=========
= Bug
=========

I have ser2net installed on a x86_64 machine. When I start the daemon using the package supplied systemd service unit, it immediately exits.

My configuration is attached to this bug-report, it's basically the stock configuration, with all active ports commented out, and one "raw" port added for my GPS. The same behavior has been observed on x86_64 and archlinux-arm (on a Raspberry-Pi, used as a cheap console server).

> $ sudo systemctl status ser2net
> ● ser2net.service - Proxy that allows tcp connections to serial ports
> Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/ser2net.service; disabled)
> Active: inactive (dead)
>
> Aug 31 11:23:11 optiplex systemd[1]: Starting Proxy that allows tcp connec.....
> Aug 31 11:23:11 optiplex ser2net[19897]: ser2net startup
> Aug 31 11:23:11 optiplex systemd[1]: Started Proxy that allows tcp connect...s.
> Hint: Some lines were ellipsized, use -l to show in full.

The precise version the bug was observed on is this package on x86_64...

> $ sha1sum /var/cache/pacman/pkg/ser2net-2.8rc3-3-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
> 7fc99e20fdc0b411cc6e85112feff18ed4985c37 /var/cache/pacman/pkg/ser2net-2.8rc3-3-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz

and, on the raspberrypi...

> $ sha1sum /var/cache/pacman/pkg/ser2net-2.8rc3-3-armv6h.pkg.tar.xz
> 1677b97111f7aa0732f67a5d1f8acd45adc310f5 /var/cache/pacman/pkg/ser2net-2.8rc3-3-armv6h.pkg.tar.xz


============
= Workaround
============

When I tell ser2net not do daemonize (-n), and change the systemd unit file to "type=simple" (which, afaik, is the prefered way to run daemons nowadays anyway, isn't it?) then everything works in a stable manner.

> --- a/ser2net.service
> +++ b/ser2net.service
> @@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ Description=Proxy that allows tcp connections to serial ports
> After=syslog.target network.target
>
> [Service]
> -Type=forking
> -ExecStart=/usr/bin/ser2net
> +Type=simple
> +ExecStart=/usr/bin/ser2net -n

> $ sudo systemctl status ser2net
> ● ser2net.service - Proxy that allows tcp connections to serial ports
> Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/ser2net.service; disabled)
> Active: active (running) since Sun 2014-08-31 11:26:34 CEST; 3s ago
> Main PID: 20094 (ser2net)
> CGroup: /system.slice/ser2net.service
> └─20094 /usr/bin/ser2net -n
>
> Aug 31 11:26:34 optiplex systemd[1]: Started Proxy that allows tcp connect...s.
> Hint: Some lines were ellipsized, use -l to show in full.


I haven't looked into the actual cause for the premature exit, because the fix is that simple. I propose to change the ser2net package to incorporate it.