[lug] Debian 8.0 Jessie and gpsd

[Steve Litt]

On Fri, 05 Jun 2015 14:09:08 -0600
Gary Hodges - NOAA Affiliate <gary.hodges at noaa.gov> wrote:

> Configuring gpsd with Deb Wheezy and a few past versions of Ubuntu
> has been a breeze.  Just run
> 
>   sudo dpkg-reconfigure gpsd
> 
> answer a few questions and it worked like a charm.  With Debian
> Jessie I get the following:
> 
> tsi at sxf-tsi:~$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure gpsd
> Warning: Stopping gpsd.service, but it can still be activated by:
>    gpsd.socket
> Creating/updating gpsd user account...
> tsi at sxf-tsi:~$
> 
> Anyone know how to bring up the configuration dialog with Deb Jessie? 
> Should I just edit /etc/default/gpsd directly?
> 
> Gary

Hi Gary,

I can't give you an answer, but I can tell you a process.

The first thing to do is to get gpsd running, by hand, in debug mode
(-N) on a GUI terminal. Don't worry about how it does or does not
auto-start until you can get it functional at all. If you want a clue
as to the command, grab the command out of the systemd unit file for
gpsd.

Once you have gpsd doing the right thing when run manually in the
foreground, you can make sure the gpsd systemd unit file has the same
command (probably without the -N you added), and see if it comes up on
boot.

If not, you can become a systemctl guru, or you can do what I do. I run
daemontools-encore, and all those services that are problematic with
the native init, I disable them on the native init, and run them from
daemontools-encore. Yeah, it's a lot of learning at first, but you
don't have to relearn it every year when the paid open source
developers decide it might be fun to completely revamp configurations.
And if I decide to change init systems (easier than you think), my
daemontools-encore remains the same and functional.

By the way, daemontools-encore requires that its services be run in the
foreground, so you'll need the -N on your command line in your run
script.

If you decide to do this, I can give you help with daemontools-encore.
It's available at http://untroubled.org/daemontools-encore/

SteveT

Steve Litt 
June 2015 featured book: The Key to Everyday Excellence
http://www.troubleshooters.com/key