Linux: process into a service

I am trying to make a linux executable as a service

I execute my program like this below

java -jar mytestprogram.jar

creates a process that runs continuously and serves REST requests. But I want to run it as a service where I can do

service mytestprogram start
service mytestprogram stop
service mytestprogram status
chkconfig mytestprogram on

etc. What is the most simple way of doing it?

That depends on your system manager

the most common way to do that on debian/ubuntu is to build an initscript and place it in /etc/init.d or /etc/rc/init.d and place a script named mytestprogram in that.

this is an example initscript:

#!/bin/sh
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:          testone
# Required-Start:    $local_fs
# Required-Stop:     $local_fs
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
# X-Interactive:     false
# Short-Description: Example init script
# Description:       Start/stop an example script
### END INIT INFO

DESC="test script"
NAME=testone
#DAEMON=

do_start()
{
   echo "starting!";
}

do_stop()
{
   echo "stopping!"
}


case "$1" in
   start)
     do_start
     ;;
   stop)
     do_stop
     ;;
esac

exit 0

I suggest you to look some scripts in that directory, It's simple if you know bash a little ;)

Here is a sample shell script (make sure you replace the MAT name with the name of the your application):

I create one GitHubGist with the latest version of my script and a brief explanation to help those who need it. GitHub Gist link

#!/bin/bash

### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:                 MATH
# Required-Start:           $java
# Required-Stop:            $java
# Short-Description:        Start and stop MATH service.
# Description:              -
# Date-Creation:            -
# Date-Last-Modification:   -
# Author:                   -
### END INIT INFO

# Variables
PGREP=/usr/bin/pgrep
JAVA=/usr/bin/java
ZERO=0

# Start the MATH
start() {
    echo "Starting MATH..."
    #Verify if the service is running
    $PGREP -f MATH > /dev/null
    VERIFIER=$?
    if [ $ZERO = $VERIFIER ]
    then
        echo "The service is already running"
    else
        #Run the jar file MATH service
        $JAVA -jar /opt/MATH/MATH.jar > /dev/null 2>&1 &
        #sleep time before the service verification
        sleep 10
        #Verify if the service is running
        $PGREP -f MATH  > /dev/null
        VERIFIER=$?
        if [ $ZERO = $VERIFIER ]
        then
            echo "Service was successfully started"
        else
            echo "Failed to start service"
        fi
    fi
    echo
}

# Stop the MATH
stop() {
    echo "Stopping MATH..."
    #Verify if the service is running
    $PGREP -f MATH > /dev/null
    VERIFIER=$?
    if [ $ZERO = $VERIFIER ]
    then
        #Kill the pid of java with the service name
        kill -9 $($PGREP -f MATH)
        #Sleep time before the service verification
        sleep 10
        #Verify if the service is running
        $PGREP -f MATH  > /dev/null
        VERIFIER=$?
        if [ $ZERO = $VERIFIER ]
        then
            echo "Failed to stop service"
        else
            echo "Service was successfully stopped"
        fi
    else
        echo "The service is already stopped"
    fi
    echo
}

# Verify the status of MATH
status() {
    echo "Checking status of MATH..."
    #Verify if the service is running
    $PGREP -f MATH > /dev/null
    VERIFIER=$?
    if [ $ZERO = $VERIFIER ]
    then
        echo "Service is running"
    else
        echo "Service is stopped"
    fi
    echo
}

# Main logic
case "$1" in
    start)
        start
        ;;
    stop)
        stop
        ;;
    status)
        status
        ;;
    restart|reload)
        stop
        start
        ;;
  *)
    echo $"Usage: $0 {start|stop|status|restart|reload}"
    exit 1
esac
exit 0

In Ubuntu you can create the file as explained above with few lines, play around and see if it works for you.

description "My prog"
 
 
start on (net-device-up
          and local-filesystems
          and runlevel [2345])

stop on runlevel [!2345]
 
respawn
respawn limit 10 5
 
setuid root
setgid shnmon
 
script
    /usr/local/bin/my_script -config.path /etc/myprog/yourconfig.xyz -children false >> /var/log/myprog.log 2>&1
end script

The "-config.path /etc/myprog/yourconfig.xyz" is optional incase you have a config file.

You can just edit the script part and test it and keep others default and edit the rest along the way