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install

install

Install ephemerd as a system service. Copies the binary to the system install location, creates the data directory with a default config, and registers a system service.

ephemerd install [flags]

Flags

FlagDescription
--no-serviceSkip service registration (only copy binary and create config)

Steps

1. Copy binary

Copies the running ephemerd binary to the platform’s install directory:

PlatformInstall path
Linux/usr/local/bin/ephemerd
macOS/usr/local/bin/ephemerd
WindowsC:\Program Files\ephemerd\ephemerd.exe

If the binary is already at the target location, this step is skipped.

2. Create data directory and default config

Creates the data directory and writes a default config.toml if one does not already exist. The default config contains:

[github]
owner = "your-org"
# repos = ["repo1", "repo2"]  # optional -- omit for org-level runners

[runner]
max_concurrent = 4

[log]
level = "info"

If a config file already exists, it is not overwritten.

3. Register system service

Unless --no-service is set, registers a platform-specific system service:

Linux (systemd)

Creates /etc/systemd/system/ephemerd.service with:

  • Type=simple, Restart=on-failure, RestartSec=5
  • TimeoutStopSec=300 (5 minutes for graceful drain)
  • KillMode=mixed
  • EnvironmentFile=-/etc/default/ephemerd for the GitHub token

Also creates /etc/default/ephemerd with a placeholder for GITHUB_TOKEN.

macOS (launchd)

Creates /Library/LaunchDaemons/dev.ephpm.ephemerd.plist with:

  • RunAtLoad and KeepAlive enabled
  • Logs written to /var/log/ephemerd.log

Windows (sc.exe)

Creates a Windows service named ephemerd with:

  • start=delayed-auto (starts automatically after boot)
  • Restart-on-failure recovery (5-second delay)
  • Service description set

Post-install steps

After installation, the command prints platform-specific next steps:

Linux:

  1. Edit <data-dir>/config.toml (set github.owner)
  2. Set GITHUB_TOKEN in /etc/default/ephemerd
  3. sudo systemctl start ephemerd
  4. sudo systemctl enable ephemerd

macOS:

  1. Edit <data-dir>/config.toml (set github.owner)
  2. Set GITHUB_TOKEN in the launchd plist or /etc/default/ephemerd
  3. sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/dev.ephpm.ephemerd.plist

Windows:

  1. Edit <data-dir>\config.toml (set github.owner)
  2. Set GITHUB_TOKEN as a system environment variable
  3. sc.exe start ephemerd

Examples 

# Full install (binary + config + service)
sudo ephemerd install

# Install binary and config only (no service)
sudo ephemerd install --no-service
doctoruninstall