START-STOP-DAEMON(8)     Debian GNU/Linux    START-STOP-DAEMON(8)


NAME
       start-stop-daemon - start and stop system daemon programs

SYNOPSIS
       start-stop-daemon  -S|--start options ... -- arguments ...

       start-stop-daemon -K|--stop options ...

       start-stop-daemon -H|--help

       start-stop-daemon -V|--version

DESCRIPTION
       start-stop-daemon is used to control the creation and ter­
       mination  of  system-level  processes.  Using the --exec ,
       --pidfile , --user , and --name options, start-stop-daemon
       can  be configured to find existing instances of a running
       process.

       With --start , start-stop-daemon checks for the  existence
       of  a  specified  process.   If  such  a  process  exists,
       start-stop-daemon does nothing, and exits with error  sta­
       tus  1  (0  if  --oknodo is specified).  If such a process
       does not exist, it starts an instance,  using  either  the
       executable  specified  by  --exec  , (or, if specified, by
       --startas ).  Any arguments given after -- on the  command
       line are passed unmodified to the program being started.

       With  --stop , start-stop-daemon also checks for the exis­
       tence of a specified process.  If such a  process  exists,
       start-stop-daemon  sends it the signal specified by --sig­
       nal , and exits with error status 0.  If  such  a  process
       does  not exist, start-stop-daemon exits with error status
       1 (0 if --oknodo is specified).


OPTIONS
       -x|--exec executable
              Check for processes that are instances of this exe­
              cutable (according to /proc/ pid /exe ).

       -p|--pidfile pid-file
              Check  for  processes whose process-id is specified
              in pid-file.

       -u|--user username|uid
              Check for processes owned by the user specified  by
              username or uid.

       -n|--name process-name
              Check  for  processes  with  the  name process-name
              (according to /proc/ pid /stat ).





Debian Project           15th March 1997                        1





START-STOP-DAEMON(8)     Debian GNU/Linux    START-STOP-DAEMON(8)


       -s|--signal signal
              With --stop , specifies the signal to send to  pro­
              cesses being stopped (default 15).

       -a|--startas pathname
              With --start , start the process specified by path­
              name.  If not specified, defaults to  the  argument
              given to --exec.

       -t|--test
              Print actions that would be taken and set appropri­
              ate return value, but take no action.

       -o|--oknodo
              Return exit status 0 instead of 1 if no actions are
              (would be) taken.

       -q|--quiet
              Do  not  print informational messages; only display
              error messages.

       -v|--verbose
              Print verbose informational messages.

       -H|--help
              Print help information; then exit.

       -V|--version
              Print version information; then exit.


AUTHORS
       Ian Jackson <ijackson@gnu.ai.mit.edu>

       Marek Michalkiewicz <marekm@i17linuxb.ists.pwr.wroc.pl>

       Manual page by Klee Dienes <klee@mit.edu>.




















Debian Project           15th March 1997                        2