lunch

= Lunch = {{{
#!html
}}}
Lunch is a distributed process starter and manager for GNU/Linux. It might also work under other operating systems when they have a X terminal application and the python and bash interpreters. SSH needs to be installed as well. * The first step is to configure your SSH client. The steps to manage ssh keys are in the SshKeysManagement page. * Next, download and install lunch on every computer.

= Download =

Here is a package of the latest development version: (recommended) * http://svn.sat.qc.ca/trac/lunch/raw-attachment/wiki/WikiStart/lunch_0.2.2_all.deb

Here is the package of the latest stable release: (soon to be deprecated) * http://svn.sat.qc.ca/trac/lunch/raw-attachment/wiki/WikiStart/lunch_0.1.8_all.deb

If you had previously installed Lunch using the Makefile, you might need to do this : {{{
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/lunch
sudo rm -f /usr/local/share/man/man1/lunch.1
sudo rm -f /usr/local/share/applications/lunch.desktop
sudo rm -f /usr/local/share/icons/lunch.svg
sudo rm -f /usr/local/share/icons/lunch.png
sudo rm -f /usr/local/share/pixmaps/lunch.png
}}}

= Learn More = * See the RoadMap to see what is coming. * Please add tickets to warn us about bugs and ask for features. * If you are curious, the ReleaseProcess page has details on how we package the application. * In a latter version, a UserInterface is planned. * See CopyrightInformations to learn that it is licensed under the GNU General Public License.

Here is a process tree created with lunch 0.1 : {{{
xterm───bash───python─┬─python───sh───xterm───python───sh───xeyes
└─python───sh───ssh───xterm───python───sh───xeyes
}}}
Here is a process tree created with lunch 0.2 : {{{
xterm───bash───python─┬─python───xeyes
└─ssh───python───xeyes
}}}

= How-to =
You should use the Debian packages to install it on Ubuntu. If you are using an other system, you might need to do it the hard way. See the InstallationHowTo page to learn how.

Try it out
Copy the "config-sample" example config file to the local ~/.lunchrc. Edit the configuration file to suit your needs. {{{
cp doc/examples/simple ~/.lunchrc
edit ~/.lunchrc
}}}
Start the lunch master:: {{{
lunch
}}} How to customize your lunch file
The ~/.lunchrc file is written in Python and the only function needed is add_command. Here are some examples:: {{{
add_command(command="xlogo", env={}, title="xlogo")
add_command(command="mplayer /usr/share/example-content/Ubuntu_Free_Culture_Showcase/StopMotionUbuntu.ogv", env={}, title="mplayer")
}}}
Setting the user and host arguments make it be issued through SSH to a remote host:: {{{
add_command(command="xlogo", env={"DISPLAY":":0.0"}, user="johndoe", host="example.org", title="remote_xlogo")
}}}
Here is a Lunch config file for miville. Note that the sleep attribute is for processes AFTER which we need to wait. {{{
add_command("/home/aalex/src/miville/branches/services/py/mivilled -o 0", title="miville un", sleep_after=1)
add_command("/home/aalex/src/miville/branches/services/py/mivilled -o 1", title="miville deux", sleep_after=1)
add_command("xterm -c telnet localhost 14444", title="miville un")
add_command("xterm -c telnet localhost 14445", title="miville deux")
}}}

You might like to have a look at the PythonTricks page.

The add_command function
The add_command function is the only thing you need to call from your Python script. You need to call it once for each child process to run, on either local or remote host. Here is a list of its keyword arguments and their default values.

	'''Keyword'''		'''Default value'''		'''Python Type'''		'''Note'''
	command		None		str		The bash command to run.
	title		None		str		Determines the name of the log files and the log keys.
	env		None		dict		A dict of name=value pairs of environment variables to set for the child process.
	user		None		str		The UNIX user name, when using SSH
	host		None		str		The IP address or host name to which connect using SSH. Lunch will not use SSH if not set.
	sleep_after		0.25		float		How long to wait before launching next command.
	respawn		True		bool		Should a child be respawned or not. Will only be run once if set to False.
	minimum_lifetime_to_respawn		0.5		float		Minimum life time a child must last in order to be respawned.
	group		None		str		NOT IMPLEMENTED YET. All members of the same group will be restarted if one of them crashes.
	log_dir		None		str		DEPRECATED in version 0.2
	sleep		None		float		DEPRECATED in version 0.2 ! Use sleep_after instead.
	priority		None		int		DEPRECATED in version 0.2 ! The order in which each command is added now determines the launching order.
	order		None		int		DEPRECATED in version 0.2 ! The order in which each command is added now determines the launching order.