Problem starting Gunicorn Web Service using Systemd

Question

I have a problem running a Gunicorn Web service using Systemd.

Here are the files I created in order to execute:

The shell script file (/home/ubuntu/mata.sh):

#!/usr/bin/env bash

cd /home/ubuntu/workspace/test-api
/home/ubuntu/workspace/mata_venv/bin/gunicorn --workers=4 app:app --bind 0.0.0.0:xxxx

Here's my .service file (/lib/systemd/system/mata.service):

[Unit]
Description=Test API Service
After=multi-user.target
Conflicts=getty@tty1.service

[Service]
User=ubuntu
Type=simple
ExecStart=/home/ubuntu/mata.sh
StandardInput=tty-force

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Running the shell script on its own works well, but when running systemctl status mata.service, I am getting the following message:

Started Test API Service
mata.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=216/GROUP
mata.service: Unit entered failed state.
mata.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.

Any idea?

The sequencing here is throwing me off a little bit; are you starting it manually and then running systemctl status...? You are starting it with systemctl, right? — Jeff Schaller, Feb 19 '19 at 14:38
Possible duplicate of systemd - My custom service exits with status code 216/GROUP — JdeBP, Feb 19 '19 at 14:43
@JdeBP, I don't see that the user set a Group= definition here; is the implication that User=ubuntu is failing because of that user's groups? (The other aspect of the duplicate answer relates to using nobody, and seems unrelated to me) — Jeff Schaller, Feb 19 '19 at 15:03
systemd exit code 216 indicates "Failed to determine or change group credentials." — Jeff Schaller, Feb 19 '19 at 15:07
@JeffSchaller Yep, I am trying to start it with systemctl start mata.service — Pavel Zagalsky, Feb 19 '19 at 15:33
Is there anything unusual about the output of groups ubuntu? — Jeff Schaller, Feb 20 '19 at 14:50

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 19 '19 at 13:48

You don't have a "Type=simple" service, you have a forking service, since it's not the "mata.sh" process that you care about, it's the "gunicorn" process.

For a Type=simple service, change the [Service] section to:

[Service]
User=ubuntu
Type=simple
WorkingDirectory=/home/ubuntu/workspace/test-api
ExecStart=/home/ubuntu/workspace/mata_venv/bin/gunicorn --workers=4 app:app --bind 0.0.0.0:xxxx
StandardInput=tty-force

... where I imported the cd command with a WorkingDirectory directive.

Or make it a Forking service with:

[Service]
User=ubuntu
Type=forking
ExecStart=/home/ubuntu/mata.sh
StandardInput=tty-force

You may prefer the Type=forking solution if, as it appears, the gunicorn process starts sub-processes (workers=4).

See also http://docs.gunicorn.org/en/stable/deploy.html which has a sample systemd service file. — Jeff Schaller, Feb 19 '19 at 13:48

Problem starting Gunicorn Web Service using Systemd

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