Unix daemon 'C' template Files

Copyright (c) 2012, Martin Crossley <mjcross@users.sf.net>

The accompanying application is free software. Please see the file COPYING
for licence and disclaimers.

The application is a general-purpose 'skeleton' for a Unix server daemon.
As it stands it implements a very basic functionality; the idea is that you
should use modify and extend it to implement your own server.

Basic common command line options are already included, allowing the user
to force the server to remain foreground, run as a different UID/GID etc.

**NOTE**
This version (2.3) includes a configuration file parser to show how to
allow the end user to determine at runtime how the server operates.
The configuration file parser is written using FLEX and YACC (or BISON) and
lives in src/config_file_parser.  It is fairly easy to adjust it to add new
variables to the configuration file, even if you are not particularly
familiar with FLEX and YACC.  In the next week or two I will add a HowTo
to the project that shows how to do that.

To show what the configuration file should look like, an example is
included as src/set.txt - to try the server 'out of the box', try this
command line:

	$ cd src
	$ ./server-framework -dV9 -c set.txt --pidfile ./server-framework.pid
	
(-d means remain foreground, -V9 means maximum verbosity, -c <path> defines
where to find the config file, etc).   
********

The framework is implemented as a GNU autotools project so to test it out
of the box you should be able to just run "configure" and "make".  If
everything worked you should find an executable in the 'src' subdirectory. 
 
Try something like "server-framework --help".  Then try running the server
in the foreground with full debug messages enabled.  It should produce 
something like this:

	$ ./server-framework -dV9 --pidfile ./pid
	creating PID file ./pid
	creating worker process
	worker process created (12633)
	supervisor installing signal handlers
	supervisor waiting
	worker dropping privileges to UID 1000, GID 1000
	UID and GID match current user - no need to drop privileges
	worker alive
	worker alive
	worker alive
	worker alive
	worker alive
	
	[user hits ^C]

	supervisor caught signal: Interrupt
	supervisor waiting for worker process to finish
	supervisor terminating
	deleting PID file
	server exited
	$

If you run it without the -d option then after the server has successfully
started up it should detach and log using syslog instead.

Now stop reading this, and go and make it do something useful...
Happy hacking!


MC
29 April 2012


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this application was developed with Eclipse Indigo under Ubuntu Linux.
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