process must be connected to a
controlling terminal, but daemon itself has been run without a controlling terminal (e.g. from
cron(8) or a pipeline).
If the noecho argument is supplied with this option, the client's side of the pseudo terminal will be
set to noecho mode. Use this only if there really is a terminal involved and input is being echoed
twice.
-B, --bind
Automatically terminate the client process (and daemon(1) itself) as soon as the user has no
systemd-logind(8) (or elogind(8)) user sessions. In other words, automatically terminate when the
user logs out. If the user has no sessions to start with, the client process will be terminated
immediately.
This option is only available on Linux systems that have either systemd(1) (e.g. Debian) or
elogind(8) (e.g. Slackware). On systems with systemd(1), you could instead use a systemd user
service, particularly if your user account is not allowed to have user services that linger.
-l spec, --errlog=spec
Send daemon's standard output and standard error to the syslog destination or file that is specified
by spec. If spec is a syslog destination of the form "facility.priority", then output is sent to
syslog(3). Otherwise, output is appended to the file whose path is given in spec. By default, output
is sent to the syslog destination, daemon.err. See the MESSAGING section below for more details.
-b spec, --dbglog=spec
Send daemon's debug output to the syslog destination or file that is specified by spec. If spec is a
syslog destination of the form "facility.priority", then output is sent to syslog(3). Otherwise,
output is appended to the file whose path is given in spec. By default, output is sent to the syslog
destination daemon.debug. See the MESSAGING section below for more details.
-o spec, --output=spec
Capture the client's standard output and standard error, and send it to the syslog destination or
file that is specified by spec. If spec is a syslog destination of the form "facility.priority", then
output is sent to syslog(3). Otherwise, output is appended to the file whose path is given in spec.
By default, output is discarded unless the --foreground option is present, in which case, the
client's stdout and stderr are propagated to daemon's stdout and stderr, respectively. See the
MESSAGING section below for more details.
-O spec, --stdout=spec
Capture the client's standard output, and send it to the syslog destination or file that is specified
by spec. If spec is a syslog destination of the form "facility.priority", then output is sent to
syslog(3). Otherwise, stdout is appended to the file whose path is given in spec. By default, stdout
is discarded unless the --foreground option is present, in which case, the client's stdout is
propagated to daemon's stdout. See the MESSAGING section below for more details.
-E spec, --stderr=spec
Capture the client's standard error, and send it to the syslog destination or file that is specified
by spec. If spec is a syslog destination of the form "facility.priority", then stderr is sent to
syslog(3). Otherwise, stderr is appended to the file whose path is given in spec. By default, stderr
is discarded unless the --foreground option is present, in which case, the client's stderr is
propagated to daemon's stderr. See the MESSAGING section below for more details.
--ignore-eof
After receiving a SIGCHLD signal due to a stopped or restarted client process, don't bother reading
the client's output until the end-of-file is reached before reaping the client process's termination
status with wait(2). Normally, there will be little or no output after the SIGCHLD signal, because
the client process has just terminated. However, the client process might have its own child
processes keeping its output open long after its own termination. When this happens, by default, the
client process remains as a zombie process until its child processes terminate and close the output.
Waiting for the client's child processes to terminate before considering the client stopped, and
before restarting a new invocation, might be desirable. If not, this option can be used to consider
the client process as being terminated as soon as the SIGCHLD signal has been received, and reaping
its termination status with wait(2) immediately.
--read-eof
After receiving a SIGCHLD signal due to a stopped or restarted client process, continue reading the
client's output until the end-of-file is reached before reaping the client process's termination
status with wait(2). This is the default behaviour. Normally, there will be little or no output after
the SIGCHLD signal, because the client process has just terminated. However, the client process might
have its own child processes keeping its output open long after its own termination. When this
happens, the client process remains as a zombie process until its child processes terminate and close
the output. Waiting for the client's child processes to terminate before considering the client
stopped, and before restarting a new invocation, might be desirable. If so, but the --ignore-eof
option has been used in a configuration file to apply to all named daemons, then this option can be
used to restore the default behaviour for specific named daemons.
--running
Check whether or not a named daemon is running, then exit(3) with EXIT_SUCCESS if the named daemon is
running or EXIT_FAILURE if it isn't.
If the --verbose option is supplied, print a message before exiting. If both the named daemon and its
client process are running, the output will look like this, showing both process IDs:
daemon: name is running (pid 7455) (clientpid 7457)
If the named daemon is running but its client process is not (there might be a delay between respawn
attempt bursts), the output will look like this, showing only the daemon process's ID:
daemon: name is running (pid 7455) (client is not running)
If the named daemon is not running at all, the output will look like this:
daemon: name is not running
This option can only be used with the --name option. Note that the --chroot, --user, --name,
--pidfiles and --pidfile (and possibly --config) options must be the same as for the target daemon.
--restart
Instruct a named daemon to terminate and restart its client process, by sending it a SIGUSR1 signal.
This will cause the named daemon to send its client process a SIGTERM signal to stop it. If the named
daemon had been started with the --restart option, the named daemon will then restart its client
process. Otherwise, this has the same effect as the --stop option, and the named daemon's client
process is not restarted.
This option can only be used with the --name option. Note that the --chroot, --user, --name,
--pidfiles and --pidfile (and possibly --config) options must be the same as for the target daemon.
--stop
Stop a named daemon by sending it a SIGTERM signal. This will cause the named daemon to send its
client process a SIGTERM option and then exit.
This option can only be used with the --name option. Note that the --chroot, --user, --name,
--pidfiles and --pidfile (and possibly --config) options must be the same as for the target daemon.
--signal=signame
Send the given signal to a named daemon's client process. The signal can be specified either by
number or by name (with or without the "sig" prefix). Any signal may be sent. However, the named
daemon's client process might be ignoring some signals. For example, SIGHUP will be ignored by
default unless the client process has installed a signal handler for it.
The known list of signals are: hup, int, quit, ill, trap, abrt, iot, bus, fpe, kill, usr1, segv,
usr2, pipe, alrm, term, stkflt, cld, chld, cont, stop, tstp, ttin, ttou, urg, xcpu, xfsz, vtalrm,
prof, winch, poll, io, pwr, sys, emt and info. Not all of them are available on all platforms.
--list
Print a list of the currently running named daemons whose pidfiles are in the applicable pidfile
directory which will either be the default (i.e. /var/run for root (/etc on Solaris,
/opt/local/var/run on macOS when installed via macports), and /tmp for normal users), or it will be
specified by the --pidfiles option. Then exit.
Without the --verbose option, this will only list the names of daemons whose pidfiles are locked, as
this implies that the corresponding daemon must still be running. Note that pidfiles for daemons that
were not started by daemon(1) might not be locked. An unlocked pidfile might indicate that daemon(1)
has died unexpectedly, or it might just be a pidfile for a daemon that was not started by daemon(1).
If this might lead to confusion, you might want to consider using a dedicated pidfiles directory for
named daemons started by daemon(1), and leave the default pidfiles directories for other daemons that
were started independently of daemon(1).
With the --verbose option, the items in the list will look like the output of the --running option
with --verbose, but with more detail.
If there are no pidfiles at all, the output will look like this:
No named daemons are running
If a pidfile is locked, and there is a corresponding client pidfile, that indicates that the named
daemon and its client are both running, and the output will look like this, showing both process IDs:
name is running (pid ####) (client pid ####)
If a pidfile is locked, but there is no client pidfile, that indicates that the named daemon is
running, but its client is not (e.g. during a delay between respawn attempt bursts when the client is
failing to start successfully), and the output will look like one of the following three options:
When we can tell that the pidfile is for a process whose executable name is daemon:
name is running (pid ####) (client is not running)
When we can tell that the pidfile is for a process whose executable name is something other than
daemon (i.e. is independent of daemon(1)):
name is running (pid ####) (independent)
When it's not possible to determine the name of the executable associated with the pidfile (i.e. On
systems other than Linux without a /proc file system):
name is running (pid ####) (client is not running or is independent)
If a pidfile is not locked, and the applicable pidfiles directory is the default, that indicates
either that the daemon has unexpectedly terminated, or just that the pidfile is for a daemon that was
not started by daemon(1), and the output will look like this:
name is not running (or is independent)
If a pidfile is not locked, and the applicable pidfiles directory is not the default, then it is
assumed that all pidfiles are for daemons that were started by daemon(1), and the output will look
like this:
name is not running
As with all other programs, a -- argument signifies the end of options. Any options that appear on the
command line after -- are part of the client command.
EXPANSION
Some simple shell-like expansion is performed internally on the arguments of the command line options
with a text argument (but not the options with a numeric argument).
Environment variable notation, such as $VAR or ${VAR}, is expanded. Then user home directory notation,
such as ~ or ~user, is expanded. File name expansion (i.e. globbing) is NOT performed internally.
Neither are any of your login shell's other wonderful expansions. This is very basic.
This might not be of much use on the command line, since daemon is normally invoked via a shell, which
will first perform all of its usual expansions. It might even be undesirable to perform expansion
internally after the shell has already done so (e.g. if you refer to any directory names that actually
contain the '$' character, or if you use any environment variables whose values contain the '$'
character, which is unlikely).
But it can be useful in configuration files. See the FILES section below for more details. It can also be
useful when daemon is invoked directly by another program without the use of a shell.
By default, environment variable expansion is not performed for the root user, even if the environment
variable was defined in the configuration files. The --idiot option can be used to change this behaviour,
and allow the expansion of environment variables for the root user. Home directory notation expansion is
performed for all users.
FILES
/etc/daemon.conf, /etc/daemon.conf.d/* - system-wide default options
/usr/local/etc/daemon.conf, /usr/local/etc/daemon.conf.d/* - system-wide default options on BSD systems
(except macOS).
/opt/local/etc/daemon.conf, /opt/local/etc/daemon.conf.d/* - system-wide default options on macOS when
installed via macports.
~/.daemonrc, ~/.daemonrc.d/* - user-specific default options
Each line of the configuration file is either an environment variable definition, or a configuration
directive.
Environment variable definitions consist of the variable name, followed immediately by '=' and the value
of the variable. They look like they do in shell, except that there is no quoting or other shell syntax.
Environment variable values can include simple environment variable notation (e.g. $VAR or ${VAR}), and
user home directory notation (e.g. ~ or ~user). These will be expanded internally by daemon. See the
EXPANSION section above for more details.
Note that any environment variables that are defined in the configuration file, which are subsequently
used explicitly in another environment variable definition or in an option argument, will have these
expansions performed multiple times. Avoid environment variables whose values can change again if
expansion is performed multiple times.
Example:
PATH=/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:$HOME/bin:~app/bin
PIDFILES=~/.run
Configuration directives consist of a client name (for options that apply to a single client), or '*'
(for generic options that apply to all clients), followed by spaces and/or tabs, followed by a comma-
separated list of options. Any option arguments must not contain any commas. The commas that separate
options can have spaces and tabs before and after them. Option arguments that are text (but not numbers)
can include simple environment variable notation (e.g. $VAR or ${VAR}), and user home directory notation
(e.g. ~ or ~user). These will be expanded internally by daemon. See the EXPANSION section above for more
details.
Blank lines and comments ('#' to end of the line) are ignored. Lines can be continued with a '\'
character at the end of the line.
Example:
* errlog=daemon.err,output=local0.err,core
test1 syslog=local0.debug,debug=9,verbose=9,respawn
test2 syslog=local0.debug,debug=9, \
verbose=9,respawn, \
pidfiles=$PIDFILES
The command line options are processed first, to look for a --config option. If no --config option was
supplied, the default configuration files, /etc/daemon.conf and /etc/daemon.conf.d/*, are used. On BSD
systems (except macOS), the default configuration files are /usr/local/etc/daemon.conf and
/usr/local/etc/daemon.conf.d/*. On macOS when installed via macports, the default configuration files are
/opt/local/etc/daemon.conf and /opt/local/etc/daemon.conf.d/*. If the user has their own configuration
files, ~/.daemonrc and ~/.daemonrc.d/*, they are also used.
If the configuration files contain any generic ('*') entries, their options are applied in order of
appearance. If the --name option was supplied, and the configuration files contain any entries for the
given name, those options are then applied in order of appearance.
Finally, the command line options are applied again. This ensures that any generic options apply to all
clients by default. Client-specific options override generic options. User options override system-wide
options. Command line options override everything else.
Note that the configuration files are not opened and read until after any --chroot and/or --user command
line options are processed. This means that the configuration file paths and the client's file path must
be relative to the --chroot argument. It also means that the configuration files and the client
executable must be readable/executable by the user specified by the --user argument. It also means that
the --chroot and --user options must not appear in the configuration file. Also note that the --name
option must not appear on the right hand side in the configuration file either.
MESSAGING
The --errlog, --dbglog, --output, --stdout and --stderr options all take an argument that can be either a
syslog destination of the form "facility.priority" or the path to a file. Here are the lists of syslog
facilities and priorities:
Facilities:
kern, user, mail, daemon, auth, syslog, lpr, news, uucp, cron,
local0, local1, local2, local3, local4, local5, local6, local7.
Priorities:
emerg, alert, crit, err, warning, notice (on some systems), info, debug.
If the path to a file is supplied instead, bear in mind the fact that daemon(1) changes to the root
directory by default, and so the file path should be an absolute path (or relative to the --chroot and/or
--chdir option argument). Otherwise, daemon(1) will attempt to create the file relative to its current
directory. You might not have permissions to do that, or want to even if you do.
CAVEAT
Clients can only be restarted if they were started with the --respawn option. Using --restart on a non-
respawning daemon client is equivalent to using --stop. If you try to restart a named daemon, and it
stops instead, then it probably wasn't started with the --respawn option.
Clients that are run in the foreground with a pseudo terminal don't respond to job control (i.e.
suspending with Control-Z doesn't work). This is because the client belongs to an orphaned process group
(it starts in its own process session), so the kernel won't send it SIGSTOP signals. However, if the
client is a shell that supports job control, then its subprocesses can be suspended.
In KDE, if you use "exec daemon" (or just "exec" without daemon) in a shell, to run a KDE application,
you might find that the KDE application sometimes doesn't run. This problem has only been seen with
konsole(1), but it might happen with other KDE applications as well. Capturing the standard error of the
KDE application might show something like:
unnamed app(9697): KUniqueApplication: Registering failed!
unnamed app(9697): Communication problem with "konsole" , it probably crashed.
Error message was: "org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown" : " "The name
org.kde.konsole was not provided by any .service files"
A workaround seems to be to delay the termination of the initial daemon(1) process by at least 0.4
seconds. To make this happen, set the environment variable DAEMON_INIT_EXIT_DELAY_MSEC to the number of
milliseconds by which to delay. For example: DAEMON_INIT_EXIT_DELAY_MSEC=400. Or you could just avoid
using exec when starting KDE applications.
On Linux systems that have systemd(1) or elogind(8), you might find that your daemon processes and their
client processes are terminated when you logout, even though they are in a different process session, and
so should be unaffected. This is because systemd has the ability to terminate all of your processes when
you logout. Luckily, this feature is turned off by default in some Linux distributions. However, if it is
on, you can turn it off by adding the following line to /etc/systemd/logind.conf (or
/etc/elogind/logind.conf):
KillUserProcesses=no
SEE ALSO
libslack(3), daemon(3), coproc(3), pseudo(3), init(8), inetd(8), fork(2), umask(2), setsid(2), chdir(2),
chroot(2), setrlimit(2), setgid(2), setuid(2), setgroups(2), initgroups(3), syslog(3), kill(2), wait(2),
systemd-logind(8), elogind(8)
AUTHOR
20230824 raf <raf@raf.org>
daemon-0.8.4 20230824 DAEMON(1)