API call restartserver on macOS stops server but not starts

[andreid1303]

I am running LMS last beta 8.4.0 - 1695355776 on macOS Ventura and restart server action from web UI only stops the server but not starts.
I suppose this action is API restartserver call and I can't investigate the problem but found that restart-server.sh script in /Library/PreferencePanes/Squeezebox.prefPane/Contents/server/Bin/darwin/ folder works well if executed in ../../../

[michaelherger]

If you checked the activity monitor, is LMS (perl, or slimserver.pl) gone?

[andreid1303]

Yes, these two processes are gone on restart:

/Library/PreferencePanes/Squeezebox.prefPane/Contents/perl/bin/perl /Library/PreferencePanes/Squeezebox.prefPane/Contents/server/gdresized.pl 
/Library/PreferencePanes/Squeezebox.prefPane/Contents/perl/bin/perl ./slimserver.pl

Is there way to fix it?

[michaelherger]

Hmm... seems to be working for me. Verified with both 8.3.1 and the latest 8.4.0:

• installed a plugin
• clicked "restart now"
• verified plugin is installed
• uninstalled again
• clicked "restart now" again
• verified its uninstalled

What system information do you see on Settings/Information?

[andreid1303]

Actually I use Material Skin which has restart menu. When I switch to default skin, after installed a plugin only warning to restart, no "restart now" prompt.

Logitech Media Server Version: 8.4.0 - 1695355776 @ Fri Sep 22 06:21:22 CEST 2023
Hostname: mac-mini
Server IP Address: 172.22.0.23
Server HTTP Port Number: 9000
Operating system: macOS 13.5.2 - EN - utf8
Platform Architecture: x86_64
Perl Version: 5.34.0 - darwin-thread-multi-2level
Audio::Scan: 1.06
IO::Socket::SSL: 2.072
Database Version: DBD::SQLite 1.58 (sqlite 3.22.0)
Total Players Recognized: 8

Cache Folder
/Users/andrey/Library/Caches/Squeezebox
Preferences Folder
/Users/andrey/Library/Application Support/Squeezebox
Plugin Folders
/Users/andrey/Library/Caches/Squeezebox/InstalledPlugins/Plugins, /Users/andrey/Library/Application Support/Squeezebox/Plugins, /Library/Application Support/Squeezebox/Plugins, /Library/PreferencePanes/Squeezebox.prefPane/Contents/server/Plugins
Helper Applications Folder
/Library/PreferencePanes/Squeezebox.prefPane/Contents/server/Bin/darwin, /Library/PreferencePanes/Squeezebox.prefPane/Contents/server/Bin, /usr/local/bin, /usr/local/sbin, /bin, /usr/bin, /Users/andrey/Library/Caches/Squeezebox/InstalledPlugins/Plugins/DSDPlayer/Bin/darwin, /Users/andrey/Library/Caches/Squeezebox/InstalledPlugins/Plugins/DSDPlayer/Bin, /Users/andrey/Library/Caches/Squeezebox/InstalledPlugins/Plugins/RaopBridge/Bin, /Users/andrey/Library/Caches/Squeezebox/InstalledPlugins/Plugins/ShairTunes2W/Bin, /Users/andrey/Library/Caches/Squeezebox/InstalledPlugins/Plugins/Spotty/Bin/darwin-thread-multi-2level, /Users/andrey/Library/Caches/Squeezebox/InstalledPlugins/Plugins/Spotty/Bin, /Users/andrey/Library/Caches/Squeezebox/InstalledPlugins/Plugins/SqueezeDSP/Bin

[michaelherger]

Oh, that's interesting! Are you running LMS as a system service which is started before you sign-in? Looking into related code I found this comment here:

https://github.com/Logitech/slimserver/blob/public/8.4/Slim/Utils/OS/OSX.pm#L445-L448

[andreid1303]

Yes exactly, I am running LMS as system service /Library/LaunchDaemons/Squeezebox.plist under my admin user name!
So this is a limitation.

I don't want GUI auto login as admin to launch LMS.
Is there other approach to auto start on boot?
Is it possible to run LMS on macOS as user without admin rights?

[michaelherger]

TBH I thought that running LMS this way on Mac had been broken a long time ago... Did you configure this yourself?

The standard installation nowadays would run LMS in the user's context. But that also means you'd have to sign that user in automatically.

I think the big overall issue is that the Mac integration would need a lot of work to be brought up to speed. The pref pane is still built on an OSX 10.5! And it's partially broken, as is this restart stuff. I don't even remember why we couldn't restart it in this configuration.

[andreid1303]

Yes, I manually did copy Squeezelite.service to /Library/LaunchDaemonds/ added UserName key with my user name under which I installed LMS and loaded witch sudo launchctl load -w.

No issues actually on macOS 13.5.2 accept this one, but I still can restart LMS with ssh script as mentioned before without reloading service as sudo.
I do not use LMS pref pane at all since all settings are available in web interface.

[michaelherger]

You seem to be technical. Would you be able to edit the above linked file in your installation to always return 1; in sub canRestartServer?

[andreid1303]

Patching canRestartServer to always return 1 doesn't work. I have reloaded system service after patch, same behaviour: stops but not starts.

[mherger]

IMHO there are two issues:

• as the comment in https://github.com/Logitech/slimserver/blob/public/8.4/slimserver.pl#L1142-L1146 says: we shouldn't shut down LMS if it can't restart
• Material should not tell LMS to restart. The Default skin would ask you to restart, rather than offer to restart automatically, because it knows it can't handle it. Maybe @CDrummond could look into this to set the user expectations right.

You mentioned you were able to run restart-server.sh successfully. Would you have to give your password to do so?

[andreid1303]

To restart LMS server in OSX via terminal:
cd /Library/PreferencePanes/Squeezebox.prefPane/Contents/server; Bin/darwin/restart-server.sh

[andreid1303]

or better as a shell script:

#!/bin/sh
cd /Library/PreferencePanes/Squeezebox.prefPane/Contents/server
Bin/darwin/restart-server.sh

[michaelherger]

And no sudo or root access required?

[andreid1303]

Correct, no sudo or root access is required.

[andreid1303]

edited

[andreid1303]

Sorry, restarting from Material Skin is working since I edited sub canRestartServer to always return 1.
Web page just did not refreshed automatically.

[andreid1303]

Here is my /Library/LaunchDaemons/Squeezebox.plist :

<plist version="1.0">
	<dict>
		<key>Label</key>
		<string>Squeezebox</string>
		<key>RunAtLoad</key>
		<true />
		<key>ProgramArguments</key>
		<array>
			
			<string>/Library/PreferencePanes/Squeezebox.prefPane/Contents/server/slimserver.pl</string>
		</array>
		<key>WorkingDirectory</key>
		<string>/Library/PreferencePanes/Squeezebox.prefPane/Contents/server</string>
		<key>StandardOutPath</key>
		<string>/Users/andrey/Library/Logs/Squeezebox/server.log</string>
		<key>StandardErrorPath</key>
		<string>/Users/andrey/Library/Logs/Squeezebox/server.log</string>
		<key>UserName</key>
		<string>andrey</string>
		</dict>
</plist>

[andreid1303]

Also working in Default Skin now. I have rebooted for any case.

[michaelherger]

So you're confirming that we could always restart? In that case I can simplify that canRestartServer.

[andreid1303]

Yes, I confirm that. Thank you.