<p>After some testing, I figured out that <code>Config file arg: [Install] daemon=&quot;1&quot;</code> was not working as expected and that the process does not want to fork. Therefore systemd tried to restart it forever.</p>
<p>I could fix this by moving <code>daemon=1</code> to the first line in my <code>bitcoin.conf</code> file.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-02T16:04:48.657Z
2021-03-04T18:19:30.433Z
2021-03-04T18:19:30.433Z
Pavel Niedoba
<p>I'm experiencing periodical node restart, happening every minute or two. Happens on Ubuntu 20.04LTS, bitcoind version is  v0.21.0.  I'm running it as a systemd service using the following file:</p>
<pre><code>Description=Bitcoin daemon
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/opt/bitcoin/bin/bitcoind -conf=/etc/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf -pid=/run/bitcoind/bitcoind.pid
# Creates /run/bitcoind owned by bitcoin
RuntimeDirectory=bitcoind
User=bitcoin
Type=forking
PIDFile=/run/bitcoind/bitcoind.pid
Restart=on-failure
PrivateTmp=true

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
</code></pre>
<p>This used to work just fine with an older version of bitcoind under ubuntu 18.</p>
<p>Now I'm seeing strange <code>Ignoring unknown configuration</code> messages in <code>debug.log</code> which I suppose should not be there, since it's a systemd config. Otherwise, the start seems okay.</p>
<pre><code>2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Unit.Description
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Unit.After
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Service.ExecStart
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Service.RuntimeDirectory
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Service.User
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Service.Type
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Service.PIDFile
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Service.PrivateTmp
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Install.WantedBy
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Bitcoin Core version v0.21.0 (release build)
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Warning: /etc/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf:4 Section [Unit] is not recognized.
/etc/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf:8 Section [Service] is not recognized.
/etc/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf:18 Section [Install] is not recognized.

2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Assuming ancestors of block 0000000000000000000b9d2ec5a352ecba0592946514a92f14319dc2b367fc72 have valid signatures.
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Setting nMinimumChainWork=00000000000000000000000000000000000000001533efd8d716a517fe2c5008
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Using the 'sse4(1way),sse41(4way)' SHA256 implementation
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Default data directory /home/bitcoin/.bitcoin
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Using data directory /home/bitcoin/.bitcoin
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Config file: /etc/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
</code></pre>
<p>runtime logs shows that it's rebooting because of tor</p>
<pre><code>2021-02-02T14:55:24Z UpdateTip: new best=0000000000000000000af6dd2066556e0f2f8931d6167b863e34d504938fcd5a height=663011 version=0x20800000 log2_work=92.542328 tx=599716461 date='2020-12-26T06:05:26Z' progress=0.980973 cache=99.9Mi
2021-02-02T14:55:25Z UpdateTip: new best=0000000000000000000237103259036594af37381c4848612f15aa00f7e5286a height=663012 version=0x20000000 log2_work=92.542344 tx=599719059 date='2020-12-26T06:38:09Z' progress=0.980984 cache=100.8M
2021-02-02T14:55:25Z UpdateTip: new best=00000000000000000002cc21f6c8a8e81c72a57b291dc28aa38c3b80974ad1f4 height=663013 version=0x20c00000 log2_work=92.542360 tx=599721318 date='2020-12-26T07:00:56Z' progress=0.980992 cache=101.6M
2021-02-02T14:55:26Z New outbound peer connected: version: 70015, blocks=668760, peer=12 (full-relay)
2021-02-02T14:55:26Z New outbound peer connected: version: 70015, blocks=668760, peer=13 (full-relay)
2021-02-02T14:55:26Z Leaving block file 2377: CBlockFileInfo(blocks=99, size=133771579, heights=662934...663086, time=2020-12-25...2020-12-26)
2021-02-02T14:55:26Z Pre-allocating up to position 0x1000000 in blk02378.dat
2021-02-02T14:55:28Z Pre-allocating up to position 0x100000 in rev02378.dat
2021-02-02T14:55:28Z UpdateTip: new best=00000000000000000006ca9c0aa8ad1bfc25dccd6ba488b13eb0bd8f44fa683f height=663014 version=0x20c00000 log2_work=92.542376 tx=599723706 date='2020-12-26T07:19:24Z' progress=0.980998 cache=102.5M
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z Pre-allocating up to position 0xd00000 in rev02377.dat
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z UpdateTip: new best=000000000000000000038c07369d96509d3dafb2a8f6462cf2fc8d8ea44f5ce7 height=663015 version=0x20000000 log2_work=92.542392 tx=599725048 date='2020-12-26T07:22:29Z' progress=0.980999 cache=103.7M
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z Shutdown: In progress...
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z addcon thread exit
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z opencon thread exit
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z torcontrol thread exit
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z net thread exit
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z UpdateTip: new best=00000000000000000007e9f3911eee5ecbe900dba40ac445d5e4e2c37e5a5648 height=663016 version=0x20000000 log2_work=92.542408 tx=599727096 date='2020-12-26T07:23:34Z' progress=0.981000 cache=104.3M
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z msghand thread exit
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z DumpAnchors: Flush 2 outbound block-relay-only peer addresses to anchors.dat started
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z DumpAnchors: Flush 2 outbound block-relay-only peer addresses to anchors.dat completed (0.00s)
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z scheduler thread exit
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z Writing 0 unbroadcast transactions to disk.
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z Dumped mempool: 8e-06s to copy, 0.003384s to dump
2021-02-02T14:55:30Z FlushStateToDisk: write coins cache to disk (795334 coins, 109410kB) started
2021-02-02T14:55:31Z FlushStateToDisk: write coins cache to disk (795334 coins, 109410kB) completed (1.92s)
2021-02-02T14:55:31Z FlushStateToDisk: write coins cache to disk (0 coins, 7219kB) started
2021-02-02T14:55:32Z FlushStateToDisk: write coins cache to disk (0 coins, 7219kB) completed (0.07s)
2021-02-02T14:55:32Z Shutdown: done
</code></pre>
<p>happens every minute or two</p>
<pre><code>2021-02-02T14:13:00Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:14:34Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:16:09Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:17:43Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:19:17Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:20:52Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:22:25Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:23:59Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:25:34Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:27:08Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:28:42Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:30:16Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:31:53Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:33:28Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:35:02Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:36:39Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:38:13Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:39:47Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:41:21Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:42:56Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:44:29Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:46:02Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:47:37Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:49:11Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:50:46Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:52:20Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:53:55Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:57:03Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:58:38Z tor: Thread interrupt
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-02T16:00:33.697Z
Thanks Pavel for coming back to update your question. Could you please put your answer in an answer post instead of the question? Self-answers are encouraged!
Murch
<bitcoin-core><bitcoind><bitcoin.conf>
bitcoind restarting on its own
Pavel Niedoba
# bitcoind restarting on its own

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-02-02)

I'm experiencing periodical node restart, happening every minute or two. Happens on Ubuntu 20.04LTS, bitcoind version is v0.21.0. I'm running it as a systemd service using the following file:

```
Description=Bitcoin daemon
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/opt/bitcoin/bin/bitcoind -conf=/etc/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf -pid=/run/bitcoind/bitcoind.pid
# Creates /run/bitcoind owned by bitcoin
RuntimeDirectory=bitcoind
User=bitcoin
Type=forking
PIDFile=/run/bitcoind/bitcoind.pid
Restart=on-failure
PrivateTmp=true

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

```

This used to work just fine with an older version of bitcoind under ubuntu 18.

Now I'm seeing strange `Ignoring unknown configuration` messages in `debug.log` which I suppose should not be there, since it's a systemd config. Otherwise, the start seems okay.

```
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Unit.Description
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Unit.After
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Service.ExecStart
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Service.RuntimeDirectory
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Service.User
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Service.Type
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Service.PIDFile
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Service.PrivateTmp
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Ignoring unknown configuration value Install.WantedBy
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Bitcoin Core version v0.21.0 (release build)
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Warning: /etc/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf:4 Section [Unit] is not recognized.
/etc/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf:8 Section [Service] is not recognized.
/etc/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf:18 Section [Install] is not recognized.

2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Assuming ancestors of block 0000000000000000000b9d2ec5a352ecba0592946514a92f14319dc2b367fc72 have valid signatures.
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Setting nMinimumChainWork=00000000000000000000000000000000000000001533efd8d716a517fe2c5008
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Using the 'sse4(1way),sse41(4way)' SHA256 implementation
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Default data directory /home/bitcoin/.bitcoin
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Using data directory /home/bitcoin/.bitcoin
2021-02-02T14:57:08Z Config file: /etc/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf

```

runtime logs shows that it's rebooting because of tor

```
2021-02-02T14:55:24Z UpdateTip: new best=0000000000000000000af6dd2066556e0f2f8931d6167b863e34d504938fcd5a height=663011 version=0x20800000 log2_work=92.542328 tx=599716461 date='2020-12-26T06:05:26Z' progress=0.980973 cache=99.9Mi
2021-02-02T14:55:25Z UpdateTip: new best=0000000000000000000237103259036594af37381c4848612f15aa00f7e5286a height=663012 version=0x20000000 log2_work=92.542344 tx=599719059 date='2020-12-26T06:38:09Z' progress=0.980984 cache=100.8M
2021-02-02T14:55:25Z UpdateTip: new best=00000000000000000002cc21f6c8a8e81c72a57b291dc28aa38c3b80974ad1f4 height=663013 version=0x20c00000 log2_work=92.542360 tx=599721318 date='2020-12-26T07:00:56Z' progress=0.980992 cache=101.6M
2021-02-02T14:55:26Z New outbound peer connected: version: 70015, blocks=668760, peer=12 (full-relay)
2021-02-02T14:55:26Z New outbound peer connected: version: 70015, blocks=668760, peer=13 (full-relay)
2021-02-02T14:55:26Z Leaving block file 2377: CBlockFileInfo(blocks=99, size=133771579, heights=662934...663086, time=2020-12-25...2020-12-26)
2021-02-02T14:55:26Z Pre-allocating up to position 0x1000000 in blk02378.dat
2021-02-02T14:55:28Z Pre-allocating up to position 0x100000 in rev02378.dat
2021-02-02T14:55:28Z UpdateTip: new best=00000000000000000006ca9c0aa8ad1bfc25dccd6ba488b13eb0bd8f44fa683f height=663014 version=0x20c00000 log2_work=92.542376 tx=599723706 date='2020-12-26T07:19:24Z' progress=0.980998 cache=102.5M
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z Pre-allocating up to position 0xd00000 in rev02377.dat
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z UpdateTip: new best=000000000000000000038c07369d96509d3dafb2a8f6462cf2fc8d8ea44f5ce7 height=663015 version=0x20000000 log2_work=92.542392 tx=599725048 date='2020-12-26T07:22:29Z' progress=0.980999 cache=103.7M
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z Shutdown: In progress...
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z addcon thread exit
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z opencon thread exit
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z torcontrol thread exit
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z net thread exit
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z UpdateTip: new best=00000000000000000007e9f3911eee5ecbe900dba40ac445d5e4e2c37e5a5648 height=663016 version=0x20000000 log2_work=92.542408 tx=599727096 date='2020-12-26T07:23:34Z' progress=0.981000 cache=104.3M
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z msghand thread exit
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z DumpAnchors: Flush 2 outbound block-relay-only peer addresses to anchors.dat started
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z DumpAnchors: Flush 2 outbound block-relay-only peer addresses to anchors.dat completed (0.00s)
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z scheduler thread exit
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z Writing 0 unbroadcast transactions to disk.
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z Dumped mempool: 8e-06s to copy, 0.003384s to dump
2021-02-02T14:55:30Z FlushStateToDisk: write coins cache to disk (795334 coins, 109410kB) started
2021-02-02T14:55:31Z FlushStateToDisk: write coins cache to disk (795334 coins, 109410kB) completed (1.92s)
2021-02-02T14:55:31Z FlushStateToDisk: write coins cache to disk (0 coins, 7219kB) started
2021-02-02T14:55:32Z FlushStateToDisk: write coins cache to disk (0 coins, 7219kB) completed (0.07s)
2021-02-02T14:55:32Z Shutdown: done

```

happens every minute or two

```
2021-02-02T14:13:00Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:14:34Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:16:09Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:17:43Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:19:17Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:20:52Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:22:25Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:23:59Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:25:34Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:27:08Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:28:42Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:30:16Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:31:53Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:33:28Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:35:02Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:36:39Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:38:13Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:39:47Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:41:21Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:42:56Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:44:29Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:46:02Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:47:37Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:49:11Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:50:46Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:52:20Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:53:55Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:55:29Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:57:03Z tor: Thread interrupt
2021-02-02T14:58:38Z tor: Thread interrupt

```

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, bitcoind, bitcoin.conf

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Thanks username_0 for coming back to update your question. Could you please put your answer in an answer post instead of the question? Self-answers are encouraged!  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2021-02-02. Score: 3

After some testing, I figured out that `Config file arg: [Install] daemon="1"` was not working as expected and that the process does not want to fork. Therefore systemd tried to restart it forever.

I could fix this by moving `daemon=1` to the first line in my `bitcoin.conf` file.


---

