This is the server daemon for the Compound Pi application. Starting the application with no arguments starts the server in the foreground. The server can be configured through command line arguments or a configuration file (which defaults to /etc/cpid.ini, /usr/local/etc/cpid.ini, or ~/.cpid.ini).
cpid [-h] [--version] [-c CONFIG] [-q] [-v] [-l FILE] [-P] [-b ADDRESS]
[-p PORT] [-d] [-u UID] [-g GID] [--pidfile FILE]
show this help message and exit
show program’s version number and exit
specify a configuration file to load
produce less console output
produce more console output
log messages to the specified file
run under PDB (debug mode)
specifies the address to listen on for packets (default: 0.0.0.0)
specifies the UDP port for the server to listen on (default: 5647)
if specified, start as a background daemon
specifies the user that the daemon should run as. Defaults to the effective user (typically root)
specifies the group that the daemon should run as. Defaults to the effective group (typically root)
specifies the location of the pid lock file
The Compound Pi server is typically started at boot time by the init service. The Raspbian package includes an init script for this purpose. Users on other platforms will need to write their own init script.
When the server starts successfully it will initialize the camera and hold it open. This will prevent other applications from using the camera but also makes it easy to see that the server has started as the camera’s LED will be lit (this is useful as Compound Pi servers are typically headless).