NAME

rundeux - run a program with an associated logger

SYNOPSIS

rundeux [-hV] [-d] [-L label ] [-S sep ] [-x] program <'::'|'sep'> logger

DESCRIPTION

program and logger may each be one or more arguments. They are separated by the verbatim string ``::'', or by the sep argument defined with the -S option.

rundeux starts program and logger with the stdout of program connected to the stdin of logger. Normally program is intended to be a long-running process, and logger is a program that logs the data it reads on its standard input. Both program and logger should be set up to run under supervision as foreground processes.

After starting, rundeux continues to monitor both program and logger. If either process should terminate, rundeux restarts it. When rundeux itself receives any signal it can catch, it passes it on to program with the kill(2) command.

If rundeux receives SIGTERM, it flags itself to terminate and initiates a shutdown sequence. It sends SIGTERM and SIGCONT to program and waits for it to terminate. It then closes the stdin of logger and waits for it to terminate. Then rundeux itself exits normally.

OPTIONS

-d: Detach. Normally rundeux itself runs as a foreground process. The -d option may be used to run rundeux as a background process, in its own session and process group, detached from the controlling terminal.
-h: Help. Print a brief usage message to stderr and exit.
-L label: Label. May be used to provide label as a distinctive tag for an instance of rundeux, such as for reference in ps(1) listings. Otherwise, this option has no effect.
-S sep: Separator. Normally the program and logger arguments are separated by the verbatim string ``::''. This option may be used to specify sep as an alternative separator string.
-V: Version. Print the version number to stderr and exit.
-x: Exit. Normally rundeux itself stays resident as a system process that monitors program and logger. The -x option causes rundeux to start logger, and then replace itself with the program process. In this case, program and logger will run as unsupervised processes. May be combined with the -d option.

SIGNALS

When rundeux receives any catchable signal, it passes that signal on to the program under its supervision.

If rundeux receives SIGTERM, it takes it as a shutdown command and performs the following sequence:

Send SIGTERM and SIGCONT signals to the program process and wait for it to terminate.
Close the stdin of the logger process and wait for it to terminate.
rundeux itself then exits normally.

AUTHOR