How to launch services that do not fork to background using the rc infrastructure?

[Greg Larkin]

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On 1/22/13 10:29 AM, Grzegorz Blach wrote:
> On 01/22/2013 04:19 PM, Javier Mart￭n Rueda wrote:
>> The typical and simple rc.d script to launch a service has,
>> esentially, the following:
>> 
>> . /etc/rc.subr
>> 
>> name=SERVICE rcvar=SERVICE_enable
>> 
>> command="/usr/local/sbin/PROGRAM"
>> 
>> pidfile=/var/run/${name}.pid 
>> SERVICE_enable=${SERVICE_enable:-"NO"}
>> 
>> load_rc_config ${name} run_rc_command "$1"
>> 
>> One of the ports (net/spread4) runs a PROGRAM that does not fork
>> to background as a daemon and which does not have any
>> command-line option to ask it to do so. Therefore, the rc.d
>> script never finishes, with various consequences (system boot
>> stops, no pid file generated...)
>> 
>> I tried adding a "&" to SERVICE_flags to see if it made it run in
>> the background, but it didn't do the trick. I also quickly
>> checked the /etc/rc.subr code to see if there is any way of
>> forcing a background launch, but couldn't see anything. No luck
>> searching the web or problem reports either.
>> 
>> So, my question is whether there is a non-obvious way of forcing
>> a program to start in background using the rc infrastructure.
>> 
> 
> 
> Try  command="/usr/sbin/daemon -c -f -p $pidfile PROGRAM" or some
> thing like this.
> 

Here's a full example of that in the ViewVC rc.d script:

http://svnweb.freebsd.org/ports/head/devel/viewvc/files/viewvc.in?revision=300896&view=markup

Hope it helps,
Greg
- -- 
Greg Larkin

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