Below I quote a function in C to convert a standard Linux kernel process into background service (Daemon Service). If you wish to develop a server to provide services, it may be helpful. Although there are several manuals on the Internet on how to create background services, most of them don’t show a complete example, while others are barely functioning. The following function converts a standard process into a service taking everything you need into account. Also, this function is the result of a combination of several textbooks and numerous studies about this issue. Finally, it has been tested on personal applications servers and it is performing well.

Possible case for converting your program to a background service:

...
int
main (void)
{
  extern bool be_daemon (void);

  if (!be_daemon ())
  {
    // here we are a normal process.
    syslog (LOG_ERR, "be_daemon() failed to work.");
    return EXIT_FAILURE;
  }
  else
  {
    // here we are a daemon process.
    syslog (LOG_INFO, "be_daemon() worked successfully.");
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
  }
}
...

The following functions needed for the implementation can be found in the project ‘gtrm‘ :

void log_report (cint, unique, unique);
bool remove_file (unique);
void close_all_fds (register int);

Here’s the source code implementation:

/*
 *  daemonize.c -- daemonize a program.
 *
 *  Copyright (C) 2007  Efstathios Chatzikyriakidis (stathis.chatzikyriakidis@gmail.com)
 *
 *  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 *  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
 *  (at your option) any later version.
 *
 *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
 *  GNU General Public License for more details.
 *
 *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 *  along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 */

/* standard includes. */
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <syslog.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <sys/types.h>

/* local defines. */
#define MAX_LINE (1024 * 1024) /* 1Mbyte. */

/* boolean data type by using enumeration. */
typedef enum bool { false, true } bool;

/* const pointer to const char. */
typedef const char *const unique;

/* const integer. */
typedef const int cint;

/* filenames. */
static unique null_file = "/dev/null";
static unique chdir_path = "/tmp";
unique lock_file = "/var/run/app-name.pid";

/* externs. */
extern void log_report (cint, unique, unique);
extern bool remove_file (unique);
extern void close_all_fds (register int);
extern char *stpcpy (char *, const char *);

/* function prototypes. */
bool be_daemon (void);

/* functions. */
/* the following function daemonizes the program. */
bool
be_daemon (void)
{
  /* use it to keep the id of a process. */
  pid_t ppid, pid;

  /* check to see if it is already a daemon. */
  if ((ppid = getppid ()) == 1)
    return true;

  /*** try creating the daemon. ***/

  /* create a new process. */
  if ((pid = fork ()) < 0)
  {
    /* fork failed. */
    log_report (LOG_ERR, "fork() [daemon]", NULL);
    return false;
  }
  else if (pid > 0)
  {
    /* parent exits. */
    exit (EXIT_SUCCESS);
  }
  else
  {
    /*** child (daemon) continues. ***/

    int fd;                   /* for redirecting stdin, stdout, stderr. */
    int lfd;                  /* for locking the `lock_file'. */
    pid_t sid;                /* process indepedency. */

    /* for writing the pid to `lock_file'. */
    char pid_str[32];

    /* is used for locking the `lock_file'. */
    struct flock exclusive_lock;

    /*** create a new SID for the child process. ***/

    /* make the process a session and process group leader. */
    if ((sid = setsid ()) < 0)
    {
      log_report (LOG_ERR, "setsid() [daemon]", NULL);
      return false;
    }

    /*** close all inherited opened files. ***/
    close_all_fds (STDIN_FILENO);

    /*** redirect stdin, stdout and stderr. ***/

    /* open `/dev/null'. */
    if ((fd = open (null_file, O_RDWR)) < 0)
    {
      log_report (LOG_ERR, "open() [daemon]", null_file);
      return false;
    }

    /* use dup2() also for `stdin' because in case close_all_fds()
       fails to close all fds, especially `stdin' then, there will
       cause an error. */

    /* stdin. */
    if (dup2 (fd, STDIN_FILENO) < 0)
    {
      log_report (LOG_ERR, "dup2() [stdin]", NULL);
      return false;
    }

    /* stdout. */
    if (dup2 (fd, STDOUT_FILENO) < 0)
    {
      log_report (LOG_ERR, "dup2() [stdout]", NULL);
      return false;
    }

    /* stderr. */
    if (dup2 (fd, STDERR_FILENO) < 0)
    {
      log_report (LOG_ERR, "dup2() [stderr]", NULL);
      return false;
    }

    /*** change file creation mask. ***/
    umask (022);

    /*** change working directory. ***/
    if (chdir (chdir_path) < 0)
    {
      log_report (LOG_ERR, "chdir() [daemon]", chdir_path);
      return false;
    }

    /*** lock the daemon. ***/

    /* first, form the pid. */
    if (sprintf (pid_str, "%d\n", getpid ()) < 0)
    {
      log_report (LOG_ERR, "sprintf() [1] [daemon]", NULL);
      return false;
    }

    /* try to access the file. */
    lfd = open (lock_file, O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL, 0660);

    /* what happened? */
    if (lfd < 0)
    {
      log_report (LOG_ERR, "open() [daemon]", lock_file);

      /* in case of a defunct process inform admin. */
      if (access (lock_file, F_OK) == 0)
      {
        /* are used for checking the `PID' code. */
        char comm_str[MAX_LINE];
        int s_state;

        /* form the killing command. */
        if (sprintf (comm_str, "kill -s 0 `cat %s`", lock_file) < 0)
        {
          log_report (LOG_ERR, "sprintf() [2] [daemon]", NULL);
          return false;
        }

        /* tell us if PID is correct. */
        if ((s_state = system (comm_str)) < 0)
        {
          log_report (LOG_ERR, "system() [daemon]", NULL);
          return false;
        }

        if (s_state > 0)
        {
          syslog (LOG_ERR, " ");
          syslog (LOG_ERR, "[ CHECK THE FOLLOWING ]");
          syslog (LOG_ERR, "A lock file found, but, no process corresponds");
          syslog (LOG_ERR, "with its PID code. So, the file is removed now.");
          syslog (LOG_ERR, " ");

          /* try to remove the `lock_file' if exists. */
          if (!remove_file (lock_file))
          {
            log_report (LOG_ERR, "remove_file() [1] [daemon]", lock_file);
            return false;
          }

          syslog (LOG_ERR, "Now you can start the server.");
        }
      }

      return false;
    }

    /* we have got this far so we have acquired
       access to the lock file. set a lock on it. */
    exclusive_lock.l_type = F_WRLCK;
    exclusive_lock.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
    exclusive_lock.l_len = exclusive_lock.l_start = 0;
    exclusive_lock.l_pid = 0;

    /* try to lock the `lock_file'. */
    if (fcntl (lfd, F_SETLK, &exclusive_lock) < 0)
    {
      log_report (LOG_ERR, "fcntl() [daemon]", lock_file);
      close (lfd);
      return false;
    }

    /*** only first instance continues. ***/

    /* write pid to `lock_file'. */
    if (write (lfd, pid_str, strlen (pid_str)) < 0)
    {
      log_report (LOG_ERR, "write() [daemon]", lock_file);

      if (!remove_file (lock_file))
        log_report (LOG_ERR, "remove_file() [2] [daemon]", lock_file);

      return false;
    }
  }

  /* runs as a daemon. */
  return true;
}