[systemd-devel] How to properly write an "umbrella" unit

[Marc Haber]

Hi,

I am trying to systemd'ize a daemon which is useful to be run in two
instances. It is usually the case that both instances need to be
started and stopped simultaneously, and the local admin would want a
_single_ command to start and stop both instances. Therefore, an
"umbrella" is needed.

As a beginner, I have written:

nifty.target:
[Unit]
Description=nifty Server (all protocols)
After=network.target

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target


nifty-v4.service:
[Unit]
Description=nifty Server for IPv4 (niftyd4.conf)
After=network.target
PartOf=nifty.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/niftyd -f -4 -q -cf /etc/nifty/niftyd4.conf

[Install]
WantedBy=nifty.target



nifty-v6.service:
[Unit]
Description=nifty Server for IPv6
After=network.target
PartOf=nifty.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/niftyd -f -6 -q -cf /etc/nifty/niftyd6.conf

[Install]
WantedBy=nifty.target


This works as designed. Unfortunately, my Distribution's build tools
don't handle package-provided targets too well, and I feel that using
a target here is kind of wrong anyway.

Can I write my nifty.target as a service? I have seen in this case
nifty.service files with Exec=/bin/true to basically create a no-op
service, but that's ugly.

If I move my service to a nifty at .service, how would I start two
instances from a single shell command?

How would one handle this situation in the clear, recommended way?

Greetings
Marc

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