How to start and stop service in a script?

ddenial · 04-26-2019, 08:45 AM

Hello

I've got this service jackett.service which I want only to start when the qbittorrent app is started and stopped when the qbittorrent app is closed.

So I wrote this small script and linked it to .desktop file.

Code:

# cat /usr/local/bin/qbit.sh
#!/bin/bash
sudo systemctl start jackett
/usr/local/bin/qbittorrent
sudo systemctl stop jackett

# cat /usr/local/share/applications/qBit.desktop 
[Desktop Entry]
Categories=Network;FileTransfer;P2P;Qt;
Exec=/usr/local/bin/qbit.sh
GenericName=BitTorrent client
Comment=Download and share files over BitTorrent
Icon=qbittorrent
MimeType=application/x-bittorrent;x-scheme-handler/magnet;
Name=qBits
Terminal=false
Type=Application
StartupNotify=false
StartupWMClass=qbittorrent
Keywords=bittorrent;torrent;magnet;download;p2p;

The problem I'm facing is when I run the script in terminal, it works right.

Code:

$ sudo systemctl is-active jackett.service
unknown

$ qbit.sh &
[1] 25326

$ sudo systemctl is-active jackett.service
active

And finally when qBittorrent app is closed by mouse.

$ sudo systemctl is-active jackett.service
unknown

But when I execute qBit.desktop, jackett.service is not started.

Code:

$ sudo systemctl is-active jackett.service
unknown

Now qBit app is opened by clicking its icon in menu. Still jackett.service is not started.

$ sudo systemctl is-active jackett.service
unknown

Any solution is really appreciated. Thanks

lordmax10 · 04-26-2019, 11:06 AM

I haven't undestood

Why always sudo?

your user can't start services?

I've always used something like this:

Quote:

#!/bin/bash
service=replace_me_with_a_valid_service

if (( $(ps -ef | grep -v grep | grep $service | wc -l) > 0 ))
then
echo "$service is running!!!"
else
/etc/init.d/$service start
fi

joe_2000 · 04-26-2019, 04:16 PM

When you run it from the terminal you are authenticating to sudo before calling the script in the line

Code:

sudo systemctl is-active jackett.service

I am not sure how this behaves in the execution environment of the .desktop file.

You may have to enable password-less execution for the script and call it with sudo.

EDIT: If you do play with password-less execution make sure that you are not running the graphical application as root unintentionally.
I also just had one other thought: I have no idea what jackett is, but you might be able to run it as a regular user if you install the service file in your home directory and start the service with the --user option.
See e.g. here for more info: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd/User

joe_2000 · 04-26-2019, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordmax10

I haven't undestood

Why always sudo?

your user can't start services?

I've always used something like this:

Starting and stopping services under systemd with sudo is perfectly correct.
The snippet you posted calls a sysv init script.

scasey · 04-26-2019, 05:10 PM

Another observation: running from the terminal, you are running your script in background. Not the case when run from the .desktop I’m not sure what thar means, but it is a difference.

lordmax10 · 04-27-2019, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joe_2000

Starting and stopping services under systemd with sudo is perfectly correct.

Yes I know
My question is? It's necessary?

Quote:

Originally Posted by joe_2000

The snippet you posted calls a sysv init script.

Yes I know, and normallly it's sufficient

joe_2000 · 04-29-2019, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordmax10

Yes I know
My question is? It's necessary?

It depends on the service. As stated above I do not know what jackett does. If the process can run with normal user privileges it might not be necessary, but you then have to setup the service as a user service as described in the arch wiki article I linked to in a previous post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordmax10

Yes I know, and normallly it's sufficient

The /etc/init.d calls should be considered as deprecated under systemd systems. There is a compatibility layer in Debian (and presumbly its *buntu derivatives), but I wouldn't recommend to use it unless you have good reasons.