uinitctl

Introduction

Uinitd is a userspace init system similar to systemd/User or the typical RC file called by a window manager. Uinitd is written in Haskell and is completely window manager agnostic.

Configuration

Uinitd is configured by a single file. The file location can either be given on the command line using the -c flag, otherwise it first checks for ~/.config/uinitd.conf and finally /etc/uinitd.conf.

The configuration file requires 5 options to be set.

Service Directory

The service directory is where new service files will be placed, and service files will be read on init.

Enabled Services File

This is the file where enabled service configurations are stored. It is not meant to be user editable and the file will be created on enabling a service if it does not exist. The directory of the file needs to exist, however.

Logfile

Location for the logging file. File does not need to exist, but the directory does.

PID Directory

Directory to place the PID of the deamon.

Daemon Port

Port that the daemon listens on.

Sample Config

# Example default configuration
services: /home/user/.uinitd/services/
enabled: /home/user/.uinitd/services.list
logfile: /home/user/.uinitd/uinitd.log
pid_directory: /home/user/.uinitd/
port: 5000

Usage

The daemon is first started using the command init.

uinitctl init or uinitctl init -c myconfig.conf

To create a new service the command create is used and a name and path is given.

uinitctl create -s background -e "feh --bg-scale background.png"

This creates a file background.service and places it in the services directory. We can now use the list command to see that it is an available service.

> uinitctl list
Running:
Enabled:
Available:
    [background]: feh --bg-scale background.png

If we want to start the service, use the start command with the name of the service.

> uinitctl start -s background
> uinitctl list
Running:
    [background]: feh --bg-scale background.png
Enabled:
Available:
    [background]: feh --bg-scale background.png

Likewise, it is stopped with the stop command, or restarted with the restart command.

> uinitctl stop -s background
> uinitctl list
Running:
Enabled:
Available:
    [background]: feh --bg-scale background.png

A service that is enabled will be run when uinitctl init is called, this is the primary function of the program.

> uinitctl enable -s background
> uinitctl list
Running:
Enabled:
    [background]: feh --bg-scale background.png
Available:
    [background]: feh --bg-scale background.png

An enabled service can be disabled with the command disable in the same way.

Caveats

Service files and the service list are not meant to be user editable. They use a fairly simple syntax, but there are no garauntees that user edits will not be destroyed. All changes should be done using the built in commands.