ubuntu : auto restart application as a service after server reboot

You can simply use "nohup java -jar yourappname.jar &" to run an application at backend , but how to automatically start this application as a service after server reboot ?



Step 1 : make your application a service

write a script as below and put to /etc/init.d/yourappname, make sure this script is readable and executable for the user who is going to run the application.

	#!/bin/sh
	### BEGIN INIT INFO
	# Provides: yourappname
	# Required-Start: $remote_fs $syslog
	# Required-Stop: $remote_fs $syslog
	# Default-Start: 2 3 4 5
	# Default-Stop: 0 1 6
	# Short-Description: Start daemon at boot time
	# Description: Enable service provided by daemon.
	### END INIT INFO
	SERVICE_NAME=jeh
	PATH_TO_JAR=/opt/yourappname.jar
	PID_PATH_NAME=/tmp/yourappname.pid
	case $1 in
	start)
	echo "Starting $SERVICE_NAME ..."
	if [ ! -f $PID_PATH_NAME ]; then
	su - youruser -c "nohup java -jar $PATH_TO_JAR > /dev/null 2>&1 & echo $! > $PID_PATH_NAME"
	echo "$SERVICE_NAME started ..."
	else
	echo "$SERVICE_NAME is already running ..."
	fi
	;;
	stop)
	if [ -f $PID_PATH_NAME ]; then
	PID=$(cat $PID_PATH_NAME);
	echo "$SERVICE_NAME stoping ..."
	kill $PID;
	echo "$SERVICE_NAME stopped ..."
	rm $PID_PATH_NAME
	else
	echo "$SERVICE_NAME is not running ..."
	fi
	;;
	restart)
	if [ -f $PID_PATH_NAME ]; then
	PID=$(cat $PID_PATH_NAME);
	echo "$SERVICE_NAME stopping ...";
	kill $PID;
	echo "$SERVICE_NAME stopped ...";
	rm $PID_PATH_NAME
	echo "$SERVICE_NAME starting ..."
	su - youruser -c "nohup java -jar $PATH_TO_JAR > /dev/null 2>&1 & echo $! > $PID_PATH_NAME"
	echo "$SERVICE_NAME started ..."
	else
	echo "$SERVICE_NAME is not running ..."
	fi
	;;
	esac

view raw sudo service application start|stop|restart|status hosted with ❤ by GitHub

After doing this you would be able to run below:

sudo service yourappname start
sudo service yourappname restart
sudo service yourappname stop

Step 2 : let system launch the application after reboot

$sudo update-rc.d yourappname defaults

 Adding system startup for /etc/init.d/yourappname ...  
/etc/rc0.d/KNNyourappname -> ../init.d/yourappname  
/etc/rc1.d/KNNyourappname -> ../init.d/yourappname  
/etc/rc6.d/KNNyourappname -> ../init.d/yourappname  
/etc/rc2.d/KNNyourappname -> ../init.d/yourappname  
/etc/rc3.d/KNNyourappname -> ../init.d/yourappname  
/etc/rc4.d/KNNyourappname -> ../init.d/yourappname  
/etc/rc5.d/KNNyourappname -> ../init.d/yourappname

Reboot your server , your application should be running.


Reference :
1. http://www.linfo.org/runlevel_def.html
2. https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-configure-a-linux-service-to-start-automatically-after-a-crash-or-reboot-part-1-practical-examples
3. https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-configure-a-linux-service-to-start-automatically-after-a-crash-or-reboot-part-2-reference
4. https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-lpic1-v3-101-3/