Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!ucbvax!TAURUS.BITNET!zifrony
From: zifrony@TAURUS.BITNET
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: remote background jobs
Message-ID: <946@taurus.BITNET>
Date: 11 Jan 89 18:27:21 GMT
References: <1103@smidefix.liu.se>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: zifrony%gemini.UUCP@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (Zifrony Doron)
Organization: Tel-Aviv Univesity Math and CS school, Israel
Lines: 36

In article <1103@smidefix.liu.se> pausv@liuida.BITNET writes:
>Problem: How do I start a background server process on another machine?
>        I have tried using rsh, but it refuses to exit when I want it to.
>        I have also looked at rexec(), but it seems to require username
>        and password info to be availiable; a real pain in the ***.
...
>
>Question: How do I achieve this, without leaving rsh, in.rshd or
>          other processes waiting for the server to die ?
...
>                  /Paul
>---
>Paul Svensson                  psv@ida.liu.se                  SM5SJS

Sorry for the late posting, but I've just reched this newsgroup.
But now to business.

I have encountered the same problem when trying to create a server process,
on another machine via 'system("rsh ....")'.  What I did, after consulting
with the local wizard was:

1. close fds 0, 1 and 2.
2. fork() - the server runs as the child process.
3. the father commits suicide.

This works just fine for me, but I guess it slows down the initialization.

Later, the initiating process on machine A, and the server process on machine
B talked using a socket.

Try it, and may god be with you.

Doron Zifrony           E-mail: zifrony@taurus.bitnet or
Msc. student                    zifrony@Math.Tau.Ac.IL
Tel Aviv University
Israel