DSM-G600, DNS-3xx and NSA-220 Hack Forum

slimserver_standby_daemon is a lightweight program that works together with the SqueezeBox Plugin Server Power Control to automatically stop/start SqueezeCenter and optionally MySQL based on the status of SqueezeBox clients. i.e. when there are no active clients, the slimserver and mysql services will be stopped to conserve resources on the DNS-323. Then when an active client tries to connect, the daemon will automatically restart the slimserver and mysql services.

Features
* Automatically stop slimserver and optionally MySQL when there are no active SqueezeBox clients
* Automatically start slimserver and MySQL when an active SqueezeBox client tries to connect
* Includes a startup script so that the lightweight daemon is started on boot/reboot instead of the resource hungry slimserver + mysql combo

Pre-requisite
* Server Power Control

Acknowledgement
This program is based on the work developed by Yannick.
What I've done is to make it more robust, configurable and fit the ffp environment better.

In addition, I created a startup script for the standby daemon so that ffp will start the standby daemon rather than SqueezeCenter on boot/reboot. The assumption here is that you most likely do not need SqueezeCenter when you boot/reboot the box and you would rather let a SqueezeBox client trigger the startup of SqueezeCenter than to have it unnecessarily load up my boot process and increase the boot time.

Installation
   1. Set up standby daemon script
         1. Download and install script

                # cd /ffp
                # wget -O standby_daemon.tar.gz http://dns323.kood.org/forum/attachment.php?item=497
                # tar -xzvf standby_daemon.tar.gz
                # rm standby_daemon.tar.gz

2. Configure sudoers to allow user nobody to trigger the script without password. [IMPT: do not blindly copy the code below! replace {your_hostname} with your real hostname!]

                # cd /ffp/etc
                # chmod u+w sudoers
                # echo "nobody {your_hostname}= NOPASSWD: /ffp/sbin/slimserver_standby_daemon.pl" >> sudoers
                # chmod u-w sudoers

2. Set up SqueezeCenter plugin - Server Power Control
         1. Download and install plugin from here

                # cd /ffp/lib/squeezecenter/Plugins/
                # wget -O SrvrPowerCtrl.zip http://forums.slimdevices.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7357&d=1241562529
                # unzip SrvrPowerCtrl.zip
                # rm SrvrPowerCtrl.zip

2. Restart SqueezeCenter to load the newly installed plugin.
         3. Go to the settings page of the plugin (Settings>Plugins, look for Server Power Control and click on settings on the right) after SqueezeCenter has restarted
         4. Check the first two options (Shutdown and Shutdown to SqueezeNetwork) and enter "sudo /ffp/sbin/slimserver_standby_daemon.pl" in the textbox below it (both of them). Leave the rest of the options unchecked as we can't use them on the DNS-323.
         5. At the end of the settings dialog, select the option Monitor idle Players and select Shutdown server for the field Action to take after idle time. Optionally you can also setup the same in End of day action with a shorter idle time.
         6. Save the settings and you are done.

   3. [Optional] Start standby daemon instead of SqueezeCenter on boot/reboot

          # cd /ffp/start
          # chmod a-x slimserver.sh
          # chmod a+x slimserver_standby_daemon.sh

4. Tips and Tricks
         1. The standby daemon outputs a log file called standby_daemon.log in SqueezeCenter's log directory (i.e. /ffp/lib/squeezecenter/Logs/). It records the timestamps of the shutdown and startup events which I find useful for tracking the uptimes as well as for debugging purposes.
         2. The default settings in the standby daemon script does not shutdown MySQL. (My instance of MySQL is used for other purposes hence I have to let it run independently). If you wish to have the script manage that, change the var $stop_mysql from 0 to 1. It will however, start MySQL if its not already running. (Make sense right?!)


A couple of things still need to be sorted out in this setup:

1. Wakeup prior to alarm - Since SqueezeCenter is no longer running all the time, alarms that plays from SqueezeCenter will not work. Initial idea is to modify script to set up a cron job to wake SqueezeCenter a few minutes prior to the alarm being triggered. Note that this should not affect you if your alarms are set on SqueezeNetwork and you have configured Server Power Control to automatically switch you to SqueezeNetwork when SqueezeCenter is being shutdown.

2. Scheduled music library scans - Since SqueezeCenter is no longer running all the time, the scheduled daily scans may not be taking place anymore. Initial idea is to modify script to look for this setting and setup a cron job for it when the daemon is active.

I do not have any urgency to get these features working as I currently do not use them. I will probably get round to them if there is demand for it.

Last edited by bfg100k (2009-06-02 19:25:29)

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Attachments:
slimserver_standby_daemon.tar.gz, Size: 2,575 bytes, Downloads: 760