Auto-Start with Systemd

Run bbl-shutter-cam automatically on Pi boot.

Overview

Note: Systemd auto-start is optional and not required for basic operation.

While bbl-shutter-cam is not designed as a persistent daemon or background service, systemd can be useful for users who want the tool to automatically start listening for Bluetooth triggers when the Pi boots. The application runs continuously to monitor BLE signals, making systemd a convenient way to ensure it’s always ready without manual intervention.

Systemd services ensure bbl-shutter-cam starts and restarts automatically on boot.

User Service (Recommended for Development)

Create a user-level service (no sudo needed):

1. Create Service File

mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user

cat > ~/.config/systemd/user/bbl-shutter-cam.service << 'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=BBL Shutter Cam Time-Lapse Capture
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=pi
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/bbl-shutter-cam
ExecStart=/home/pi/bbl-shutter-cam/venv/bin/bbl-shutter-cam run --profile my-printer --log-file %h/bbl.log
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target
EOF

Edit:

Change my-printer to your profile name
Change /home/pi to your home directory if different

2. Enable & Start

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable bbl-shutter-cam
systemctl --user start bbl-shutter-cam

3. Check Status

systemctl --user status bbl-shutter-cam

Expected output:

● bbl-shutter-cam.service - BBL Shutter Cam Time-Lapse Capture
     Loaded: loaded (/home/pi/.config/systemd/user/bbl-shutter-cam.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Thu 2026-02-14 10:30:45 UTC; 5min ago
   Main PID: 1234 (bbl-shutter-cam)
      Tasks: 5
     Memory: 15.2M
        CGroup: /user.slice/user-1000.slice/user@1000.service/app.slice/bbl-shutter-cam.service
                └─1234 /home/pi/bbl-shutter-cam/venv/bin/bbl-shutter-cam run ...

4. View Logs

# Real-time
journalctl --user -u bbl-shutter-cam -f

# Last 50 lines
journalctl --user -u bbl-shutter-cam -n 50

5. Stop/Restart

# Stop
systemctl --user stop bbl-shutter-cam

# Restart
systemctl --user restart bbl-shutter-cam

# Check next boot
systemctl --user is-enabled bbl-shutter-cam
# Output: enabled

System Service (Optional - for System-Wide)

For system-wide installation (requires sudo):

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/bbl-shutter-cam.service > /dev/null << 'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=BBL Shutter Cam Time-Lapse Capture
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=pi
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/bbl-shutter-cam
ExecStart=/home/pi/bbl-shutter-cam/venv/bin/bbl-shutter-cam run --profile my-printer --log-file /home/pi/bbl.log
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

Then:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable bbl-shutter-cam
sudo systemctl start bbl-shutter-cam

Multiple Profiles

Running multiple printer profiles with systemd:

Create Separate Services

# User service for multiple profiles
cat > ~/.config/systemd/user/bbl-shutter-cam-p1s.service << 'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=BBL Shutter Cam - P1S Office
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=pi
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/bbl-shutter-cam
ExecStart=/home/pi/bbl-shutter-cam/venv/bin/bbl-shutter-cam run --profile p1s-office --log-file %h/bbl-p1s.log
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target
EOF

cat > ~/.config/systemd/user/bbl-shutter-cam-x1c.service << 'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=BBL Shutter Cam - X1C Garage
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=pi
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/bbl-shutter-cam
ExecStart=/home/pi/bbl-shutter-cam/venv/bin/bbl-shutter-cam run --profile x1c-garage --log-file %h/bbl-x1c.log
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target
EOF

Enable both:

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable bbl-shutter-cam-p1s bbl-shutter-cam-x1c
systemctl --user start bbl-shutter-cam-p1s bbl-shutter-cam-x1c

Check both:

systemctl --user status bbl-shutter-cam-p1s bbl-shutter-cam-x1c

Troubleshooting

Service Won’t Start

journalctl --user -u bbl-shutter-cam -n 50

Look for error messages. Common issues:

Profile name typo
Working directory wrong
venv path incorrect

Service Keeps Restarting

Check logs for capture errors. Likely:

Camera not available
Bluetooth connection issues
Output directory permission problems

Disable Service

systemctl --user disable bbl-shutter-cam
systemctl --user stop bbl-shutter-cam

Uninstall Service

rm ~/.config/systemd/user/bbl-shutter-cam.service
systemctl --user daemon-reload

Auto-Start on Boot

Systemd automatically starts enabled user services when user logs in.

For headless Pi that boots without login:

# Enable "linger" (for background startup without login)
sudo loginctl enable-linger pi