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<section id="pep-content">
<h1 class="page-title">PEP 3143 Standard daemon process library</h1>
<dl class="rfc2822 field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Author<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd">Ben Finney &lt;ben+python&#32;&#97;t&#32;benfinney.id.au&gt;</dd>
<dt class="field-even">Status<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-even"><abbr title="Inactive draft that may be taken up again at a later time">Deferred</abbr></dd>
<dt class="field-odd">Type<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><abbr title="Normative PEP with a new feature for Python, implementation change for CPython or interoperability standard for the ecosystem">Standards Track</abbr></dd>
<dt class="field-even">Created<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-even">26-Jan-2009</dd>
<dt class="field-odd">Python-Version<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd">3.x</dd>
<dt class="field-even">Post-History<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-even"><p></p></dd>
</dl>
<hr class="docutils" />
<section id="contents">
<details><summary>Table of Contents</summary><ul class="simple">
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#abstract">Abstract</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#pep-deferral">PEP Deferral</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#specification">Specification</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#example-usage">Example usage</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#interface">Interface</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#daemoncontext-objects"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DaemonContext</span></code> objects</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#motivation">Motivation</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#rationale">Rationale</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#correct-daemon-behaviour">Correct daemon behaviour</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#a-daemon-is-not-a-service">A daemon is not a service</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#reference-implementation">Reference Implementation</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#other-daemon-implementations">Other daemon implementations</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#references">References</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#copyright">Copyright</a></li>
</ul>
</details></section>
<section id="abstract">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#abstract" role="doc-backlink">Abstract</a></h2>
<p>Writing a program to become a well-behaved Unix daemon is somewhat
complex and tricky to get right, yet the steps are largely similar for
any daemon regardless of what else the program may need to do.</p>
<p>This PEP introduces a package to the Python standard library that
provides a simple interface to the task of becoming a daemon process.</p>
</section>
<section id="pep-deferral">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#pep-deferral" role="doc-backlink">PEP Deferral</a></h2>
<p>Further exploration of the concepts covered in this PEP has been deferred
for lack of a current champion interested in promoting the goals of the PEP
and collecting and incorporating feedback, and with sufficient available
time to do so effectively.</p>
</section>
<section id="specification">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#specification" role="doc-backlink">Specification</a></h2>
<section id="example-usage">
<h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#example-usage" role="doc-backlink">Example usage</a></h3>
<p>Simple example of direct <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DaemonContext</span></code> usage:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">daemon</span>
<span class="kn">from</span> <span class="nn">spam</span> <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">do_main_program</span>
<span class="k">with</span> <span class="n">daemon</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">DaemonContext</span><span class="p">():</span>
<span class="n">do_main_program</span><span class="p">()</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>More complex example usage:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">os</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">grp</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">signal</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">daemon</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">lockfile</span>
<span class="kn">from</span> <span class="nn">spam</span> <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="p">(</span>
<span class="n">initial_program_setup</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">do_main_program</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">program_cleanup</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">reload_program_config</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">context</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">daemon</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">DaemonContext</span><span class="p">(</span>
<span class="n">working_directory</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s1">&#39;/var/lib/foo&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">umask</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="mo">0o002</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">pidfile</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">lockfile</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">FileLock</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">&#39;/var/run/spam.pid&#39;</span><span class="p">),</span>
<span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">context</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">signal_map</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span>
<span class="n">signal</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">SIGTERM</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="n">program_cleanup</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">signal</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">SIGHUP</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">&#39;terminate&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">signal</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">SIGUSR1</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="n">reload_program_config</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="p">}</span>
<span class="n">mail_gid</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">grp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">getgrnam</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">&#39;mail&#39;</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">gr_gid</span>
<span class="n">context</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">gid</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">mail_gid</span>
<span class="n">important_file</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nb">open</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">&#39;spam.data&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;w&#39;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">interesting_file</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nb">open</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">&#39;eggs.data&#39;</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">&#39;w&#39;</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">context</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">files_preserve</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="n">important_file</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">interesting_file</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="n">initial_program_setup</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="k">with</span> <span class="n">context</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="n">do_main_program</span><span class="p">()</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</section>
<section id="interface">
<h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#interface" role="doc-backlink">Interface</a></h3>
<p>A new package, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">daemon</span></code>, is added to the standard library.</p>
<p>A class, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DaemonContext</span></code>, is defined to represent the settings and
process context for the program running as a daemon process.</p>
</section>
<section id="daemoncontext-objects">
<h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#daemoncontext-objects" role="doc-backlink"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DaemonContext</span></code> objects</a></h3>
<p>A <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DaemonContext</span></code> instance represents the behaviour settings and
process context for the program when it becomes a daemon. The
behaviour and environment is customised by setting options on the
instance, before calling the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">open</span></code> method.</p>
<p>Each option can be passed as a keyword argument to the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DaemonContext</span></code>
constructor, or subsequently altered by assigning to an attribute on
the instance at any time prior to calling <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">open</span></code>. That is, for
options named <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">wibble</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">wubble</span></code>, the following invocation:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">foo</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">daemon</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">DaemonContext</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">wibble</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">bar</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">wubble</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">baz</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">foo</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">open</span><span class="p">()</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>is equivalent to:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">foo</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">daemon</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">DaemonContext</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="n">foo</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">wibble</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">bar</span>
<span class="n">foo</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">wubble</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">baz</span>
<span class="n">foo</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">open</span><span class="p">()</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>The following options are defined.</p>
<dl>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">files_preserve</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Default<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code></dd>
</dl>
<p>List of files that should <em>not</em> be closed when starting the
daemon. If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>, all open file descriptors will be closed.</p>
<p>Elements of the list are file descriptors (as returned by a file
objects <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">fileno()</span></code> method) or Python <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">file</span></code> objects. Each
specifies a file that is not to be closed during daemon start.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">chroot_directory</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Default<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code></dd>
</dl>
<p>Full path to a directory to set as the effective root directory of
the process. If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>, specifies that the root directory is not
to be changed.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">working_directory</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Default<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'/'</span></code></dd>
</dl>
<p>Full path of the working directory to which the process should
change on daemon start.</p>
<p>Since a filesystem cannot be unmounted if a process has its
current working directory on that filesystem, this should either
be left at default or set to a directory that is a sensible “home
directory” for the daemon while it is running.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">umask</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Default<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">0</span></code></dd>
</dl>
<p>File access creation mask (“umask”) to set for the process on
daemon start.</p>
<p>Since a process inherits its umask from its parent process,
starting the daemon will reset the umask to this value so that
files are created by the daemon with access modes as it expects.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">pidfile</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Default<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code></dd>
</dl>
<p>Context manager for a PID lock file. When the daemon context opens
and closes, it enters and exits the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">pidfile</span></code> context manager.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">detach_process</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Default<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code></dd>
</dl>
<p>If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">True</span></code>, detach the process context when opening the daemon
context; if <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">False</span></code>, do not detach.</p>
<p>If unspecified (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>) during initialisation of the instance,
this will be set to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">True</span></code> by default, and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">False</span></code> only if
detaching the process is determined to be redundant; for example,
in the case when the process was started by <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">init</span></code>, by <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">initd</span></code>, or
by <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">inetd</span></code>.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">signal_map</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Default<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd">system-dependent</dd>
</dl>
<p>Mapping from operating system signals to callback actions.</p>
<p>The mapping is used when the daemon context opens, and determines
the action for each signals signal handler:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>A value of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code> will ignore the signal (by setting the
signal action to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">signal.SIG_IGN</span></code>).</li>
<li>A string value will be used as the name of an attribute on the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DaemonContext</span></code> instance. The attributes value will be used
as the action for the signal handler.</li>
<li>Any other value will be used as the action for the signal
handler.</li>
</ul>
<p>The default value depends on which signals are defined on the
running system. Each item from the list below whose signal is
actually defined in the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">signal</span></code> module will appear in the
default map:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">signal.SIGTTIN</span></code>: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code></li>
<li><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">signal.SIGTTOU</span></code>: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code></li>
<li><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">signal.SIGTSTP</span></code>: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code></li>
<li><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">signal.SIGTERM</span></code>: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'terminate'</span></code></li>
</ul>
<p>Depending on how the program will interact with its child
processes, it may need to specify a signal map that includes the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">signal.SIGCHLD</span></code> signal (received when a child process exits).
See the specific operating systems documentation for more detail
on how to determine what circumstances dictate the need for signal
handlers.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">uid</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Default<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.getuid()</span></code></dd>
</dl>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">gid</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Default<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.getgid()</span></code></dd>
</dl>
<p>The user ID (“UID”) value and group ID (“GID”) value to switch
the process to on daemon start.</p>
<p>The default values, the real UID and GID of the process, will
relinquish any effective privilege elevation inherited by the
process.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">prevent_core</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Default<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">True</span></code></dd>
</dl>
<p>If true, prevents the generation of core files, in order to avoid
leaking sensitive information from daemons run as <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">root</span></code>.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">stdin</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Default<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code></dd>
</dl>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">stdout</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Default<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code></dd>
</dl>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">stderr</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Default<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code></dd>
</dl>
<p>Each of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">stdin</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">stdout</span></code>, and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">stderr</span></code> is a file-like object
which will be used as the new file for the standard I/O stream
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stdin</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stdout</span></code>, and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stderr</span></code> respectively. The file
should therefore be open, with a minimum of mode r in the case
of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">stdin</span></code>, and mode w+ in the case of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">stdout</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">stderr</span></code>.</p>
<p>If the object has a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">fileno()</span></code> method that returns a file
descriptor, the corresponding file will be excluded from being
closed during daemon start (that is, it will be treated as though
it were listed in <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">files_preserve</span></code>).</p>
<p>If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>, the corresponding system stream is re-bound to the
file named by <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.devnull</span></code>.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<p>The following methods are defined.</p>
<dl>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">open()</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Return<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code></dd>
</dl>
<p>Open the daemon context, turning the current program into a daemon
process. This performs the following steps:</p>
<ul>
<li>If this instances <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">is_open</span></code> property is true, return
immediately. This makes it safe to call <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">open</span></code> multiple times on
an instance.</li>
<li>If the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">prevent_core</span></code> attribute is true, set the resource limits
for the process to prevent any core dump from the process.</li>
<li>If the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">chroot_directory</span></code> attribute is not <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>, set the
effective root directory of the process to that directory (via
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">os.chroot</span></code>).<p>This allows running the daemon process inside a “chroot gaol”
as a means of limiting the systems exposure to rogue behaviour
by the process. Note that the specified directory needs to
already be set up for this purpose.</p>
</li>
<li>Set the process UID and GID to the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">uid</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">gid</span></code> attribute
values.</li>
<li>Close all open file descriptors. This excludes those listed in
the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">files_preserve</span></code> attribute, and those that correspond to the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">stdin</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">stdout</span></code>, or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">stderr</span></code> attributes.</li>
<li>Change current working directory to the path specified by the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">working_directory</span></code> attribute.</li>
<li>Reset the file access creation mask to the value specified by
the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">umask</span></code> attribute.</li>
<li>If the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">detach_process</span></code> option is true, detach the current
process into its own process group, and disassociate from any
controlling terminal.</li>
<li>Set signal handlers as specified by the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">signal_map</span></code> attribute.</li>
<li>If any of the attributes <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">stdin</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">stdout</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">stderr</span></code> are not
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>, bind the system streams <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stdin</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stdout</span></code>,
and/or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stderr</span></code> to the files represented by the
corresponding attributes. Where the attribute has a file
descriptor, the descriptor is duplicated (instead of re-binding
the name).</li>
<li>If the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">pidfile</span></code> attribute is not <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>, enter its context
manager.</li>
<li>Mark this instance as open (for the purpose of future <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">open</span></code> and
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">close</span></code> calls).</li>
<li>Register the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">close</span></code> method to be called during Pythons exit
processing.</li>
</ul>
<p>When the function returns, the running program is a daemon
process.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">close()</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Return<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code></dd>
</dl>
<p>Close the daemon context. This performs the following steps:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>If this instances <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">is_open</span></code> property is false, return
immediately. This makes it safe to call <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">close</span></code> multiple times
on an instance.</li>
<li>If the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">pidfile</span></code> attribute is not <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>, exit its context
manager.</li>
<li>Mark this instance as closed (for the purpose of future <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">open</span></code>
and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">close</span></code> calls).</li>
</ul>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">is_open</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Return<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">True</span></code> if the instance is open, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">False</span></code> otherwise.</dd>
</dl>
<p>This property exposes the state indicating whether the instance is
currently open. It is <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">True</span></code> if the instances <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">open</span></code> method has
been called and the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">close</span></code> method has not subsequently been
called.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">terminate(signal_number,</span> <span class="pre">stack_frame)</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Return<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code></dd>
</dl>
<p>Signal handler for the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">signal.SIGTERM</span></code> signal. Performs the
following step:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Raise a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">SystemExit</span></code> exception explaining the signal.</li>
</ul>
</dd>
</dl>
<p>The class also implements the context manager protocol via
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__enter__</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__exit__</span></code> methods.</p>
<dl>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__enter__()</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Return<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd">The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DaemonContext</span></code> instance</dd>
</dl>
<p>Call the instances <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">open()</span></code> method, then return the instance.</p>
</dd>
<dt><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__exit__(exc_type,</span> <span class="pre">exc_value,</span> <span class="pre">exc_traceback)</span></code></dt><dd><dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Return<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">True</span></code> or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">False</span></code> as defined by the context manager
protocol</dd>
</dl>
<p>Call the instances <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">close()</span></code> method, then return <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">True</span></code> if the
exception was handled or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">False</span></code> if it was not.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</section>
</section>
<section id="motivation">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#motivation" role="doc-backlink">Motivation</a></h2>
<p>The majority of programs written to be Unix daemons either implement
behaviour very similar to that in the <a class="reference internal" href="#specification">specification</a>, or are
poorly-behaved daemons by the <a class="reference internal" href="#correct-daemon-behaviour">correct daemon behaviour</a>.</p>
<p>Since these steps should be much the same in most implementations but
are very particular and easy to omit or implement incorrectly, they
are a prime target for a standard well-tested implementation in the
standard library.</p>
</section>
<section id="rationale">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#rationale" role="doc-backlink">Rationale</a></h2>
<section id="correct-daemon-behaviour">
<h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#correct-daemon-behaviour" role="doc-backlink">Correct daemon behaviour</a></h3>
<p>According to Stevens in <a class="reference internal" href="#stevens" id="id1"><span>[stevens]</span></a> §2.6, a program should perform the
following steps to become a Unix daemon process.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Close all open file descriptors.</li>
<li>Change current working directory.</li>
<li>Reset the file access creation mask.</li>
<li>Run in the background.</li>
<li>Disassociate from process group.</li>
<li>Ignore terminal I/O signals.</li>
<li>Disassociate from control terminal.</li>
<li>Dont reacquire a control terminal.</li>
<li>Correctly handle the following circumstances:<ul>
<li>Started by System V <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">init</span></code> process.</li>
<li>Daemon termination by <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">SIGTERM</span></code> signal.</li>
<li>Children generate <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">SIGCLD</span></code> signal.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">daemon</span></code> tool <a class="reference internal" href="#slack-daemon" id="id2"><span>[slack-daemon]</span></a> lists (in its summary of features)
behaviour that should be performed when turning a program into a
well-behaved Unix daemon process. It differs from this PEPs intent in
that it invokes a <em>separate</em> program as a daemon process. The
following features are appropriate for a daemon that starts itself
once the program is already running:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Sets up the correct process context for a daemon.</li>
<li>Behaves sensibly when started by <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">initd(8)</span></code> or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">inetd(8)</span></code>.</li>
<li>Revokes any suid or sgid privileges to reduce security risks in case
daemon is incorrectly installed with special privileges.</li>
<li>Prevents the generation of core files to prevent leaking sensitive
information from daemons run as root (optional).</li>
<li>Names the daemon by creating and locking a PID file to guarantee
that only one daemon with the given name can execute at any given
time (optional).</li>
<li>Sets the user and group under which to run the daemon (optional,
root only).</li>
<li>Creates a chroot gaol (optional, root only).</li>
<li>Captures the daemons stdout and stderr and directs them to syslog
(optional).</li>
</ul>
</section>
<section id="a-daemon-is-not-a-service">
<h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#a-daemon-is-not-a-service" role="doc-backlink">A daemon is not a service</a></h3>
<p>This PEP addresses only Unix-style daemons, for which the above
correct behaviour is relevant, as opposed to comparable behaviours on
other operating systems.</p>
<p>There is a related concept in many systems, called a “service”. A
service differs from the model in this PEP, in that rather than having
the <em>current</em> program continue to run as a daemon process, a service
starts an <em>additional</em> process to run in the background, and the
current process communicates with that additional process via some
defined channels.</p>
<p>The Unix-style daemon model in this PEP can be used, among other
things, to implement the background-process part of a service; but
this PEP does not address the other aspects of setting up and managing
a service.</p>
</section>
</section>
<section id="reference-implementation">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#reference-implementation" role="doc-backlink">Reference Implementation</a></h2>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">python-daemon</span></code> package <a class="reference internal" href="#python-daemon" id="id3"><span>[python-daemon]</span></a>.</p>
<section id="other-daemon-implementations">
<h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#other-daemon-implementations" role="doc-backlink">Other daemon implementations</a></h3>
<p>Prior to this PEP, several existing third-party Python libraries or
tools implemented some of this PEPs <a class="reference internal" href="#correct-daemon-behaviour">correct daemon behaviour</a>.</p>
<p>The <a class="reference internal" href="#reference-implementation">reference implementation</a> is a fairly direct successor from the
following implementations:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Many good ideas were contributed by the community to Python cookbook
recipes #66012 <a class="reference internal" href="#cookbook-66012" id="id4"><span>[cookbook-66012]</span></a> and #278731 <a class="reference internal" href="#cookbook-278731" id="id5"><span>[cookbook-278731]</span></a>.</li>
<li>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bda.daemon</span></code> library <a class="reference internal" href="#bda-daemon" id="id6"><span>[bda.daemon]</span></a> is an implementation of
<a class="reference internal" href="#cookbook-66012" id="id7"><span>[cookbook-66012]</span></a>. It is the predecessor of <a class="reference internal" href="#python-daemon" id="id8"><span>[python-daemon]</span></a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>Other Python daemon implementations that differ from this PEP:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">zdaemon</span></code> tool <a class="reference internal" href="#zdaemon" id="id9"><span>[zdaemon]</span></a> was written for the Zope project. Like
<a class="reference internal" href="#slack-daemon" id="id10"><span>[slack-daemon]</span></a>, it differs from this specification because it is
used to run another program as a daemon process.</li>
<li>The Python library <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">daemon</span></code> <a class="reference internal" href="#clapper-daemon" id="id11"><span>[clapper-daemon]</span></a> is (according to its
homepage) no longer maintained. As of version 1.0.1, it implements
the basic steps from <a class="reference internal" href="#stevens" id="id12"><span>[stevens]</span></a>.</li>
<li>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">daemonize</span></code> library <a class="reference internal" href="#seutter-daemonize" id="id13"><span>[seutter-daemonize]</span></a> also implements the
basic steps from <a class="reference internal" href="#stevens" id="id14"><span>[stevens]</span></a>.</li>
<li>Ray Burrs <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">daemon.py</span></code> module <a class="reference internal" href="#burr-daemon" id="id15"><span>[burr-daemon]</span></a> provides the <a class="reference internal" href="#stevens" id="id16"><span>[stevens]</span></a>
procedure as well as PID file handling and redirection of output to
syslog.</li>
<li>Twisted <a class="reference internal" href="#twisted" id="id17"><span>[twisted]</span></a> includes, perhaps unsurprisingly, an
implementation of a process daemonisation API that is integrated
with the rest of the Twisted framework; it differs significantly
from the API in this PEP.</li>
<li>The Python <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">initd</span></code> library <a class="reference internal" href="#dagitses-initd" id="id18"><span>[dagitses-initd]</span></a>, which uses
<a class="reference internal" href="#clapper-daemon" id="id19"><span>[clapper-daemon]</span></a>, implements an equivalent of Unix <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">initd(8)</span></code> for
controlling a daemon process.</li>
</ul>
</section>
</section>
<section id="references">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#references" role="doc-backlink">References</a></h2>
<div role="list" class="citation-list">
<div class="citation" id="stevens" role="doc-biblioentry">
<dt class="label" id="stevens">[stevens]<em> (<a href='#id1'>1</a>, <a href='#id12'>2</a>, <a href='#id14'>3</a>, <a href='#id16'>4</a>) </em></dt>
<dd><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Unix</span> <span class="pre">Network</span> <span class="pre">Programming</span></code>, W. Richard Stevens, 1994 Prentice
Hall.</div>
<div class="citation" id="slack-daemon" role="doc-biblioentry">
<dt class="label" id="slack-daemon">[slack-daemon]<em> (<a href='#id2'>1</a>, <a href='#id10'>2</a>) </em></dt>
<dd>The (non-Python) “libslack” implementation of a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">daemon</span></code> tool
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.libslack.org/daemon/">http://www.libslack.org/daemon/</a> by “raf” &lt;<a class="reference external" href="mailto:raf&#37;&#52;&#48;raf&#46;org">raf<span>&#64;</span>raf<span>&#46;</span>org</a>&gt;.</div>
<div class="citation" id="python-daemon" role="doc-biblioentry">
<dt class="label" id="python-daemon">[python-daemon]<em> (<a href='#id3'>1</a>, <a href='#id8'>2</a>) </em></dt>
<dd>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">python-daemon</span></code> library
<a class="reference external" href="http://pypi.python.org/pypi/python-daemon/">http://pypi.python.org/pypi/python-daemon/</a> by Ben Finney et
al.</div>
<div class="citation" id="cookbook-66012" role="doc-biblioentry">
<dt class="label" id="cookbook-66012">[cookbook-66012]<em> (<a href='#id4'>1</a>, <a href='#id7'>2</a>) </em></dt>
<dd>Python Cookbook recipe 66012, “Fork a daemon process on Unix”
<a class="reference external" href="http://code.activestate.com/recipes/66012/">http://code.activestate.com/recipes/66012/</a>.</div>
<div class="citation" id="cookbook-278731" role="doc-biblioentry">
<dt class="label" id="cookbook-278731">[<a href="#id5">cookbook-278731</a>]</dt>
<dd>Python Cookbook recipe 278731, “Creating a daemon the Python way”
<a class="reference external" href="http://code.activestate.com/recipes/278731/">http://code.activestate.com/recipes/278731/</a>.</div>
<div class="citation" id="bda-daemon" role="doc-biblioentry">
<dt class="label" id="bda-daemon">[<a href="#id6">bda.daemon</a>]</dt>
<dd>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">bda.daemon</span></code> library
<a class="reference external" href="http://pypi.python.org/pypi/bda.daemon/">http://pypi.python.org/pypi/bda.daemon/</a> by Robert
Niederreiter et al.</div>
<div class="citation" id="zdaemon" role="doc-biblioentry">
<dt class="label" id="zdaemon">[<a href="#id9">zdaemon</a>]</dt>
<dd>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">zdaemon</span></code> tool <a class="reference external" href="http://pypi.python.org/pypi/zdaemon/">http://pypi.python.org/pypi/zdaemon/</a> by
Guido van Rossum et al.</div>
<div class="citation" id="clapper-daemon" role="doc-biblioentry">
<dt class="label" id="clapper-daemon">[clapper-daemon]<em> (<a href='#id11'>1</a>, <a href='#id19'>2</a>) </em></dt>
<dd>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">daemon</span></code> library <a class="reference external" href="http://pypi.python.org/pypi/daemon/">http://pypi.python.org/pypi/daemon/</a> by
Brian Clapper.</div>
<div class="citation" id="seutter-daemonize" role="doc-biblioentry">
<dt class="label" id="seutter-daemonize">[<a href="#id13">seutter-daemonize</a>]</dt>
<dd>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">daemonize</span></code> library <a class="reference external" href="http://daemonize.sourceforge.net/">http://daemonize.sourceforge.net/</a> by
Jerry Seutter.</div>
<div class="citation" id="burr-daemon" role="doc-biblioentry">
<dt class="label" id="burr-daemon">[<a href="#id15">burr-daemon</a>]</dt>
<dd>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">daemon.py</span></code> module
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.nightmare.com/~ryb/code/daemon.py">http://www.nightmare.com/~ryb/code/daemon.py</a> by Ray Burr.</div>
<div class="citation" id="twisted" role="doc-biblioentry">
<dt class="label" id="twisted">[<a href="#id17">twisted</a>]</dt>
<dd>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Twisted</span></code> application framework
<a class="reference external" href="http://pypi.python.org/pypi/Twisted/">http://pypi.python.org/pypi/Twisted/</a> by Glyph Lefkowitz et
al.</div>
<div class="citation" id="dagitses-initd" role="doc-biblioentry">
<dt class="label" id="dagitses-initd">[<a href="#id18">dagitses-initd</a>]</dt>
<dd>The Python <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">initd</span></code> library <a class="reference external" href="http://pypi.python.org/pypi/initd/">http://pypi.python.org/pypi/initd/</a>
by Michael Andreas Dagitses.</div>
</div>
</section>
<section id="copyright">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#copyright" role="doc-backlink">Copyright</a></h2>
<p>This work is hereby placed in the public domain. To the extent that
placing a work in the public domain is not legally possible, the
copyright holder hereby grants to all recipients of this work all
rights and freedoms that would otherwise be restricted by copyright.</p>
</section>
</section>
<hr class="docutils" />
<p>Source: <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/python/peps/blob/main/peps/pep-3143.rst">https://github.com/python/peps/blob/main/peps/pep-3143.rst</a></p>
<p>Last modified: <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/python/peps/commits/main/peps/pep-3143.rst">2023-09-09 17:39:29 GMT</a></p>
</article>
<nav id="pep-sidebar">
<h2>Contents</h2>
<ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#abstract">Abstract</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#pep-deferral">PEP Deferral</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#specification">Specification</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#example-usage">Example usage</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#interface">Interface</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#daemoncontext-objects"><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">DaemonContext</span></code> objects</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#motivation">Motivation</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#rationale">Rationale</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#correct-daemon-behaviour">Correct daemon behaviour</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#a-daemon-is-not-a-service">A daemon is not a service</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#reference-implementation">Reference Implementation</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#other-daemon-implementations">Other daemon implementations</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#references">References</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#copyright">Copyright</a></li>
</ul>
<br>
<a id="source" href="https://github.com/python/peps/blob/main/peps/pep-3143.rst">Page Source (GitHub)</a>
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