Python daemon will not run in the background on Ubuntu

Question

My Python daemon runs fine in the foreground of my Ubuntu system using this command in the terminal:

python /opt/my-daemon.py foreground

However when I try to call the daemon using the "start" command it fails, why?

python /opt/my-daemon.py start

This is how I call the command in the /etc/rc.local file:

python /opt/my-daemon.py start &

Herewith the code:

1.daemon.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
import sys, os, time, atexit
from signal import SIGTERM
class Daemon:
"""
A generic daemon class.

Usage: subclass the Daemon class and override the run() method
"""
def __init__(self, pidfile,
    stdin='/dev/null',stdout='/dev/null',stderr='/dev/null'):
    self.stdin = stdin
    self.stdout = stdout
    self.stderr = stderr
    self.pidfile = pidfile

def daemonize(self):
    """
    Do the UNIX double-fork magic. See Richard Stevens' "Advanced
    Programming in the UNIX Environment" for details (ISBN 0201563177)
    http://www.erlenstar.demon.co.uk/unix/faq_2.html#SEC16
    """
    try:
        pid = os.fork()
        if pid > 0:
            # exit first parent
            sys.exit(0)
    except OSError, e:
        sys.stderr.write("fork #1 failed: %d (%s)\n" % (e.errno,
                    e.strerror))
        sys.exit(1)
    # Decouple from parent environment
    os.chdir("/")
    os.setsid()
    os.umask(0)

    # Do second fork
    try:
        pid = os.fork()
        if pid > 0:
            # Exit from second parent
            sys.exit(0)
    except OSError, e:
        sys.stderr.write("fork #2 failed: %d (%s)\n" % (e.errno, e.strerror))
        sys.exit(1)

    # Redirect standard file descriptors
    sys.stdout.flush()
    sys.stderr.flush()
    si = file(self.stdin, 'r')
    so = file(self.stdout, 'a+')
    se = file(self.stderr, 'a+', 0)
    os.dup2(si.fileno(), sys.stdin.fileno())
    os.dup2(so.fileno(), sys.stdout.fileno())
    os.dup2(se.fileno(), sys.stderr.fileno())

    # Write pidfile
    atexit.register(self.delpid)
    pid = str(os.getpid())
    file(self.pidfile,'w+').write("%s\n" % pid)

def delpid(self):
    os.remove(self.pidfile)

def start(self):
    """
    Start the daemon
    """
    # Check for a pidfile to see if the daemon already runs
    try:
        pf = file(self.pidfile,'r')
        pid = int(pf.read().strip())
        pf.close()
    except IOError:
        pid = None

    if pid:
        message = "pidfile %s already exist. Daemon already running?\n"
        sys.stderr.write(message % self.pidfile)
        sys.exit(1)

    # Start the daemon
    self.daemonize()
    self.run()

def stop(self):
    """
    Stop the daemon
    """
    # Get the pid from the pidfile
    try:
        pf = file(self.pidfile,'r')
        pid = int(pf.read().strip())
        pf.close()
    except IOError:
        pid = None

    if not pid:
        message = "pidfile %s does not exist. Daemon not running?\n"
        sys.stderr.write(message % self.pidfile)
        return # not an error in a restart

    # Try killing the daemon process
    try:
        while 1:
            os.kill(pid, SIGTERM)
            time.sleep(0.1)
    except OSError, err:
        err = str(err)
        if err.find("No such process") > 0:
            if os.path.exists(self.pidfile):
                os.remove(self.pidfile)
        else:
            print str(err)
            sys.exit(1)

def restart(self):
    """
    Restart the daemon
    """
    self.stop()
    self.start()

def run(self):
    """
    You should override this method when you subclass Daemon. It will be called after the process has been
    daemonized by start() or restart().
    """

2.my-daemon.py

import sys, time
from daemon import Daemon
import MySQLdb #MySQL libraries
#Database parameters
config = {"host":"localhost",...}
try:
    conn = MySQLdb.connect(config['host'],...
class MyDaemon(Daemon):
def run(self):
    while True:
        time.sleep(2)
                    #{Do processes, connect to the database, etc....}
                    ...
if __name__ == "__main__":
daemon = MyDaemon('/tmp/daemon-example.pid')
if len(sys.argv) == 2:
    if 'start' == sys.argv[1]:
        daemon.start()
    elif 'stop' == sys.argv[1]:
        daemon.stop()
    elif 'restart' == sys.argv[1]:
        daemon.restart()
    elif 'foreground' == sys.argv[1]: #This runs the daemon in the foreground
        daemon.run()
    else:
        print "Unknown command"
        sys.exit(2)
    sys.exit(0)
else:
    print "usage: %s start|foreground|stop|restart" % sys.argv[0]
    sys.exit(2)

Answer 1

SOLVED. I was under the impression that the foreground and the start parameter was two different things. It turns out I just needed to do the following.

def run(self):
    while True:
        time.sleep(2)

to

def start(self):
    while True:
        time.sleep(2)

I then removed the foreground parameter, because I can run the script from the terminal using the start command to see the output in the foreground.

python /opt/my-daemon.py start

Also, in rc.local I start the script as follows:

python /opt/my-daemon.py start &

This hides the daemon process and executes the script on startup regardless of the user who logs in :)