[erlang-questions 70] Re: starting and managing a resident erlang server on mac (or other OSs)

[Rapsey]

Mac actually has a pretty nice way to run programs as daemons. Similar to
upstart on linux, but better.
You need a .plist xml. Something like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "
http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>NAME_OF_YOUR_PROGRAM</string>
    <key>EnvironmentVariables</key>
    <dict>
      <key>HOME</key>
      <string>~</string>
    </dict>
    <key>OnDemand</key>
    <false/>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>EXEC_WORD1</string>
        <string>EXEC_WORD2</string>
        <string>EXEC_WORDX</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>KeepAlive</key>
        <true/>
        <key>UserName</key>
        <string>NAME_OF_USER_TO_RUN_AS</string>
        <key>Group</key>
        <string>NAME_OF_GROUP_TO_RUN_AS</string>
</dict>
</plist>

For every word in your execution line, you need a separate <string> in
ProgramArguments.
Add it to /Library/LaunchDaemons/yourxml.plist
If it's there, it will be executed on startup.

To load (run): sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/yourxml.plist
To unload (stop): sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/yourxml.plist

I usually put the erl execution in a bash script and execute the script in
the plist.

#!/bin/sh
cd /Path/To/My/Ebin
erl +Bd +P 1000000 -env ERL_MAX_PORTS 100000 -noinput +K true +A 32  -mnesia
dir '"/Path/To/My/priv/mnesia"' -eval "application:start(MY_APP,permanent)"

You can even see what your program is printing to stdout. If you run
/Applications/Utilities/Console -> Console Messages

http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/MacOSX/Conceptual/BPSystemStartup/Articles/LaunchOnDemandDaemons.html


Sergej

On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 6:09 AM, Joe Armstrong <erlang@REDACTED> wrote:

> I want to run a resident distributed erlang node on my macbook.
> It should be started when I reboot my machine.
> It should be restarted if it crashes. Nothing nasty should happen when I
> open/close
> the lid :-) (I guess I also need to "manage" the node occasional - so I'd
> need some
> remote control facilities)
>
> What is "best practice" for doing this - does anybody maintain scripts of
> this nature?
>
> (aside it strikes me that this cannot be an uncommon problem - since we are
> now in
> uncharted "OS specific" territory it would be nice to know the answer to
> this question
> for all the other "popular" OSs - any tips ?)
>
> /Joe
>
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>
>
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