Running .sh script at boot

[EliTheGamerFTW]

Hi there
So, I've been having some trouble getting my Ubuntu 18.04 x64 VDS to run a server startup script at boot. Crontab for some reason doesn't work (and throws no errors either), using /etc/init.d and systemd also refuse to work and throw no errors. The script works exactly the way it should, which is where it's confusing me. Anyone know another good way to run commands at boot? (Note, this is in case the machine crashes, so it has to be at boot and not at login).
Thanks!

[hiimcody1]

Crontab is the tried and true way for doing this. I personally use it on my Ubuntu VDS with zero issues.

Can you include the source code for the script you are running? (redact passwords or sensitive info if needed)

[EliTheGamerFTW]

No problem.

Crontab:

Code: Select all

@reboot /server/autorun.sh

autorun.sh

Code: Select all

if ! screen -list | grep -q "hl2rp"; then
        echo "Screen session not found. Starting server."
 bash /server/server.sh
else
        echo "Screen session found. Waiting for next check."
fi

/server/server.sh

Code: Select all

#!/bin/sh
echo "Starting HL2RP server."
echo "Use \"screen -x hl2rp\" to load the server console."
echo "While in the screen, press Ctrl-A then d to detach."
sleep 1
screen -A -m -d -S hl2rp (server run code)

[hiimcody1]

For autorun.sh, try throwing a command interpreter at the beginning of it:

Code: Select all

#!/bin/sh

[Edge100x]

You should also make sure that your /server/autorun.sh script has chmod +x, and you might consider having the crontab entry change to the folder of the script before running it.

If you run this script by hand from /root, does it do what you'd like it to do?

[EliTheGamerFTW]

Yeah, running it by hand works exactly how I want. I'll post results from using the command interpreter.

[EliTheGamerFTW]

So, adding the interpreter makes it run, however the screen session responds as dead each time.

[Edge100x]

When you say is "responds as dead", what do you mean?

Also, note that your comment says that you are using "screen -x" to access the screen. The standard way is to use "screen -r".

[EliTheGamerFTW]

By responds as dead, I mean the screen session is marked as dead under screen -ls, and I have to screen -wipe and then start the server again.

[Edge100x]

That usually happens after server crashes, when screen doesn't have the chance to clean up its old sessions. Do you have anything running that would kill it?

You also might try adding a delay to your script, before any commands are executed (say, 5 seconds). It is possible that cron starts early in the boot process, before another process is run that destroys old screen sessions.