Python server from inetd?

[Tim Roberts]

I have a quick little socket server that works OK as a continuously running
app, listening for and handling connections.  However, it is a rarely used
service -- only a few times a week -- so it seems silly to have a dedicated
process for it.  Thus, I tried to port it to inetd.  I cannot seem to make
this work.  This is on a RedHat 6.1 Linux system with Python 2.1.

I thought all I needed to do was basically:

  #! /usr/bin/python
  import socket

  client = socket.fromfd( 0, socket.AF_INET, socet.SOCK_STREAM )
  while 1:
    bfr = client.read(1024)
    if not bfr:
      break
    ...

But this does not work.  The "read" call returns 0 immediately, over and
over, until the client exits.  I never get any data.

In inetd.conf, I used:
  nsdc  stream  tcp  nowait  root  /root/myservice.py  myservice

The connection is happening; I can fetch the client IP address and port
number, but I can't read any data.

Suggestions?  Anybody have a known-good simple inetd-launched socket
service in Python they could share?
--
- Tim Roberts, timr at probo.com
  Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.