Useful as a starting point for a Linux service script. The parameters in the header comments (service-name, chkconfig, etc.) are specific to Red Hat-like Linux distributions and would be ignored in a Debian environment. Make script executable and place in /etc/init.d, then run appropriate chkconfig or update-rc.d command to add as a service.

service-name

#!/bin/sh
#
# service-name Service Name and brief description
#
# chkconfig: 2345 96 06
# description: Service Name and brief description
# processname: service-name
 
###########################################################################
# Modify the below variables do determine how the service is run
###########################################################################
 
# Define here variables that may be modified to customize the service
STARTUP_TIMEOUT=60 # Seconds
STOP_TIMEOUT=30 # Seconds
 
###########################################################################
# Do not modify below this point unless you know what you're doing!
###########################################################################
 
# Ensure our environment variables are set
source /etc/profile
 
NAME=service-name
# NOTE: this script assumes $SERVICE_HOME is defined in /etc/profile
PID_FILE="$SERVICE_HOME/$NAME.pid"
BIN_PATH="$SERVICE_HOME/bin/$NAME"
LOG_DIR="$SERVICE_HOME/logs"
OUT_FILE="$SERVICE_HOME/$NAME.out"
RETVAL=0
 
start() {
    if status $1; then
        RETVAL=1
    # Only attempt to start the service if it is not already running
    else
        # Check if the log file already exists and is owned by another user
        if [ -e $OUT_FILE ] && [ ! -O $OUT_FILE ]; then
            echo "the log file is owned by another user; run \"service $NAME clear-logs\" first."
            RETVAL=1
        else
            # NOTE: here implement the code to start your service and store the process ID in $PID
            echo -n "starting $NAME ..."
            
            # counter=0
            # while ! $started; do
            #    # check to set $started if service is up
            #
            #    sleep 1
            #    echo -n "."
            #
            #    ((++counter))
            #    if [ $counter == $STARTUP_TIMEOUT ]; then
            #        break
            #    fi
            # done
            
            # Report whether the service started successfully
            if sudo kill -0 $PID > /dev/null 2>&1 && [ $counter != $STARTUP_TIMEOUT ]; then
                printf " STARTED\n$NAME started as PID $PID."
            else
                printf " !\nan error occurred, the $NAME startup process may not have completed\ncheck PID $PID and the logs"
            fi

            PID=$!
            echo $PID > $PID_FILE
            echo "$NAME started as PID $PID."
        fi
    fi
}
 
stop() {
    # Only attempt to stop the service if it is currently running
    if status $1; then
        PID=`cat $PID_FILE`
        # NOTE: depending on the service started, there may be a more specific way to stop than gracefully terminating the process
        echo -n "stopping $NAME ..."
        STOP_TIMEOUT_DEC=$((STOP_TIMEOUT*10))
        counter=0
        # Loop until the service is stopped, ro we reach our timeout
        while sudo kill -15 $PID > /dev/null 2>&1; do
            sleep 0.1
            echo -n "."
            
            ((++counter))
            if [ $counter == $STOP_TIMEOUT_DEC ]; then
                break
            fi
        done
        
        # Report whether the service stopped successfully
        if ! sudo kill -0 $PID > /dev/null 2>&1; then
            sudo rm -f $PID_FILE
        else
            printf "!\nthe service didn't stop within a reasonable amount of time"
        fi
    else
        RETVAL=1
    fi
}
 
restart() {
    stop
    start
}
 
tail_log() {
    if [ -e $OUT_FILE ]; then
        tail -f $OUT_FILE
    else
        echo "no log file to tail; execute \"service $NAME status\" to ensure the service is running."
    fi
}
 
clear_logs() {
    # Logs shouldn't be cleared if the service is running
    if status $1; then
        echo "stop $NAME before attempting to clear logs"
        RETVAL=1
    else
        # Clear logs if the logs folder isn't empty
        if [ -e $OUT_FILE ]; then
            sudo rm $OUT_FILE
            echo "removed log $OUT_FILE"
        else
            echo "no logs to clear for this service"
        fi
    fi
}
 
status() {
    running=1
     
    # Check if a PID file exists, which indicates our process is running
    if [ -e $PID_FILE ]; then
        PID=`cat $PID_FILE`
        # Ensure the value stored in the PID file is a process that is currently running
        if sudo kill -0 $PID > /dev/null 2>&1; then
            running=0
        else
            # In this case, our PID file is out of sync and the process is not actually
            # running, so remove the PID
            sudo rm -f $PID_FILE
            if ! [ -e $PID_FILE ]; then
                echo "removed zombie file for PID $PID"
            fi
        fi
    fi
     
    # Status report
    if [ $running == 0 ]; then
        echo "$NAME running as PID $PID"
    else
        echo "$NAME is stopped"
    fi
     
    return $running
}
 
case "$1" in
    start)
        start
        ;;
    stop)
        stop
        ;;
    restart)
        restart
        ;;
    log)
        tail_log
        ;;
    clear)
        clear_logs
        ;;
    status)
        status
        ;;
    *)
        echo "Usage: service $NAME {start|stop|restart|log|clear|status}" >&2
        RETVAL=1
        ;;
esac
 
exit $RETVAL