SvcD class and "svcd" command to run persistent service programmes.

Latest release 20221228:

• BREAKING: require "run" subcommand to run a service daemon.
• New "ls" subcommand to report services based on flags.

This provides the features one wants from a daemon for arbitrary commands providing a service:

• process id (pid) files for both svcd and the service command
• filesystem visible status (command running, service enabled) via cs.app.flag
• command restart if the command exits
• command control (stop, restart, disable) via cs.app.flag
• test function to monitor for service viability; if the test function fails, do not run the service. This typically monitors something like network routing (suspend service while laptop offline) or a ping (suspend ssh tunnel while target does not answer pings).
• signature function to monitor for service restart; if the signature changes, restart the service. This typically monitors something like file contents (restart service on configuration change) or network routing (restart ssh tunnel on network change)
• callbacks for service command start and end, for example to display desktop notifications

I use this to run persistent ssh port forwards and a small collection of other personal services. I have convenient shell commands to look up service status and to start/stop/restart services.

See cs.app.portfwd which I use to manage my ssh tunnels; it is a single Python programme running multiple ssh commands, each via its own SvcD instance.

Function callproc(*a, **kw)

Workalike for subprocess.call, using LockedPopen.

Function LockedPopen(*a, **kw)

Serialise the Popen calls.

My long term multithreaded SvcD programmes sometimes coredumps. My working theory is that Popen, maybe only on MacOS, is slightly not multithead safe. This function exists to test that theory.

Function main(argv=None)

svcd command line.

Class SvcD(cs.app.flag.FlaggedMixin)

A process based service.

Method SvcD.__init__(self, *argv, name=None, environ=None, flags=None, group_name=None, pidfile=None, sig_func=None, test_flags=None, test_func=None, test_rate=None, restart_delay=None, once=False, quiet=False, trace=False, on_spawn=None, on_reap=None): Initialise the SvcD.

Parameters:

• argv: command to run as a subprocess.
• flags: a cs.app.flag.Flags -like object, default None; if None the default flags will be used.
• group_name: alert group name, default "SVCD " + name.
• pidfile: path to pid file, default $VARRUN/{name}.pid.
• sig_func: signature function to compute a string which causes a restart if it changes
• test_flags: map of {flagname: truthiness} which should be monitored at test time; truthy flags must be true and untruthy flags must be false
• test_func: test function with must return true if the comannd can run
• test_rate: frequency of tests, default SvcD.TEST_RATE
• restart_delay: delay before start of an exiting command, default SvcD.RESTART_DELAY
• once: if true, run the command only once
• quiet: if true, do not issue alerts
• trace: trace actions, default False
• on_spawn: to be called after a new subprocess is spawned
• on_reap: to be called after a subprocess is reaped

Class SvcDCommand(cs.cmdutils.BaseCommand)

Implementation of SvcD command line mode.

Command line usage:

Usage: svcd subcommand [...]
  Subcommands:
    enable ...
        {cmd} enable names
        For each name clear the flag {{NAME}}_DISABLE, allowing the matching
        svcd to start up its daemon process.
    help [-l] [subcommand-names...]
      Print the full help for the named subcommands,
      or for all subcommands if no names are specified.
      -l  Long help even if no subcommand-names provided.
    ls
      List known services.
    restart ...
        {cmd} restart names...
        For each name set the flag {{NAME}}_RESTART, causing the matching
        svcd to shut down and then restart its daemon process.
    run [-1] [-l] [-L lockname] [-n name] [-t testcmd] [-x] command [args...]
      Run a daemon command.
      -1    Run command only once.
      -l    Use lock "svcd-<name>" to prevent multiple instances of this svcd.
      -F [!]flag,...
            Flags to include in the run test. Flags with a leading
            exclaimation point (!) must test false, others true.
      -L lockname
            Use lock "lockname" to prevent multiple instances of this svcd.
      -n name
            Specify a name for this svcd.
            Also create a subprocess pid file at <function <lambda> at 0x1107773a0>/name.pid for the command.
            This also causes svcd to consult the flags {NAME}_OVERRIDE
            and {NAME}_DISABLE and {NAME}_RESTART.
      -p svcd-pidfile
            Specify run pid file instead of default.
      -P subp-pidfile
            Specify run subprocess pid file instead of default.
      -q    Quiet. Do not issue alerts.
      -s sigcmd
            Run the signature shell command "sigcmd" whose output is
            used to check for changed circumstances requiring the service
            to restart.
      -t testcmd
            Run the test shell command "testcmd" periodically to
            govern whether the command should be active.
      -T testrate
            Interval between test polls in seconds. Default from SvcD.TEST_RATE
      -u username
            Run command as the specified username.
      -U username
            Run test and related commands as the specified username.
      -x    Trace execution.
    stop ...
        {cmd} stop names...
        For each name set the flag {{NAME}}_STOP, causing the the
        montior thread to kill the daemon process and exit.

Release Log

Release 20221228:

• BREAKING: require "run" subcommand to run a service daemon.
• New "ls" subcommand to report services based on flags.

Release 20210316: Serialise the Popen calls to avoid entirely hypothetical subprocess.Popen MT bug that may be making portfwd coredump.

Release 20190729: Get DEVNULL via cs.py3 instead of directly from subprocess.

Release 20190602.2: Another doc tweak.

Release 20190602.1: Improve module documentation formatting.

Release 20190602:

• Support alert groups.
• Catch and report exceptions from the monitor signature function.
• Python 2 port fix for DEVNULL.

Release 20171118: Bugfix for su invocation in setuid mode. Improved signature command tracing with -x option.

Release 20171026: Improved logic around signature changes.

Release 20171025: New "-F flag,..." option for svcd. Improve stop logic. Other small fixes.

Release 20170906: Initial PyPI release.