Running Stash as a Linux service

There are different approaches to running Stash as a service on Linux:

• Use the Java Service Wrapper which a Java Application to be run as a UNIX Daemon.
• Use an init.d script to start Stash at boot time - this doesn't restart Stash if it stops for some reason.

Note that Stash assumes that the external database is available when it starts; these approaches do not support service dependencies, and the startup scripts will not wait for the external database to become available.

On this page:

Using the Java Service Wrapper

Stash can be run as a service on Linux using the Java Service Wrapper. The Service Wrapper is known to work with Debian, Ubuntu, and Red Hat.

The Service Wrapper provides the following benefits:

• Allows Stash, which is a Java application, to be run as a service.
• No need for a user to be logged on to the system at all times, or for a command prompt to be open and running on the desktop to be able to run Stash.
• The ability to run Stash in the background as a service, for improved convenience, system performance and security.
• Stash is launched automatically on system startup and does not require that a user be logged in. 
• Users are not able to stop, start, or otherwise tamper with Stash unless they are an administrator.
• Can provide advanced failover, error recovery, and analysis features to make sure that Stash has the maximum possible uptime.

Please see http://wrapper.tanukisoftware.com/doc/english/launch-nix.html for wrapper installation and configuration instructions.

The service wrapper supports the standard commands for SysV init scripts, so it should work if you just create a symlink to it from /etc/init.d.

Using an init.d script

The usual way on Linux to ensure that a process restarts at system restart is to use an init.d script. This approach does not restart Stash if it stops by itself.

1. Stop Stash .

2. Create a stash user, set the permissions to that user, create a home directory for Stash and create a symlink to make upgrades easier:

   $> curl -OL http://downloads.atlassian.com/software/stash/downloads/atlassian-stash-2.0.1.tar.gz
   $> tar xz -C /opt -f atlassian-stash-2.0.1.tar.gz
   $> ln -s /opt/atlassian-stash-2.0.1 /opt/atlassian-stash-latest
    
   # Create a home directory
   $> mkdir /opt/stash-home
    
   # ! Update permissions and ownership accordingly

3. Create the startup script in /etc/init.d/stash with the following contents (Ensure the script is executable by running chmod 755 stash):

   #! /bin/sh
   ### BEGIN INIT INFO
   # Provides:          stash
   # Required-Start:    $remote_fs $syslog
   # Required-Stop:     $remote_fs $syslog
   # Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
   # Default-Stop:      0 1 6
   # Short-Description: Initscript for Atlassian Stash
   # Description:  Automatically start Atlassian Stash when the system starts up.
   #               Provide commands for manually starting and stopping Stash.
   ### END INIT INFO
   # Adapt the following lines to your configuration
   # RUNUSER: The user to run Stash as.
   RUNUSER=stash
   # STASH_INSTALLDIR: The path to the Stash installation directory
   STASH_INSTALLDIR="/opt/atlassian-stash-latest"
   # STASH_HOME: Path to the Stash home directory
   STASH_HOME="/opt/stash-home"
   # ==================================================================================
   # ==================================================================================
   # ==================================================================================
   # PATH should only include /usr/* if it runs after the mountnfs.sh script
   PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin
   DESC="Atlassian Stash"
   NAME=stash
   PIDFILE=$STASH_INSTALLDIR/work/catalina.pid
   SCRIPTNAME=/etc/init.d/$NAME
   # Load the VERBOSE setting and other rcS variables
   . /lib/init/vars.sh
   # Define LSB log_* functions.
   # Depend on lsb-base (>= 3.0-6) to ensure that this file is present.
   . /lib/lsb/init-functions
   run_with_home() {
     if [ "$RUNUSER" != "$USER" ]; then
         su - "$RUNUSER" -c "export STASH_HOME=${STASH_HOME};${STASH_INSTALLDIR}/bin/$1"
     else
         "export STASH_HOME=${STASH_HOME};${STASH_INSTALLDIR}/bin/$1"
     fi
   }
   #
   # Function that starts the daemon/service
   #
   do_start()
   {
     run_with_home start-stash.sh
   }
   #
   # Function that stops the daemon/service
   #
   do_stop()
   {
     if [ -e $PIDFILE ]; then
       run_with_home stop-stash.sh
     else
       log_failure_msg "$NAME is not running."
     fi
   }
   case "$1" in
   start)
     [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg "Starting $DESC" "$NAME"
     do_start
     case "$?" in
         0|1) [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_end_msg 0 ;;
         2) [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_end_msg 1 ;;
     esac
     ;;
   stop)
     [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg "Stopping $DESC" "$NAME"
     do_stop
     case "$?" in
         0|1) [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_end_msg 0 ;;
         2) [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_end_msg 1 ;;
     esac
     ;;
   status)
        if [ ! -e $PIDFILE ]; then
          log_failure_msg "$NAME is not running."
          return 1
        fi
        status_of_proc -p $PIDFILE "" $NAME && exit 0 || exit $?
        ;;
   restart|force-reload)
     #
     # If the "reload" option is implemented then remove the
     # 'force-reload' alias
     #
     log_daemon_msg "Restarting $DESC" "$NAME"
     do_stop
     case "$?" in
       0|1)
         do_start
         case "$?" in
             0) log_end_msg 0 ;;
             1) log_end_msg 1 ;; # Old process is still running
             *) log_end_msg 1 ;; # Failed to start
         esac
         ;;
       *)
         # Failed to stop
         log_end_msg 1
         ;;
     esac
     ;;
   *)
     echo "Usage: $SCRIPTNAME {start|stop|status|restart|force-reload}" >&2
     exit 3
     ;;
   esac
   

4. To start on system boot, add the script to the start up process. For Ubuntu (and other Debian derivatives) use:

   update-rc.d stash defaults

5. Verify that the Stash service comes back up after restarting the machine.