It is useful to set up tractor-engine and tractor-blade as system services so that they are automatically started at boot time. This also simplifies their starting and stopping from the command line. Instructions vary by OS.
Linux - with sysVinit
Required sysVinit files are located in INSTALL_DIR/lib/SystemServices.
To set up the engine as a sysVinit service:
- Install the pixar settings file. Edit this file to customize the Tractor installation directory, configuration directory, or command-line options for tractor-engine. If this file already exists, you will need to manually add the Tractor entries at the bottom of the shipped file into the existing /etc/sysconfig/pixar file.sudo cp pixar /etc/sysconfig
- Install the engine init.d file.sudo cp tractor-engine /etc/init.d
- Enable the engine service to start on boot:sudo chkconfig tractor-engine on
- Start or stop the engine:sudo /etc/init.d/tractor-engine startsudo /etc/init.d/tractor-engine stop
To set up the blade as a sysVinit service:
- Install the pixar settings file. Edit this file to customize the Tractor installation directory, the command-line options for tractor-blade, or the owner of the blade process. If this file already exists, you will need to manually add the Tractor entries at the bottom of the shipped file into the existing /etc/sysconfig/pixar file.sudo cp pixar /etc/sysconfig
- Install the blade init.d file.sudo cp tractor-blade /etc/init.d
- Enable the blade service:sudo chkconfig tractor-blade on
- Start or stop the blade:sudo /etc/init.d/tractor-blade startsudo /etc/init.d/tractor-blade stop
Linux - with systemd
Required systemd files are located in INSTALL_DIR/lib/SystemServices/systemd.
To set up the engine as a systemd service:
- Install the engine unit file.sudo cp tractor-engine.service /usr/lib/systemd/system
- Install the engine settings file. Edit this file to customize the Tractor installation directory, configuration directory, or the command-line options for tractor-engine.sudo cp tractor-engine /etc/sysconfig/tractor-engine
- Enable the engine service in systemd:sudo systemctl enable tractor-engine
- Start or stop the engine:sudo systemctl start tractor-enginesudo systemctl stop tractor-engine
To set up the blade as a systemd service:
- Install the blade unit file.sudo cp tractor-blade.service /usr/lib/systemd/system
- Install the systemd override file. Edit this file to override the owner of the blade process.sudo mkdir /etc/systemd/system/tractor-blade.service.d && sudo cp 90-tractor-blade-overrides.conf/etc/systemd/system/tractor-blade.service.d
- Install the blade settings file. Edit this file to customize the Tractor installation directory or the command-line options for tractor-blade.sudo cp tractor-blade /etc/sysconfig/tractor-blade
- Enable the blade service in systemd:sudo systemctl enable tractor-blade
- Start or stop the blade:sudo systemctl start tractor-bladesudo systemctl stop tractor-blade
The engine and blade systemd services are configured to use journald logging. For example, today's log for the engine can be viewed using:
sudo journalctl --since today -u tractor-engine
Or to follow the log for a blade:
sudo journalctl -flu tractor-blade
Refer to systemd documentation for more information on managing systemd services.
Windows
The Tractor blade installer on Windows automatically installs and starts the blade as a Windows service. This service is also configured to automatically start the blade whenever the computer is restarted. You can view the blade service entry by following these steps:
- Start a command prompt window: Click the Start button inWindows, and then selectAll Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt
- In the command prompt window, type:services.mscAnd then press the Enter key to open the Windows Services Management Console.
- In the Services window, scroll down to the Pixar Tractor Blade Service service.
You can manage the service by right-clicking it and selecting Start, Stop, or Restart. Please note that there may be multiple Pixar Tractor Blade Service entries from previous installations. Make sure to select the most current version when starting/stopping or making changes.
It is recommended that you modify the user account that the service will run as. This can be done by right-clicking the service and selecting Properties. In the Properties window, on the Log On tab, you can set the service to run as a specific user account instead of Local System. The commands that are run by the blade should be run as a user account that has access to the remote drives and resources that are needed to run the commands successfully.
Note If you are installing an updated build of the same version of Tractor blade it is recommended to uninstall the previous build first. The uninstaller will automatically stop the existing service. If the service was set to run as a specific user (as recommended) remember to re-enter that information in the Services Management Console.
Mac OS X
Initial .plist files for the engine and blade are found in INSTALL_DIR/lib/SystemServices.
- com.pixar.tractor-engine.plist
- com.pixar.tractor-blade.plist
Edit these files to customize your installation.
Open the appropriate file in your text editor of choice and adjust the install location, launching user, and any program arguments.
Save the files (as needed) to /Library/LaunchDaemons
- To start tractor-engine, run:sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.pixar.tractor-engine.plist
- To start tractor-blade, run:sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.pixar.tractor-blade.plist
- Sometimes the ownership and permission settings of the .plist files can be overwritten incorrectly during the editing process. To make sure that these files are correct, run:sudo chown root /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.pixar.tractor*.plistsudo chmod 644 /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.pixar.tractor*.plist
Services will now start on reboot.