daemonpp

Simple C++ header only template for creating Linux daemons

What are daemon services/processes ?

A dæmon is a program that runs silently in the background.
Commonly, dæmon processes are created to offer a specific service.

Dæmon processes usually:

• Live for a long time;
• Started at boot time;
• Terminate only during shutdown;
• Have no controlling terminal.

Usage

daemonpp has a simple, straightforward api with callbacks to handle your daemon events.

#include "daemon.hpp"
using namespace daemonpp;
using namespace std::chrono_literals;

class my_daemon : public daemon
{
public:
    void on_start(const dconfig& cfg) override {
      /// Called once after daemon starts automatically with system startup or when you manually call `$ systemctl start my_daemon`
      /// Initialize your code here...

      dlog::info("my_daemon::on_start(): my_daemon version: " + cfg.get("version") + " started successfully!");
    }

    void on_update() override {
      /// Called every DURATION set in set_update_duration()...
      /// Update your code here...

      dlog::info("my_daemon::on_update()");
      if(++counter >= 3) { 
          dlog::trace("Stopping my_daemon after 3 updates.");
          stop(EXIT_SUCCESS);
      }
    }

    void on_stop() override {
      /// Called once before daemon is about to exit with system shutdown or when you manually call `$ systemctl stop my_daemon`
      /// Cleanup your code here...

      dlog::info("my_daemon::on_stop()");
    }

    void on_reload(const dconfig& cfg) override {
      /// Called once after your daemon's config fil is updated then reloaded with `$ systemctl reload my_daemon`
      /// Handle your config updates here...

      dlog::info("my_daemon::on_reload(): new daemon version from updated config: " + cfg.get("version"));
    }
    
private:
    int counter = 0;
};

int main(int argc, const char* argv[]) {
  my_daemon dmn;                         // create a daemon instance
  dmn.set_name("my_daemon"); // set daemon name to identify logs in syslog
  dmn.set_update_duration(3s);   // set duration to sleep before triggering the on_update callback 3 seconds
  dmn.set_cwd("/");      // set daemon's current working directory to root /
  dmn.run(argc, argv);                   // run your daemon
  return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Examples

See examples

Tutorial - Create a new daemon project in 3 steps

Let's assume your daemon project is called my_daemon

1. First, clone this repository into a new folder named after your project:

git clone https://github.com/baderouaich/daemonpp my_daemon

Your project structure will be like this:

my_daemon
├── examples/           # example daemon projects to inspire from
├── include/            # include files contains daemonpp single header files
├── systemd/            # .service.in and .conf.in files to be configured by cmake
├── daemonpp.cpp        # daemonpp.cpp sample daemon template
├── CMakeLists.txt      # CMake project file 
├── LICENSE             # MIT License file
└── README.md

2. Update your CMakeLists.txt file according to your project properties (name, version and description...)

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10)
project(my_daemon VERSION "0.0.1" DESCRIPTION "My daemon description" LANGUAGES CXX)
          ^                                            ^
          │_____ update your project name              |
                                                       |
                                                       │_____ update your project description

3. Configure your project (to create .service and .conf required daemon files):

mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..

Now your project structure will look like this:

my_daemon
├── examples/        
├── include/        
├── systemd/        
├── my_daemon.conf       
├── my_daemon.service    
├── my_daemon.cpp       
├── CMakeLists.txt   
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

That's it! you can now update your daemon code in the my_daemon.cpp file and remove examples/ folder if you don't need.

Also see how to:

• Install your daemon

• Enable/Disable your daemon to run with system startup

• Start/Stop your daemon

• Restart your daemon

• Reload your daemon

• Uninstall your daemon

Install your daemon

sudo make install

Enable/Disable your daemon to run with system startup

sudo systemctl [enable|disable] my_daemon

Start/Stop your daemon

Start

systemctl start my_daemon

will trigger the on_start() callback, providing your config values.

Stop

systemctl stop my_daemon

will trigger the on_stop() callback.

Restart your daemon

systemctl restart my_daemon

This is equivalent to sudo systemctl stop your_daemon && sudo systemctl start your_daemon

Reload your daemon

if you change your .service or .conf files, and you reinstalled your daemon, you have to reload your daemon by running:
systemctl reload my_daemon

will trigger the on_reload() callback, providing the new config values.

Check your daemon's status

systemctl status my_daemon

Uninstall your daemon

1. Stop daemon gracefully

systemctl stop my_daemon
systemctl disable my_daemon

2. Delete daemon files

sudo make uninstall

Or

sudo rm -rf /etc/my_daemon/my_daemon.conf /etc/systemd/system/my_daemon.service /usr/bin/my_daemon

Logging

Use the built-in dlog static class which uses syslog internally. Then you can see your logs by:

• running gnome-logs gui if available.
• using cat by running cat /var/log/syslog | grep your_daemon_name.
• using tail tail -f /var/log/syslog to show all logs or tail -f /var/log/syslog | grep your_daemon_name
• using systemctl status by running systemctl status your_daemon_name
• opening the /var/log/syslog file in a text editor and find your_daemon_name (not recommended since syslog can be huge).

TODO

• re-read configuration file upon SIGHUP
• relay information via event logging, often done using e.g., syslog(3)
• prevent against multiple instances via a lockfile
• allow for easy determination of PID via a pidfile
• include a system initialization script (for /etc/rc.d/, /etc/init.d/, systemd, …) for other Linux distros such as RedHat 4/5/6 or CentOS that use init scripts instead of systemd
• configuration file convention /etc/name.conf

Features and bugs

If you face any problems feel free to open an issue at the issue tracker. If you feel the library is missing a feature, please raise a ticket on Github. Pull request are also welcome.

References

• Jan Schaumann - Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment Week 10, Segment 1: Dæmon Processes