OpenRC is a fast and lightweight init system used by many Linux distributions like Alpine, Gentoo, and Artix. It helps manage services, ensuring they start, stop, and restart correctly.
However, if a service crashes or stops unexpectedly, it won’t restart automatically, to fix such an issue, you need to set up a system to restart services automatically after a failure.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to configure OpenRC to monitor and restart services automatically when they fail.
Step 1: Check Service Status in OpenRC
Before setting up auto-restart, check if the service is running properly.
rc-service nginx status
To see all active services.
rc-status
To make sure the service starts when the system boots, add it to the default runlevel.
rc-update add nginx default
To confirm that the service is added.
rc-update show | grep nginx
Step 2: Create a Service Monitor Script
To automatically restart a service if it stops, create a monitoring script that checks the service and restarts it if necessary.
sudo nano /usr/local/bin/service-monitor.sh
Add the following content to the file.
#!/bin/bash SERVICE="<service-name>" if ! rc-service $SERVICE status | grep -q "started"; then echo "$(date): $SERVICE is down. Restarting..." >> /var/log/service-monitor.log rc-service $SERVICE restart fi
Save the file and make the script executable.
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/service-monitor.sh
Step 3: Set Up a Cron Job to Monitor the Service
Now that the monitoring script is ready, set up a cron job to run it regularly.
crontab -e
Add this line to run the script every 5 minutes.
*/5 * * * * /usr/local/bin/service-monitor.sh
Save and exit the editor.
Step 4: Test the Configuration
To test whether the service restarts correctly, you need to stop the service manually.
rc-service nginx stop
Wait for 5 minutes and check if the service is restarted.
rc-service nginx status
Check the log to confirm that the service was restarted.
cat /var/log/service-monitor.log
Bonus: Use Monit for Advanced Monitoring
For more advanced monitoring and automatic restarts, you can use tools like Monit, which allows you to monitor multiple services and automatically restart them if they crash.
To install Monit on your system:
sudo apt install monit # For Debian/Ubuntu sudo apk add monit # For Alpine Linux sudo emerge --ask monit # For Gentoo
To enable Monit at system startup and start the service.
rc-update add monit default rc-service monit start
To check the status.
rc-service monit status
To monitor a service, you need to create a monit configuration file.
sudo nano /etc/monitrc
Add the following lines at the end of the file to monitor a service (replace <service-name> with the actual service name):
check process <service-name> with pidfile /run/<service-name>.pid
start program = "/etc/init.d/<service-name> start"
stop program = "/etc/init.d/<service-name> stop"
if 3 restarts within 5 cycles then timeout
For example, to monitor nginx:
check process nginx with pidfile /run/nginx.pid
start program = "/etc/init.d/nginx start"
stop program = "/etc/init.d/nginx stop"
if 3 restarts within 5 cycles then timeout
Save the file and reload the Monit configuration to apply the changes:
monit reload
Enable Monit Web Interface (Optional)
To enable the Monit web interface and manage services via a browser, you need to open a Monit configuration file:
sudo nano /etc/monitrc
Uncomment and edit the following lines.
set httpd port 2812
use address 0.0.0.0 # Listen on all interfaces
allow admin:monit # Set username and password (change as needed)
Save and restart Monit.
rc-service monit restart
Access the Monit web interface.
http://your-server-ip:2812
If you’re interested in setting up auto-restart for other init systems, check out these articles:
- How to Automatically Restart a Service After Failure on SysVinit and Upstart
- How to Automatically Restart a Failed Service in Linux
These guides cover detailed steps for handling service failures on different Linux systems.
Conclusion
By following these steps, you can ensure that your critical services running on OpenRC restart automatically after any failure. This setup reduces downtime and keeps your system running smoothly.
Whether you use a simple script or a more advanced monitoring tool like Monit, keeping services running is essential for system stability.
