Start & Stop Server

This guide covers how to control the Conduit server using both the CLI and systemd.

Prerequisites

CLI control commands require an admin certificate and key. See the Generating Certificates guide for details.

CLI Control

Use conduit control commands to manage server state. Target a specific instance with --ip and --port flags.

Drain Mode

Put the server in drain mode to gracefully stop accepting new transfers:

conduit --cert /etc/conduit/keys/conduit-admin-cert.pem \
  --key /etc/conduit/keys/conduit-admin-key.pem \
  control drain

What happens: - Stops accepting new transfers from the init state - Continues processing all in-progress transfers - Best used when draining all instances in a cluster

Important: Drain mode must be manually stopped with systemctl stop conduit-server as the server cannot detect when all transfers are complete.

Resume from Drain

Resume normal operation after draining:

conduit --cert /etc/conduit/keys/conduit-admin-cert.pem \
  --key /etc/conduit/keys/conduit-admin-key.pem \
  control start

systemd Control

Stop the Server

systemctl stop conduit-server

What happens: - Server begins graceful shutdown - Waiting leases are reverted to "validation complete" for other instances to pick up - In-progress transfers continue as long as runners are active - New transfer requests are rejected

Start the Server

systemctl start conduit-server

Starts the server from a fully stopped state.

Note: This is different from conduit control start, which only resumes from drain mode.

Check Server Status

systemctl status conduit-server

Enable Auto-start on Boot

systemctl enable conduit-server