How to Write a Linux Daemon with .Net Core

How to write a linux daemon with .Net Core

I toyed with an idea similar to how .net core web host waits for shutdown in console applications. I was reviewing it on GitHub and was able to extract the gist of how they performed the Run

https://github.com/aspnet/Hosting/blob/15008b0b7fcb54235a9de3ab844c066aaf42ea44/src/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting/WebHostExtensions.cs#L86

public static class ConsoleHost {
    /// <summary>
    /// Block the calling thread until shutdown is triggered via Ctrl+C or SIGTERM.
    /// </summary>
    public static void WaitForShutdown() {
        WaitForShutdownAsync().GetAwaiter().GetResult();
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Runs an application and block the calling thread until host shutdown.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="host">The <see cref="IWebHost"/> to run.</param>
    public static void Wait() {
        WaitAsync().GetAwaiter().GetResult();
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Runs an application and returns a Task that only completes when the token is triggered or shutdown is triggered.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="host">The <see cref="IConsoleHost"/> to run.</param>
    /// <param name="token">The token to trigger shutdown.</param>
    public static async Task WaitAsync(CancellationToken token = default(CancellationToken)) {
        //Wait for the token shutdown if it can be cancelled
        if (token.CanBeCanceled) {
            await WaitAsync(token, shutdownMessage: null);
            return;
        }
        //If token cannot be cancelled, attach Ctrl+C and SIGTERN shutdown
        var done = new ManualResetEventSlim(false);
        using (var cts = new CancellationTokenSource()) {
            AttachCtrlcSigtermShutdown(cts, done, shutdownMessage: "Application is shutting down...");
            await WaitAsync(cts.Token, "Application running. Press Ctrl+C to shut down.");
            done.Set();
        }
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Returns a Task that completes when shutdown is triggered via the given token, Ctrl+C or SIGTERM.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="token">The token to trigger shutdown.</param>
    public static async Task WaitForShutdownAsync(CancellationToken token = default (CancellationToken)) {
        var done = new ManualResetEventSlim(false);
        using (var cts = CancellationTokenSource.CreateLinkedTokenSource(token)) {
            AttachCtrlcSigtermShutdown(cts, done, shutdownMessage: string.Empty);
            await WaitForTokenShutdownAsync(cts.Token);
            done.Set();
        }
    }

    private static async Task WaitAsync(CancellationToken token, string shutdownMessage) {
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(shutdownMessage)) {
            Console.WriteLine(shutdownMessage);
        }
        await WaitForTokenShutdownAsync(token);
    }

    private static void AttachCtrlcSigtermShutdown(CancellationTokenSource cts, ManualResetEventSlim resetEvent, string shutdownMessage) {
        Action ShutDown = () => {
            if (!cts.IsCancellationRequested) {
                if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(shutdownMessage)) {
                    Console.WriteLine(shutdownMessage);
                }
                try {
                    cts.Cancel();
                } catch (ObjectDisposedException) { }
            }
            //Wait on the given reset event
            resetEvent.Wait();
        };

        AppDomain.CurrentDomain.ProcessExit += delegate { ShutDown(); };
        Console.CancelKeyPress += (sender, eventArgs) => {
            ShutDown();
            //Don't terminate the process immediately, wait for the Main thread to exit gracefully.
            eventArgs.Cancel = true;
        };
    }

    private static async Task WaitForTokenShutdownAsync(CancellationToken token) {
        var waitForStop = new TaskCompletionSource<object>();
        token.Register(obj => {
            var tcs = (TaskCompletionSource<object>)obj;
            tcs.TrySetResult(null);
        }, waitForStop);
        await waitForStop.Task;
    }
}

I tried adapting something like a IConsoleHost but quickly realized I was over-engineering it. Extracted the main parts into something like await ConsoleUtil.WaitForShutdownAsync(); that operated like Console.ReadLine

This then allowed the utility to be used like this

public class Program {

    public static async Task Main(string[] args) {
        //relevant code goes here
        //...

        //wait for application shutdown
        await ConsoleUtil.WaitForShutdownAsync();
    }
}

from there creating a systemd as in the following link should get you the rest of the way

Writing a Linux daemon in C#

.net core one code for service/daemon for Windows/Linux

Services and *daemons (not demons) are simply ways for the OS to manage executables/scripts, so as long as the code is OS independent (like .NET core) you should be able to use the same code base.

Running an executable as a daemon/service will vary based on the operating system. As such, I've linked to some existing stack overflow questions that should help a little.

How do you create a Linux daemon from a .NET Core console application?

Create Windows service from executable

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