Daemon (computing)

In <a href="/facts/Computing/Kghtm9fX">computing</a>, a daemon is a <a href="/facts/Computer_program/e38jH9N9">program</a> that runs as a <a href="/facts/Background_process/evBqvbHy">background process</a>, rather than being under the direct control of an interactive user. Customary convention is to name a daemon process with the letter d as a suffix to indicate that it's a daemon. For example, <a href="/facts/Syslogd/n6a7vIkt">syslogd</a> is a daemon that implements system logging facility, and sshd is a daemon that serves incoming <a href="/facts/Secure_Shell/wjVRw5zv">SSH</a> connections.
Even though the concept can apply to many computing systems, the term daemon is used almost exclusively in the context of <a href="/facts/Unix/0pNL2seI">Unix</a>-based systems. In other contexts, different terms are used for the same concept.
Systems often start daemons at <a href="/facts/Booting/j6N1kRpc">boot</a> time that will respond to network requests, hardware activity, or other programs by performing some task. Daemons such as <a href="/facts/Cron/y2tTGCQI">cron</a> may also perform defined tasks at scheduled times.

Daemon (computing) open-in-new

Daemon (computing)