Install binaries on Nodegrid OS

Install pre-compiled binaries on Nodegrid OS

From time to time, customers have the requirement to expand Nodegrid OS build-in capabilities. Customers have two options to archive this goal.

• Run the additional software in a hypervisor environment, either docker (Recommended) or full VM
• Install pre-compiled linux binaries; this is only supported in some instances as Nodegrid does not offer a Linux package manager, and the software which should be installed must be fully self-contained.

Examples that can be installed through this method are:
- Splunk agent
- Influx DB kapacitor daemon
- docker-compose

Note: The recommended method to install additional software on a Nodegrid appliance is through the use of docker containers. This capability is available on all appliances.

This guide covers at a high level how customers can install and run pre-compiled Linux application on Nodegrid appliances and answer some of the most common questions. Nodegrid OS implements it's own Linux library which is related on the Debian LTS versions. Applications which are designed for Debian/Ubuntu distributions and dont require external dependencies maybe able to run on Nodegrid OS.

Depending on the use case, customers can install software binaries as part of a specific user or for global installation as root user. However, this guide assumes the packages will be installed by the default admin account as root user.

The following table outlines the most common details, which are

Create init.d start-up script

• create an init.d start/stop script with

vi  /etc/init.d/<SERVICENAME>

• File content, adjust the required sections

#!/bin/bash
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:          myservice
# Required-Start:    $remote_fs $network
# Required-Stop:     $remote_fs $network
# Default-Start:     5
# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
# Short-Description: My Service
# Description:       This is an example init.d script for My Service.
# Update the section start()/stop()/status() as needed
### END INIT INFO

# Path to the service executable
SERVICE_PATH="/var/opt/<PACKAGE>"
SERVICE_NAME="My Service"

# Command to start the service
start() {
    if [ -f "$SERVICE_PATH" ]; then
        echo "Starting $SERVICE_NAME..."
        "$SERVICE_PATH"  > /dev/null 2>&1 &
    else
        echo "Service executable not found: $SERVICE_PATH"
    fi
}

# Command to stop the service
stop() {
    echo "Stopping $SERVICE_NAME..."
    pkill -f "$SERVICE_PATH"
}

# Command to check the status of the service
status() {
    if pgrep -f "$SERVICE_PATH" >/dev/null; then
        echo "$SERVICE_NAME is running."
    else
        echo "$SERVICE_NAME is not running."
    fi
}

# Handle command-line arguments
case "$1" in
    start)
        start
        ;;
    stop)
        stop
        ;;
    restart)
        stop
        sleep 1
        start
        ;;
    status)
        status
        ;;
    *)
        echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|status}"
        exit 1
        ;;
esac

exit 0

Adding init.d start/stop/status script to system start-up

update-rc.d <SERVICENAME> defaults

Updating the users PATH variable to include the new application.

This must be executed for each user who requires access to the application. Update the setting <PACKAGE> as needed

new_path="/var/opt/<PACKAGE>"

if [[ ":$PATH:" == *":$new_path:"* ]]; then
  echo "The new path is already in the PATH variable."
else
  echo "export PATH=\"$new_path:\$PATH\"" >> ~/.bashrc
  export PATH="$new_path:$PATH"
  echo "The PATH variable has been updated."
fi