runit

What runit is

runit is a free Unix init scheme that supervises services and can replace sysvinit or other init schemes. As process 1, it manages boot, normal operation, and shutdown in three stages. Its runsv component launches a service’s run program and restarts it if it exits; optional finish programs and log services are also supported. The sv utility reports service status and provides controls to start, stop, restart, pause, or signal supervised services. For logging, svlogd can filter messages and write automatically rotated logs. The chpst utility can change process state and set limits for memory, open files, process count, output size, core size, and CPU time. runsvdir can start and monitor processes for up to 1,000 service subdirectories. runit also supports supervision alongside a system’s existing init scheme without replacing it. It runs on GNU/Linux, BSD systems, MacOSX, and Solaris, with adaptation possible for other Unix systems. The maker provides source and installation instructions, including manual installation without root access. UDP logging is documented as unreliable and limited to private networks.