How to Daemonize PHP-FPM Using systemd and Supervisor

PHP-FPM is a FastCGI process manager for PHP scripts that works with Nginx, Apache, or other FastCGI‑compatible web servers, and ensuring its stability often requires process supervision.

Common problems : crashes, resource exhaustion, and unexpected exits can cause the PHP‑FPM service to stop.

Using systemd : edit the service file, add unit and service sections, then start and enable the service.

$ sudo vi /etc/systemd/system/php-fpm.service
[Unit]
Description=PHP FastCGI Process Manager
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/php/sbin/php-fpm --nodaemonize --fpm-config /usr/local/php/etc/php-fpm.conf

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Start and enable the service:

$ sudo systemctl start php-fpm
$ sudo systemctl enable php-fpm

Using Supervisor : install Supervisor, create a program configuration, then start Supervisor and the PHP‑FPM program.

$ sudo apt-get install supervisor
$ sudo vi /etc/supervisor/conf.d/php-fpm.conf
[program:php-fpm]
command=/usr/local/php/sbin/php-fpm --nodaemonize --fpm-config /usr/local/php/etc/php-fpm.conf
autostart=true
autorestart=true
startretries=3
user=nobody
redirect_stderr=true

$ sudo systemctl start supervisor
$ sudo supervisorctl start php-fpm

Both systemd and Supervisor will automatically restart PHP‑FPM if it exits unexpectedly, improving reliability.

Choose the method that fits your environment to keep PHP‑FPM running smoothly.