runit

Runit

runit is a service supervision suite used to control processes and services on Unix-like operating systems. It is lightweight, customizable, and follows a simple yet robust process supervision scheme.
runit image
process-control service-management unix

Runit: Service Supervision Suite for Unix-like Systems

A lightweight and customizable service supervision suite used to control processes and services on Unix-like operating systems, following a simple yet robust process supervision scheme.

What is Runit?

runit is an open-source process supervisor and init scheme for Unix-like operating systems. It was designed to be lightweight, customizable, and to follow Unix philosophy of doing one thing well.

Some key features of runit include:

  • Simple yet robust process management using a single supervisor process
  • Fast and reliable daemontools-compatible process supervision
  • Init scheme that allows service supervision without PID 1 modifications
  • Easy service monitoring and log management
  • Minimal resource usage and overhead

runit consists of three core utilities - runsv, runsvdir, runsvc - that work together to enable process monitoring and automatic restarting. Services are defined per application, each with its own supervising process runsv watching over the main application process.

The runit init scheme allows using runit process supervision without having to replace system init daemon. This provides compatibility with SysV init scripts while still benefiting from advanced service supervision capabilities.

Overall, runit is a lightweight yet full-featured process control system. Its modular design makes it customizable for different needs, while still emphasizing simplicity, speed and reliability in process management.

Runit Features

Features

  1. Process supervision and service monitoring
  2. Lightweight and fast
  3. Init script support
  4. Restart crashed processes automatically
  5. Logging and notification
  6. Supports parallel process execution
  7. Customizable

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Reliable process monitoring

Easy to configure

Light resource footprint

Wide platform support (Linux, Solaris, BSD)

Active community support

Cons

Limited built-in process management features

Steep learning curve

Not ideal for large or complex environments

No native Windows support


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