Running Bitbucket Server as a Linux service

Using the Java Service Wrapper

Bitbucket Server can be run as a service on Linux using the Java Service Wrapper. The Service Wrapper is known to work with Debian, Ubuntu, and Red Hat.

The Service Wrapper provides the following benefits:

• Allows Bitbucket Server, which is a Java application, to be run as a service.
• No need for a user to be logged on to the system at all times, or for a command prompt to be open and running on the desktop to be able to run Bitbucket Server.
• The ability to run Bitbucket Server in the background as a service, for improved convenience, system performance and security.
• Bitbucket Server is launched automatically on system startup and does not require that a user be logged in. 
• Users are not able to stop, start, or otherwise tamper with Bitbucket Server unless they are an administrator.
• Can provide advanced failover, error recovery, and analysis features to make sure that Bitbucket Server has the maximum possible uptime.

Please see http://wrapper.tanukisoftware.com/doc/english/launch-nix.html for wrapper installation and configuration instructions.

The service wrapper supports the standard commands for SysV init scripts, so it should work if you just create a symlink to it from /etc/init.d.

Using an init.d script

The usual way on Linux to ensure that a process restarts at system restart is to use an init.d script. This approach does not restart Bitbucket Server if it stops by itself.

1. Stop Bitbucket Server .

2. Create a bitbucket user, set the permissions to that user, create a home directory for Bitbucket Server and create a symlink to make upgrades easier:

   $> curl -OL http://downloads.atlassian.com/software/bitbucket/downloads/atlassian-bitbucket-X.Y.Z.tar.gz
   $> tar xz -C /opt -f atlassian-bitbucket-X.Y.Z.tar.gz
   $> ln -s /opt/atlassian-bitbucket-X.Y.Z /opt/atlassian-bitbucket-latest
    
   # Create a home directory
   $> mkdir /opt/bitbucket-home
    
   # ! Update permissions and ownership accordingly

   (Be sure to replace X.Y.Z in the above commands with the version number of Bitbucket Server.)

3. Create the startup script in /etc/init.d/bitbucket with the following contents (Ensure the script is executable by running chmod 755 bitbucket):

   #! /bin/sh
   
   ### BEGIN INIT INFO
   # Provides:          bitbucket
   # Required-Start:    $remote_fs $syslog
   # Required-Stop:     $remote_fs $syslog
   # Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
   # Default-Stop:      0 1 6
   # Short-Description: Initscript for Atlassian Bitbucket Server
   # Description:  Automatically start Atlassian Bitbucket Server when the system starts up.
   #               Provide commands for manually starting and stopping Bitbucket Server.
   ### END INIT INFO
   
   # Adapt the following lines to your configuration
   # RUNUSER: The user to run Bitbucket Server as.
   RUNUSER=vagrant
   
   # BITBUCKET_INSTALLDIR: The path to the Bitbucket Server installation directory
   BITBUCKET_INSTALLDIR="/opt/atlassian-bitbucket-X.Y.Z"
   
   # BITBUCKET_HOME: Path to the Bitbucket home directory
   BITBUCKET_HOME="/opt/bitbucket-home"
   
   # ==================================================================================
   # ==================================================================================
   # ==================================================================================
   
   # PATH should only include /usr/* if it runs after the mountnfs.sh script
   PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin
   DESC="Atlassian Bitbucket Server"
   NAME=bitbucket
   PIDFILE=$BITBUCKET_INSTALLDIR/work/catalina.pid
   SCRIPTNAME=/etc/init.d/$NAME
   
   # Read configuration variable file if it is present
   [ -r /etc/default/$NAME ] && . /etc/default/$NAME
   
   # Define LSB log_* functions.
   # Depend on lsb-base (>= 3.0-6) to ensure that this file is present.
   . /lib/lsb/init-functions
   
   
   run_with_home() {
       if [ "$RUNUSER" != "$USER" ]; then
           su - "$RUNUSER" -c "export BITBUCKET_HOME=${BITBUCKET_HOME};${BITBUCKET_INSTALLDIR}/bin/$1"
       else
           export BITBUCKET_HOME=${BITBUCKET_HOME};${BITBUCKET_INSTALLDIR}/bin/$1
       fi
   }
   
   #
   # Function that starts the daemon/service
   #
   do_start()
   {
       run_with_home start-bitbucket.sh
   }
   
   #
   # Function that stops the daemon/service
   #
   do_stop()
   {
       if [ -e $PIDFILE ]; then
         run_with_home stop-bitbucket.sh
       else
         log_failure_msg "$NAME is not running."
       fi
   }
   
   
   case "$1" in
     start)
       [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg "Starting $DESC" "$NAME"
       do_start
       case "$?" in
           0|1) [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_end_msg 0 ;;
           2) [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_end_msg 1 ;;
       esac
       ;;
     stop)
       [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_daemon_msg "Stopping $DESC" "$NAME"
       do_stop
       case "$?" in
           0|1) [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_end_msg 0 ;;
           2) [ "$VERBOSE" != no ] && log_end_msg 1 ;;
       esac
       ;;
     status)
          if [ ! -e $PIDFILE ]; then
            log_failure_msg "$NAME is not running."
            return 1
          fi
          status_of_proc -p $PIDFILE "" $NAME && exit 0 || exit $?
          ;;
     restart|force-reload)
       #
       # If the "reload" option is implemented then remove the
       # 'force-reload' alias
       #
       log_daemon_msg "Restarting $DESC" "$NAME"
       do_stop
       case "$?" in
         0|1)
           do_start
           case "$?" in
               0) log_end_msg 0 ;;
               1) log_end_msg 1 ;; # Old process is still running
               *) log_end_msg 1 ;; # Failed to start
           esac
           ;;
         *)
           # Failed to stop
           log_end_msg 1
           ;;
       esac
       ;;
     *)
       echo "Usage: $SCRIPTNAME {start|stop|status|restart|force-reload}" >&2
       exit 3
       ;;
   esac

Running on system boot

1. To start on system boot, add the script to the start up process.
   For Ubuntu (and other Debian derivatives) use:

   update-rc.d bitbucket defaults

   
   For RHEL (and derivates) use:

   chkconfig --add bitbucket --level 0356

   Note: You may have to install the redhat-lsb package on RHEL (or derivatives) to provide the LSB functions used in the script.

2. Verify that the Bitbucket Server service comes back up after restarting the machine.
   

Using a systemd unit file

Thanks to Patrick Nelson for calling out this approach, which he set up for a Fedora system. It also works on other distributions that use systemd as the init system. This approach does not restart Bitbucket Server if it stops by itself.

1. Create a bitbucket.service file in your /etc/systemd/system/ directory with the following lines:

   [Unit]
   Description=Atlassian Bitbucket Server Service
   After=syslog.target network.target
    
   [Service]
   Type=forking
   User=atlbitbucket
   ExecStart=/opt/atlassian-bitbucket-X.Y.Z/bin/start-bitbucket.sh
   ExecStop=/opt/atlassian-bitbucket-X.Y.Z/bin/stop-bitbucket.sh
    
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target

   
   The value for User should be adjusted to match the user that Bitbucket Server runs as. ExecStart and ExecStop should be adjusted to match the path to your <Bitbucket Server installation directory>.

2. Enable the service to start at boot time by running the following in a terminal:

   systemctl enable bitbucket.service

3. Stop Bitbucket Server, then restart the system, to check that Bitbucket Server starts as expected.
4. Use the following commands to manage the service:
   

   Disable the service:

   systemctl disable bitbucket.service

   Check that the service is set to start at boot time:

   if [ -f /etc/systemd/system/*.wants/bitbucket.service ]; then echo "On"; else echo "Off"; fi

   Manually start and stop the service: 

   systemctl start bitbucket
   systemctl stop bitbucket

   Check the status of Bitbucket Server:

   systemctl status bitbucket