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Tech riderRev. 2 Oct 2026

runit

Ch 066.8of 26 Process Monitoring Software
  1. 1Runs onLinux, Mac, self-hosted
  2. 2CostsFree plan
  3. 3Supported platformsGNU/Linux, *BSD, MacOSX, Solaris, other adaptable Unix systems
  4. 4Service monitoringYes
  5. 5Process controlsYes
  6. 6Activity logsYes
6 lines stated Written from the maker's own pages: smarden.org
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The runit homepage

Overview

runit is ranked #6 of 26 in process monitoring software on Specifiction. It runs on Linux, macOS, Self-hosted. There is a free plan.

runit plans and pricing

All plans
runit Free No commercial limits stated smarden.org · 2 Oct 2026

Compared on process monitoring software

Free plan
Yessmarden.org
Supported platforms
GNU/Linux, *BSD, MacOSX, Solaris, other adaptable Unix systemssmarden.org
Service monitoring
Yessmarden.org
Process controls
Yessmarden.org
Activity logs
Yessmarden.org

Facts

Purpose
runit is a cross-platform Unix init scheme with service supervision and a replacement for sysvinit and other init schemes.smarden.org · 2 Oct 2026
Operating systems
The maker says runit runs on GNU/Linux, *BSD, MacOSX and Solaris, and can be adapted to other Unix operating systems.smarden.org · 2 Oct 2026
Boot lifecycle
As process 1, runit handles booting, normal operation and shutdown in three stages.smarden.org · 2 Oct 2026
Service recovery
runsv starts a service's run program and restarts it if it exits, with an optional finish program and log service.smarden.org · 2 Oct 2026
Service control
The sv program reports service status and supports commands to start, stop, restart, pause and signal supervised services.smarden.org · 2 Oct 2026
Logging
svlogd reads log data, can filter messages and writes to automatically rotated logs.smarden.org · 2 Oct 2026
Process limits
The chpst utility can change process state and set limits including memory, open files, process count, output size, core size and CPU time.smarden.org · 2 Oct 2026
Service capacity
runsvdir starts and monitors runsv processes for up to 1,000 service subdirectories.smarden.org · 2 Oct 2026
Installation
The maker provides a source archive and instructions to compile and install runit, including manual installation without root access.smarden.org · 2 Oct 2026
Optional init replacement
The maker documents using runit's service supervision alongside a system's current init scheme without replacing it.smarden.org · 2 Oct 2026
Distribution availability
The maker lists Debian, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Ubuntu, Gentoo, Arch Linux, Void Linux and other distributions as including or packaging runit.smarden.org · 2 Oct 2026
Support channel
The maker directs runit discussion to the supervision mailing list and asks users to contact the list rather than the author privately.smarden.org · 2 Oct 2026
Reliability and size
The maker says runit is optimized for reliability and small size, with minimal code in process 1.smarden.org · 2 Oct 2026
Log transport limit
svlogd documentation warns that UDP logging is unreliable and should be used only in private networks.smarden.org · 2 Oct 2026

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