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Configuring Big Brother as a Solaris 10 Service

 Tip courtesy of Kyle Reynolds at http://www.camelrichard.org 

mkdir /var/svc/manifest/application/monitoringcreate the /var/svc/manifest/application/monitoring/bigbrother.xml file.  contents of bigbrother.xml (change directories, user, group, and stop/start                            script paths to fit your install):——————————————————————————— 

<?xml version=’1.0′?><!DOCTYPE service_bundle SYSTEM ‘/usr/share/lib/xml/dtd/service_bundle.dtd.1′><!–    bigbrother.xml : BigBrother manifest, Kyle Reynolds    2006-07-02–> <service_bundle type=’manifest’ name=’bigbrother’><service name=’application/monitoring/bigbrother’ type=’service’ version=’1′> 

   <single_instance />    <dependency      name=’multi-user-server’      grouping=’require_any’      restart_on=’error’      type=’service’>      <service_fmri value=’svc:/milestone/multi-user-server:default’ />   </dependency> 

   <exec_method      type=’method’      name=’start’      exec=’/u01/app/bb/bbc/runbb.sh start’      timeout_seconds=’120′ >      <method_context>         <method_credential user=’bbuser’ group=’bbgroup’ />      </method_context>   </exec_method>    <exec_method      type=’method’      name=’stop’      exec=’/u01/app/bb/bbc/runbb.sh stop’      timeout_seconds=’120′ >      <method_context>         <method_credential user=’bbuser’ group=’bbgroup’ />      </method_context>   </exec_method> 

   <instance name=’default’ enabled=’false’ />    <stability value=’Unstable’ /> 

   <template>      <common_name>         <loctext xml:lang=’C'>Big Brother</loctext>      </common_name>   </template> </service></service_bundle> 

——————————————————————————— run: 

svccfg validate /var/svc/manifest/application/monitoring/bigbrother.xml    (this validates the syntax of the xml file.  If it returns the message:   “svccfg: couldn’t parse document”, then try running:   `xmllint /var/svc/manifest/application/monitoring/bigbrother.xml`   for more detailed error messages). svccfg import /var/svc/manifest/application/monitoring/bigbrother.xml 

svcadm enable svc:/application/monitoring/bigbrother:default  (NOTE: Most Solaris 10 services consist of an xml file (like the one above) plus a start script (or method) that is stored under /lib/svc/method.  I chose not to  follow this standard for 2 reasons:  first, big brother comes with it’s own start script; second, I have added this service initialization to a Solaris 10 package that is often installed in Solaris zones.  The way I typically create a zone gives read-only access to the /lib dir, so the package cannot move the method to the /lib dir unless I change the way I implement zones, so this way, the service is more self-contained and  works perfectly without my having to make changes to the zones.)