System daemon

paron server bootstrap and paron tunnel bootstrap can install a system daemon that starts with the system. Paron installs it with systemd, launchd or the Windows service control manager. With a different init system, start paron server run or paron tunnel run with that init system.

Names

	Linux	macOS	Windows
Server	paron-server	dev.bovolato.paron.server	paron-server
Tunnel	paron-tunnel	dev.bovolato.paron.tunnel	paron-tunnel
Definition	/etc/systemd/system/<name>.service	/Library/LaunchDaemons/<name>.plist	HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\<name>
Account	paron	_paron	NT SERVICE\<name>

In the commands on this page, replace <name> with the name of the daemon.

Check, read the log, restart

systemd

systemctl status <name>        # state of the daemon
journalctl -u <name>           # log
sudo systemctl restart <name>  # restart

launchd (macOS)

sudo launchctl print system/<name>                           # state of the daemon
log show --info --debug --predicate 'subsystem == "<name>"'  # log
sudo launchctl kickstart -k system/<name>                    # restart

Windows service

Get-Service <name>                               # state of the daemon
Get-WinEvent -ProviderName <name> -MaxEvents 50  # log
Restart-Service <name>                           # restart

Change a setting

The daemon definition holds the settings as environment variables. Edit the definition, then do the step for your daemon manager. With systemd and launchd, a restart alone keeps the old definition.

• systemd: run sudo systemctl daemon-reload, then restart the daemon.
• launchd: run sudo launchctl bootout system/<name>, then sudo launchctl bootstrap system /Library/LaunchDaemons/<name>.plist.
• Windows: edit the Environment value of the registry key, then restart the service.

Accounts

On Linux and macOS, the daemon runs as a system account with no login shell and no home directory. Paron creates the account if it does not exist, and makes it the owner of the data directory. The server and the tunnels on one host use the same account.

On Windows, the daemon runs as a virtual account. Windows creates this account with the service, and deletes it with the service. The virtual account, the user that ran the bootstrap, the administrators and the system can open the data directory. Run the paron commands in PowerShell as administrator.

With no system daemon, the data directory belongs to the user that ran the bootstrap. Paron logs a warning when it runs as root, or on Windows as an administrator.

When root runs a command on a data directory that belongs to a different account, Paron tries to run the command as the owner of the directory. If this fails, the command stops with an error.