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  4. The find_outdated_services Script
whmadvanced services

The find_outdated_services Script

Valid for versions 82 through the latest version

Version:

82

Last modified: August 3, 2022

Overview

After a system update, cPanel & WHM runs the /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/find_outdated_services script. This script checks all services to determine whether they require a restart. An outdated service is any service that depends on a library that is no longer present on the system.

Important:

This script ignores the following services:

  • auditd
  • dbus
  • exim-altport
  • imap
  • network
  • NetworkManager
  • pop
  • syslogd
  • tomcat

The script ignores the imap and pop services because the Dovecot lmtp service handles them.

Run the script

To run this script on the command line, use the following format:

/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/find_outdated_services [options]

Options

Use the following options with this script:

Options
 Description
Example
--always-restart The script locates and restarts any outdated services. By default, the script prompts you to restart outdated services. --always-restart
--never-restart The script locates any outdated services but will not restart them. --never-restart
--auto By default, the script uses this option when it runs as part of the /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/maintenance script. It will locate and restart any outdated services. If the /var/cpanel/disabled/auto-restart-services touchfile exists, the system will not restart any outdated services. --auto

The ignore_outdated_services file

This script uses the /etc/cpanel/local/ignore_outdated_services file to exclude certain services from the script’s check. To exclude a service from this script, add it to the file.

Important:

The script does not apply this exclusion list to the chkservd or restartsrv services.

The /etc/cpanel/local/ignore_outdated_services file uses the following format:

  • Use the pound character (#) at the beginning of a line to mark it as a comment.
  • Enter only one service per line.
    Note:

    The service name must match its name as it appears in the process table. Use the ps command with the necessary flags to list processes (for example, ps -aux).

  • Use Unix line endings (\n) to separate service entries.
  • The system skips blank lines.

Example

To block the cloud-init and cloud-final services from restart checks, create the /etc/cpanel/local directory:

mkdir -p /etc/cpanel/local

Next, create the /etc/cpanel/local/ignore_outdated_services file and add the cloud-init and cloud-final services with the following command:

echo -e "# Prevent cPanel from checking the cloud-init and cloud-final services\ncloud-init\ncloud-final" >> /etc/cpanel/local/ignore_outdated_services

The file’s contents will resemble the following:

1
2
3

# Prevent cPanel from checking about the cloud-init service
cloud-init
cloud-final

Additional Documentation