10

I have the following job in /etc/init/collector:

start on runlevel [2345]
stop on runlevel [!2345]

expect daemon

exec /usr/bin/twistd -y /path/to/my/tac/file

When I start the job with sudo service collector start, it hangs. If I ctrl-c and run initctl list, I see this:

collector start/killed, process 616

I can't see an instance of the twistd daemon in ps, and the HTTP server it's supposed to be providing does not exist.

I even tried this without 'expect daemon' and with a simple call to a one-line bash script using a script stanza, and it still doesn't work. I think I'm doing something very wrong. What could it be?

Cera
  • 327

3 Answers3

14

You can redirect stdout and stderr of the entire shell using the script pragma (instead of exec) in conjunction with exec >FILE 2>&1, like so:

script
    exec >/path/to/some_log_file 2>&1
    exec your_command_here
end script

That should hopefully give you better insight into what's going on. I've found this useful for catching all sorts of problems in my upstart scripts. You could pipe your command's stdout/stderr directly, but you'll miss out on errors originating in the shell (like syntax errors).

On the other hand, if service is hanging, it might not even be hitting your script, in which case none of this will help, of course.

Charles
  • 286
2

There's also the console log declarative, as defined here: http://upstart.ubuntu.com/cookbook/#console-log

I don't know enough about upstart to know if it's enabled by default, but you can enable it on a per upstart job basis, it'll by default output to /var/log/upstart/<job>.log

Ehtesh Choudhury
  • 1,498
0

Validate that upstart director exist , and add console log before the script phase. (in upstart version upper then 1.4 it's the default)

console log

script exec >/path/to/some_log_file 2>&1 exec your_command_here end script

For more info check thread: https://askubuntu.com/questions/207143/how-to-diagnose-upstart-errors/932155#932155

zachlaniado
  • 1