# Mongrel failing to start on bootup as PID files still exist **URL:** \ **Category:** Deployment\ **Created:** [May 21, 2007, 12:48pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-failing-to-start-on-bootup-as-pid-files-still-exist/104669 "2007-05-21T12:48:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Niall_M)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 12:48pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-failing-to-start-on-bootup-as-pid-files-still-exist/104669/1 "2007-05-21T12:48:15Z")
Hi, One of my site’s servers had a problem yesterday and the host restarted it. During boot up Mongrel failed to start as the PID files still existed in /log I didn’t find out about this reboot until several hours later so the site was down that entire time which is less than ideal. Does anybody know of a way around this? Is there a built in way to force Mongrel to start and overwrite any existing PID files? I have the mongrel\_cluster startup script setup correctly btw. Thanks in advance. Regards, Niall M. ---
**Author:** ![Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Niall_M)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-failing-to-start-on-bootup-as-pid-files-still-exist/104669/2 "2007-05-21T18:35:31Z")
You could write init.d script to check if those files exist and if so delete them before trying to start up the cluster. - Richard ---
**Author:** ![Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Niall_M)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-failing-to-start-on-bootup-as-pid-files-still-exist/104669/3 "2007-05-21T20:39:51Z")
Thanks Richard, was thinking of doing that but was wondering if there was an existing solution, one built into Mongrel perhaps. Niall M. removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid wrote: > > I didn’t find out about this reboot until several hours later so the > > > > Niall M. > > > – Niall M. 4L Communications Ltd. [http://www.4L.ie/](http://www.4L.ie/) ---
**Author:** ![Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Niall_M)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-failing-to-start-on-bootup-as-pid-files-still-exist/104669/4 "2007-05-21T21:06:54Z")
> I have the mongrel\_cluster startup script setup correctly btw. > I usually write some shell script to clear out the pid files, but > another way that works is to have mongrel put it’s pid files in the /tmp > directory which gets emptied on restart. – Daniel J. Systems Administrator PLANET ARGON, LLC Ruby on Rails Development, Consulting & Hosting > **[Planet Argon](https://www.planetargon.com)** > > Planet Argon is a Ruby on Rails development agency specializing in maintenance and support for existing Rails apps. Based in Portland, OR, Planet Argon has been a member of the Rails community since 2004. [http://teknot.us](http://teknot.us) [blog] teknotus [freenode IRC] +1 503 445 2457 +1 877 55 ARGON [toll free] +1 815 642 4068 [fax] ---
**Author:** ![Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Niall_M)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-failing-to-start-on-bootup-as-pid-files-still-exist/104669/5 "2007-05-21T22:33:08Z")
or do it with --clean to mongrel\_cluster? Vish ---
**Author:** ![Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Niall_M)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 10:55pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-failing-to-start-on-bootup-as-pid-files-still-exist/104669/6 "2007-05-21T22:55:11Z")
Hi: Install the mongrel\_cluster prerelease (soon to be released after I recover from RailsConf) and change your pidfile location to /var/run/ mongrel\_cluster (on linux). Be sure to copy the new init.d script out of the gem source. [http://blog.railsmachine.com/2007/2/26/mongrel\_cluster-prerelease-1-0-1-1](http://blog.railsmachine.com/2007/2/26/mongrel_cluster-prerelease-1-0-1-1) Bradley ---
**Author:** ![Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Niall_M)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-failing-to-start-on-bootup-as-pid-files-still-exist/104669/7 "2007-05-23T16:16:18Z")
Thanks for that Jim, will definitely look into both options. And thanks for the other responses as well. Niall removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid wrote: > Hello Niall – it looks like you have plenty of options for clearing > satisfied user. > > Jim > > > – Niall M. 4L Communications Ltd. [http://www.4L.ie/](http://www.4L.ie/) ---
**Author:** ![Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Niall_M)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 11:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-failing-to-start-on-bootup-as-pid-files-still-exist/104669/8 "2007-06-20T23:21:36Z")
Niall M. wrote: > Hi, > One of my site’s servers had a problem yesterday and the host > restarted it. During boot up Mongrel failed to start as the PID files > still existed in /log > > I didn’t find out about this reboot until several hours later so the > site was down that entire time which is less than ideal. > > Does anybody know of a way around this? Is there a built in way to > force Mongrel to start and overwrite any existing PID files? > > I have the mongrel\_cluster startup script setup correctly btw. > > Thanks in advance. > > Regards, > > Niall M. On a related note. A script like this will kill any mongrel instance that is hanging around after its pid file is gone. #!/usr/local/bin/ruby # 3000 is the port you wish to kill. pid = `lsof -i :3000`.split("\n")[1].split()[1] rescue nil %x{kill -9 #{pid}} unless pid.nil? ---
**Author:** ![Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Niall_M)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-failing-to-start-on-bootup-as-pid-files-still-exist/104669/9 "2007-06-20T23:26:48Z")
Yeah look at this: [textsnippets.com](http://textsnippets.com/posts/show/931) Works a treat! ----- Original Message ----- From: “David H.” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) To: [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 2:21 PM Subject: [Rails-deploy] Re: Mongrel failing to start on bootup as PID files still ex ---
**Author:** ![Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Niall\_M](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Niall_M)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2007, 3:41pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/mongrel-failing-to-start-on-bootup-as-pid-files-still-exist/104669/10 "2007-05-23T15:41:13Z")
On May 21, 5:46 am, Niall M. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Hi, > One of my site’s servers had a problem yesterday and the host > restarted it. During boot up Mongrel failed to start as the PID files > still existed in /log > > I didn’t find out about this reboot until several hours later so the > site was down that entire time which is less than ideal. > Hello Niall – it looks like you have plenty of options for clearing > out those pesky PID files, but no one has addressed this part of your > email. Anything beyond a hobby site needs some sort of monitoring for > situations just like this. At RailsConf, Ezra specifically mentioned > using monit (which I currently use) to monitor one’s individual > mongrel processes. If that sounds like too much work, an excellent > alternative is the free Heartbeat website (http:// > [heartbeat.highgroove.com/](http://heartbeat.highgroove.com/)) which allows you to monitor multiple > application URLs and email yourself when things go awry. I’d > encourage you to go sign up for heartbeat and see if using monit is > feasible for you. No financial connection to either one, just a very > satisfied user. Jim