Systemd Bitlbee service script

Help and Support
1

Hi.

I’m trying to get my systemd bitlbee script to start, I can successfully run it manually but it doesn’t startup on boot.
The process does run on boot, but it does not load the correct config file I want to run it with:

[Unit]
Description=bitlbee irc/im gateway
After=network.target

[Service]
User=bitlbee
Group=bitlbee
Type=forking
ExecStart=/usr/local/sbin/bitlbee -F -c /etc/bitlbee/bitlbee.conf
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

On boot, systemctl status bitlbee returns loaded (inactive).
When I run it manually, it returns active (running).

This also conflicts with the process started on boot, I have to manually kill this process as sudo.

How can I debug my script?
Thanks.

2

Hi Georgie,

When you run it manually are you doing so as user OSMC?

Does the user & group bitlbee exist?

you could try

[Unit]
Description=bitlbee irc/im gateway
After=network.target

[Service]
User=osmc
Group=osmc
Type=forking
ExecStart=/usr/local/sbin/bitlbee -F -c /etc/bitlbee/bitlbee.conf
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Thanks Tom.

3

Hi, thanks for your reply.

I created both the user and group - bitlbee and when I run it manually it does run as the bitlbee user.
I don’t wanna use the osmc user/group for security reasons.

Is there any way I can debug my script?
Systemd seems to provide little info when the service is dead.

4

sudo journalctl should give more information

5

Hi Georgie,

I’ve also just checked the bitlbee.conf at the master:

## User:
## 
## If BitlBee is started by root as a daemon, it can drop root privileges,
## and change to the specified user.
##
# User = bitlbee

So from looking at this I would try un-commenting user in the conf file and start the systemd service as osmc, and see if it runs on start?

Or drop user & group from the systemd service file.

Thanks Tom.

6

Hi Tom,

I have already uncommented that line.
I changed the service to start as osmc and it still runs under bitlbee which is what I want.
But, the service does not load the /etc/bitlbee/bitlbee.conf configuration file that I’m running as an option.

It currently loads with the /usr/local/sbin/bitlbee -I option, which does not include the file above.
Without it, my settings aren’t loaded and I can’t even kill that PID process unless I kill it under sudo -s.

Here’s my journalctl output: https://pastebin.com/pSGpvFnC

7

Hi,

This may not be the issue:

Apr 24 22:36:09 osmc2 systemd[1]: Configuration file /etc/systemd/system/bitlbee.service is marked executable. Please remove executable permission bits. Proceeding anyway.

issue: sudo chmod 0644 /usr/lib/systemd/system/bitlbee.service

and reboot.

8

Hi,

Also try the systemd unit file, without user & group so:

[Unit]
Description=bitlbee irc/im gateway
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=forking
ExecStart=/usr/local/sbin/bitlbee -F -c /etc/bitlbee/bitlbee.conf
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Thanks Tom.

9

Hi Tom,

sudo chmod 0644 /usr/lib/systemd/system/bitlbee.service returns:
chmod: cannot access '/usr/lib/systemd/system/bitlbee.service': No such file or directory

Also, running the systemd unit file without the user & group still does not load the service:

  • bitlbee.service - bitlbee irc/im gateway
    Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/bitlbee.service; enabled)
    Active: inactive (dead)
10

It’s as if root is running bitlbee before the systemd service gets to execute.

11

Hi,

Apologies that should have been:

sudo chmod 0644 /etc/systemd/system/bitlbee.service

And reboot, if that fails I’ve found systemd unit from fedora, which may work. I’ve may modifications to suit:

[Unit]
Description=bitlbee irc/im gateway
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=forking
ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/mkdir -p /run/bitlbee
ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/chown bitlbee.bitlbee /run/bitlbee
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/bitlbee -F -u bitlbee -c /etc/bitlbee/bitlbee.conf
PIDFile=/run/bitlbee/bitlbee.pid
ExecReload=/bin/kill -HUP $MAINPID
KillMode=process
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

and restart

Thanks Tom.

12

Hi Guys.

The usual location for the bitlbee.service file should be in /lib/systemd/system. Service files are configuration data and are therefore not executable.

When you enable / disable the service using systemctl what happens is that systemd will make / remove a symbolic link somewhere under /etc/systemd/system. Since the [Install] section says WantedBy=multi-user.target, the symbolic link will be created in /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants.

As Tom_Doyle rightly says, if you change anything in the bitlbee.service file, you need to run sudo systemctl daemon-reload for it to be picked up by systemd.

1 Like
13

Hi Georgie,

I’ve had a play with this out of curiosity, and it seems the maintainer for package is providing an init.d script, which is compatible with the systemd sysv init compatibility mode.

I would try this:

sudo systemctl disable bitlbee.service #This should remove the symlink /etc/systemd/system/bitlbee.service

sudo rm /lib/systemd/system/bitlbee.service #not required for sysv init compatibility mode.

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

sudo systemctl enable bitlbee #If you do not receive a prompt confirming the service has been enabled, then please reinstall bitlbee & bitlbee-common

sudo systemctl start bitlbee.

Confirm bitlbee has started as expected, if so restart osmc and confirm if starting as required.

@dillthedog good spot on /lib/systemd/system, copy paste error.

Thanks Tom.

14

I figured you originally meant sudo chmod 0644 /etc/systemd/system/bitlbee.service, it still didn’t work though.

I also added your suggestions above according to the unit from fedora and still get the same results.
But, this time I get the following error:

  • bitlbee.service - bitlbee irc/im gateway
    Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/bitlbee.service; enabled)
    Active: failed (Result: start-limit) since Tue 2017-04-25 18:24:19 CST; 9s ago
    Process: 975 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/mkdir -p /run/bitlbee (code=exited, status=203/EXEC)

Apr 25 18:24:19 osmc2 systemd[1]: Failed to start bitlbee irc/im gateway.
Apr 25 18:24:19 osmc2 systemd[1]: Unit bitlbee.service entered failed state.
Apr 25 18:24:19 osmc2 systemd[1]: bitlbee.service holdoff time over, scheduling restart.
Apr 25 18:24:19 osmc2 systemd[1]: Stopping bitlbee irc/im gateway…
Apr 25 18:24:19 osmc2 systemd[1]: Starting bitlbee irc/im gateway…
Apr 25 18:24:19 osmc2 systemd[1]: bitlbee.service start request repeated too quickly, refusing to start.
Apr 25 18:24:19 osmc2 systemd[1]: Failed to start bitlbee irc/im gateway.
Apr 25 18:24:19 osmc2 systemd[1]: Unit bitlbee.service entered failed state.

EDIT: Noticed that mkdir binary should be under /bin/mdkir
EDIT2: Also corrected /run/bitlbee.pid

I compiled my own bitlbee package since I’m using some particular add-ons that need the latest available version.

I was actually using the init.d script from the maintainer package, but after I updated/upgraded my bitlbee package it broke.

15

Hi Tom,

After modifying the systemd fedora unit you provided, the service still runs as /usr/local/sbin/bitlbee -I. If I run it manually, it works well but I still have to kill the PID created on boot to run the fork with the configuration file that I need.

16

Hi Georgie,

Apologies I’d forgotten about the folder structure difference between fedora & debian, could you please post the modified bitlbee.service.

Also Can you please confirm you are saving the bitlbee.service to /lib/systemd/system and running sudo systemctl daemon-reload, as dillthedog pointed out yesterday.

Also I seen a link yesterday that you can compile bitlbee with systemd support, which I assume creates the correct systemd unit file. I can’t find the link at the moment, please standby.

Thanks Tom.

17

Hi Georgie,

I would considered trying to recompile again, by adding --systemdsystemunitdir=/lib/systemd/system to configure flag, so e.g.

./configure --etcdir=/etc/bitlbee --systemdsystemunitdir=/lib/systemd/system

Thanks Tom.

18

Hi Tom,

Oops, I had not seen the @dillthedog’s comment. Thanks.
I modified the /lib/systemd/system/bitlbee.service file to this:

[Unit]
Description=BitlBee IRC/IM gateway
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStartPre=/bin/mkdir -p /run/bitlbee
ExecStartPre=/bin/chown bitlbee.bitlbee /run/bitlbee
ExecStart=/usr/local/sbin/bitlbee -F -u bitlbee -c /etc/bitlbee/bitlbee.conf
PIDFile=/run/bitlbee.pid
ExecReload=/bin/kill -HUP $MAINPID
KillMode=process
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

When I run the script manually, it never finishes loading. Systemctl status returns:

  • bitlbee.service - bitlbee irc/im gateway
    Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/bitlbee.service; enabled)
    Active: activating (start) since Tue 2017-04-25 19:11:28 CST; 7s ago
    Control: 898 (bitlbee)
    CGroup: /system.slice/bitlbee.service
    `-898 /usr/local/sbin/bitlbee -F -n

Apr 25 19:11:28 osmc2 systemd[1]: Starting bitlbee irc/im gateway…

I do run systemctl daemon-reload every time I make changes to the unit.
On boot, the same root bitlbee process always runs as: /usr/local/sbin/bitlbee -I

19

I see you removed Type=forking. It will default to Type=simple, which might not be appropriate.

20

I still think this should be:

As /run isn’t owned by user bitlbee, where as /run/bitlbee/ is (due to “ExecStartPre=/bin/chown bitlbee.bitlbee /run/bitlbee”).

drop -u bitlbee, as the user is already being set in the conf file (Sorry I forgot yesterday, that you had already set this), so:

ExecStart=/usr/local/sbin/bitlbee -F -c /etc/bitlbee/bitlbee.conf

Sorry I’ve not used this app, what does -I & -F Flags do?

When you compiled, did you enabled systemd support? If not you may need to do this before the systemd scripts work as expected.

Thanks Tom.