The last line of the log excerpt has a suspiciously low PID number Feb 16 07:03:30 fridge xinetd[2756]: Exiting...
I took that to be a clue that this is the old instance of xinetd, that was supposed to be stopped by the two lines above: Feb 16 07:03:29 fridge xinetd[24720]: * Stopping internet superserver xinetd Feb 16 07:03:29 fridge xinetd[24720]: ...done. (They have the same process name, but I think one's actually /usr/sbin/xinetd, and the other is /etc/init.d/xinetd.) Let me see if I can reproduce the issue. 1. 'service xinetd status' shows it's active (running) with pid 2776 2. 'service xinetd restart' says nothing because systemd 3. 'service xinetd status' shows it's active (exited) with a log excerpt Let me just paste the entire status output: ● xinetd.service - LSB: Starts or stops the xinetd daemon. Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/xinetd; bad; vendor preset: enabled) Active: active (exited) since Sat 2018-02-24 11:21:56 EET; 2s ago Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8) Process: 6507 ExecStop=/etc/init.d/xinetd stop (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS) Process: 6517 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/xinetd start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS) Feb 24 11:21:56 fridge systemd[1]: Starting LSB: Starts or stops the xinetd daemon.... Feb 24 11:21:56 fridge xinetd[6517]: * Starting internet superserver xinetd Feb 24 11:21:56 fridge systemd[1]: Started LSB: Starts or stops the xinetd daemon.. Feb 24 11:21:56 fridge xinetd[6517]: ...fail! Feb 24 11:21:56 fridge xinetd[2776]: Exiting... As you can see, it's trying (and failing) to start the new instance before the old one (pid 2776) exits. ** Changed in: xinetd (Ubuntu) Status: Incomplete => New ** Description changed: + STEPS TO REPRODUCE: + + 1. make sure xinetd is running + 2. 'service xinetd restart' + 3. pgrep xinetd + + Expeced behavior: + + - xinetd is running (with a different PID) + + Actual behavior + + - xinetd is not running + - service xinetd status shows it as "active (exited)", and shows a failure message from startup before the old instance finished exitting + + + ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: + This has happened twice now: xinetd dies during an unattended-upgrade process and I have to restart it manually. /var/log/syslog contains - Feb 16 07:03:28 fridge systemd[1]: Reloading. - Feb 16 07:03:28 fridge systemd[1]: Started ACPI event daemon. - Feb 16 07:03:28 fridge systemd[1]: Started CUPS Scheduler. - Feb 16 07:03:28 fridge systemd[1]: Stopping LSB: Starts or stops the xinetd daemon.... - Feb 16 07:03:29 fridge xinetd[24720]: * Stopping internet superserver xinetd - Feb 16 07:03:29 fridge xinetd[24720]: ...done. - Feb 16 07:03:29 fridge systemd[1]: Stopped LSB: Starts or stops the xinetd daemon.. - Feb 16 07:03:29 fridge systemd[1]: Starting LSB: Starts or stops the xinetd daemon.... - Feb 16 07:03:29 fridge xinetd[24731]: * Starting internet superserver xinetd - Feb 16 07:03:29 fridge xinetd[24731]: ...fail! - Feb 16 07:03:29 fridge systemd[1]: Started LSB: Starts or stops the xinetd daemon.. - Feb 16 07:03:30 fridge xinetd[2756]: Exiting... + Feb 16 07:03:28 fridge systemd[1]: Reloading. + Feb 16 07:03:28 fridge systemd[1]: Started ACPI event daemon. + Feb 16 07:03:28 fridge systemd[1]: Started CUPS Scheduler. + Feb 16 07:03:28 fridge systemd[1]: Stopping LSB: Starts or stops the xinetd daemon.... + Feb 16 07:03:29 fridge xinetd[24720]: * Stopping internet superserver xinetd + Feb 16 07:03:29 fridge xinetd[24720]: ...done. + Feb 16 07:03:29 fridge systemd[1]: Stopped LSB: Starts or stops the xinetd daemon.. + Feb 16 07:03:29 fridge systemd[1]: Starting LSB: Starts or stops the xinetd daemon.... + Feb 16 07:03:29 fridge xinetd[24731]: * Starting internet superserver xinetd + Feb 16 07:03:29 fridge xinetd[24731]: ...fail! + Feb 16 07:03:29 fridge systemd[1]: Started LSB: Starts or stops the xinetd daemon.. + Feb 16 07:03:30 fridge xinetd[2756]: Exiting... so it looks like systemd is trying to start the new process before the old one finishes exiting. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04 Package: xinetd 1:2.3.15-6 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-112.135-generic 4.4.98 Uname: Linux 4.4.0-112-generic x86_64 ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.15 Architecture: amd64 Date: Mon Feb 19 16:45:06 2018 ProcEnviron: - LC_CTYPE=lt_LT.UTF-8 - TERM=xterm-256color - PATH=(custom, no user) - LANG=en_US.UTF-8 - SHELL=/bin/bash + LC_CTYPE=lt_LT.UTF-8 + TERM=xterm-256color + PATH=(custom, no user) + LANG=en_US.UTF-8 + SHELL=/bin/bash SourcePackage: xinetd UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to xenial on 2016-11-07 (469 days ago) -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1750387 Title: xinetd fails to restart during unattended upgrades To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xinetd/+bug/1750387/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs