shepherd/NEWS

                                                              -*- org -*-
#+TITLE: GNU Shepherd NEWS — history of user-visible changes
#+STARTUP: content hidestars

Copyright © 2002, 2003 Wolfgang Jährling
Copyright © 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 Ludovic Courtès <ludo@gnu.org>

  Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification,
  are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright
  notice and this notice are preserved.

Please send Shepherd bug reports to bug-guix@gnu.org.

* Changes in version 0.8.1
** Fix race condition that could lead shepherd to stop itself
   (<https://bugs.gnu.org/40981>)
** Use ‘signalfd’ on GNU/Linux to improve efficiency and simplify code
** Outdated bits have been removed from the manual
** Updated translation: sv

* Changes in version 0.8.0
** Kill the whole process group when the PID file doesn’t show up
   (<https://bugs.gnu.org/40672>)
** ‘make-kill-destructor’ kills the process group
** New ‘default-pid-file-timeout’ SRFI-39 parameter
** New #:file-creation-mask parameter for ‘make-forkexec-constructor’
** ‘make-forkexec-constructor’ creates log files as #o640
   (<https://bugs.gnu.org/40405>)
** Improve documentation and examples
** Ensure man pages are up to date
   (<https://bugs.gnu.org/39694>)
** Fix compilation on systems without ‘prctl’ such as GNU/Hurd
** Remove kludge that would send SIGALRM every second
** Address “error in finalization thread” warning
** ‘make-forkexec-constructor’ no longer supports old calling convention

The first argument must be a list of strings.  Passing several strings has
been deprecated since 0.1.

* Changes in version 0.7.0
** New crash handler allows shepherd as PID 1 to dump core on GNU/Linux
** (shepherd service) now exports ‘default-environment-variables’
** ‘make-forkexec-constructor’ no longer removes log file
** Disable reboot on ctrl-alt-del before loading the config file
   (<https://bugs.gnu.org/35996>)
** Exception handling adjusted for Guile 3.0.0
* Changes in version 0.6.1
** ‘herd status’ distinguishes between “stopped” and “one-shot” services
** ‘read-pid-file’ gracefully handles PID files not created atomically
   (<https://bugs.gnu.org/35550>)
** ‘shepherd’ no longer crashes when asked to load files with syntax errors
   (<https://bugs.gnu.org/35631>)
** New translations: de, sk
** Updated translations: da, es, fr, pt_BR
* Changes in version 0.6.0
** Services can now be “one-shot” (see the manual for details)
** ‘shepherd’ deletes its socket file upon termination
** ‘herd stop S’ is no longer an error when S is already stopped
** ‘herd’ exits with non-zero when executing an action that fails
** ‘shepherd’ ignores reboot(2) errors when running in a container
** Translation of error messages has been fixed
** New translation: ta (Tamil)
** Updated translations: da, es, fr, pt_BR, sv, ta, uk, zh_CN
* Changes in version 0.5.0
** Services now have a ‘replacement’ slot
** Restarting a service now restarts its dependent services as well
** Gracefully halt upon ctrl-alt-del when running as PID 1 on GNU/Linux
** Actions can now be invoked on services not currently running
** Guile >= 2.0.13 is now required; Guile 3.0 is supported
** Unused runlevel code has been removed
** Updated translations: es, fr, pt_BR, sv
* Changes in version 0.4.0
** When running as non-root, keep track of forked processes
** When running as root, log to /dev/log (syslogd) or /dev/kmsg by default
** ‘exec-command’ opens log file in append mode
** Add native language support (5 languages currently supported)
** ‘log-output-port’ is now a SRFI-39 parameter
** New ‘make-shepherd-output-port’ in lieu of ‘shepherd-output-port’
** Fix non-deterministic test suite issues

* Changes in version 0.3.2
** ‘herd status’ displays a bullet list
** No longer crash when ‘enable’ & co. are passed a wrong argument number
   (<http://bugs.gnu.org/24684>)
** ‘make-forkexec-constructor’ has a new #:pid-file-timeout parameter
** Processes that failed to create their PID file are now killed
** .go files are now installed in LIBDIR/guile/2.X/site-ccache
** Build system supports compilation with Guile 2.2

* Changes in version 0.3.1
** Process respawn limit is honored again (regression introduced in 0.3)
** ‘herd status SERVICE’ displays the last respawn time, if any
** (shepherd service) exports ‘&action-runtime-error’ and related bindings
** ‘mkdir-p’ adjusted to cope with GNU/Hurd file system behavior

* Changes in version 0.3

** GNU dmd becomes the GNU Shepherd

The GNU Shepherd herds your daemons!
See http://www.gnu.org/software/shepherd/#history for details.
As a side effect, many incompatible changes were made:

  - The ‘dmd’ command was renamed to ‘shepherd’.
  - The ‘deco’ command was renamed to ‘herd’.
  - The default system-wide config file is now /etc/shepherd.scm.
  - The default per-user config file is now ~/.config/shepherd/init.scm.
  - The special ‘dmd’ service is now called ‘root’ and ‘shepherd’.  Thus,
    instead of:
       deco load dmd foo.scm
    you would now type:
       herd load root foo.scm
  - Guile modules now live in the (shepherd …) name space.

** ‘herd status’ and ‘herd detailed-status’ assumes the ‘root’ service

That is, ‘herd status’ is equivalent to ‘herd status root’.

** ‘herd help’ returns a meaningful help message
** ‘shepherd’ stops itself when it receives SIGINT

This is what happens when ‘shepherd’ is running as PID 1 on GNU/Linux and
ctrl-alt-del is pressed (see ctrlaltdel(8)).

** ‘halt’ and ‘reboot’ connect to the system socket unconditionally
** ‘herd’ uses a non-zero exit code upon errors
** The ‘root’ service has a new ‘eval’ action
** Basic man pages are now provided
** ‘make-forkexec-constructor’ has new #:group and #:user parameters
** ‘make-forkexec-constructor’ has a new #:pid-file parameter
** (shepherd services) now exports ‘make-actions’ and ‘provided-by’
** ‘shepherd --pid=FILE’ writes FILE atomically
** The communication protocol is now entirely sexp-based (see the manual)
** ‘shepherd’ is more robust to misbehaving clients
** Cross-compilation is now supported
** The build system uses “silent rules” by default
** Internally, the coding style of various parts has been improved

* Changes in version 0.2

** Non-root configuration file is now ~/.dmd.d/init.scm.

For unprivileged uses of dmd, the configuration file used to be
~/.dmdconf.scm.  It is now ~/.dmd.d/init.scm

** Generate template configuration file when none is found.

A ~/.dmd.d/init.scm template configuration file is now generated when
dmd is started and no such file exists.

** The 'dmd' service has new 'unload' and 'reload' actions.

The 'unload' action allows a service to be stopped and its definition to
be unloaded; 'reload' allows a service to be unloaded, and a new
redefinition to be reloaded, atomically.  See the manual for details.

** 'make-forkexec-constructor' has a new calling convention.

In particular, the procedure now has #:environment-variables
and #:directory arguments.  See the manual for details.

** New 'exec-command' and 'fork+exec-command' convenience procedures.
** The 'status' action displays the running value of services (the PID.)
** 'dmd' has a new '--pid' option.
** Failures to connect to dmd are gracefully handled.
** Data is always appended to the log file.
** Assorted bug fixes and documentation improvements.

* Changes in version 0.1
** A single socket is used for communication with dmd, with a new protocol.

The new communication protocol between 'dmd' and 'deco' is simpler,
versioned, and extensible.

** The default socket name is now independent of the calling user.
** The socket directory is now created under $(localstatedir).
** The 'dmd' service has new actions 'power-off' and 'halt'; 'stop' reboots

When dmd is running as root, as is the case when it is used as a
PID-one init system, these actions allow 'root' to cleanly reboot or
halt the machine.

** New 'reboot' and 'halt' commands.
** 'dmd' only write to stdout when no client is connected.
** The configuration file is loaded in a fresh module.
** 'make-forkexec-constructor' closes all file descriptors after forking.
** License upgraded to GPL version 3 or later.
** Manual license upgraded to FDL version 1.3 or later.
** Many bug fixes, documentation improvements, etc.

* Changes in version -0.4
** Awaken from a 10-year nap.
** Ported to Guile 2.0.
** Modules are modules instead of being loaded.
** Build system fixes, cleanups, and upgrades.

* Changes in version -0.5
** dmd: `--socket=-' instead of `--socket=none'.
** Renamed `extra-action' to plain `action'.
** The result of user-defined stop code is ignored now.
** New action for all services: `dmd-status'.
** Distribution contains file `QUESTIONS'.
** Improved the `unknown' service implementation in `examples/'.
** Number of args given to actions is verified.
** Made docstrings for actions optional.
** Renamed `{en,dis}able-persistency' to `{,no-}persistency'.
** Can pass file name to dmd action `persistency'.

* Changes in version -0.6
** New action `doc' for displaying documentation.
** `list-actions' is a sub-action of `doc' now.
** New action `cd' for dmd, useful with `--socket=none'.
** Distribution contains example for an `unknown' service.
** At configure time, dmd checks for a Guile installation.
** Enable readline on `--socket=none' and non-dumb terminal.
** Startup time finally became completely unacceptable. :-)

* Changes in version -0.7
** Can fork into background via dmd extra-action `daemonize'.
** New action for all services: list-actions.
** New options for dmd: --logfile (-l), and --silent/--quiet
** Standard option --usage works for both dmd and deco.
** You can pass relative file names to deco.
** Never send respawn-output to deco by accident.
** Better handling of terminals and similar services.
** Documented evolution of runlevels.
** Service groups can be used to start/stop services at once.
** Persistency (i.e. safe state on exit and restore next time).
** Invoke actions of service `unknown' (if defined) as fallback.
** Read commands from standard input if socket file name is `none'.

* Changes in version -0.8
** Show output in deco, not only in dmd.
** New options in deco: --insecure (-I) and --result-socket (-r)
** --help displays the options for both dmd and deco.
** Disable services which are respawning too fast.
** New actions for all services: enable, disable and enforce.
** Default extra actions work even when the service is stopped.
** Documented some internals of dmd.

* Changes in version -0.9
** Example configuration added.
** New option for deco: --socket (-s).
** New option for dmd: --insecure (-I).
** Added tutorial and completed documentation.
** Create default socket dir on startup if desired.
** Added a real build system.

* Changes in Version -0.9.6
** Controlling dmd completely with deco is now possible.
** A few bugfixes for service handling.
** Long options can be abbreviated, short ones also work.
** Respawning of services works.

* Changes in version -0.9.7
** User-defined code is always protected with a `catch'.
** New options: --config and --socket.
** The new deco program can be used to send commands to dmd.

* Changes in version -0.9.8
** Starting and stopping of services by symbol works better.
** Performing extra actions on services possible.
** Improved documentation.
** More detailed output.

* Version -0.9.9
** Initial release.