[ocicat]

Originally Posted by guitarscn

I cannot seem to start dns.py.

Let's experiment.

Beginning with the following:

#!/usr/local/bin/python

import time

print 'start : %s' % time.ctime()
time.sleep(10)
print 'end : %s' % time.ctime()

Assuming this is saved as sleep.py:

• Ensure the file is executable:
  

  $ ls -l sleep.py
  -rwxr-xr-x  1 me  users  119 Nov  7 18:41 sleep.py

• Ensure the availability of the interpreter:
  

  $ which python
  /usr/local/bin/python

  By default, the Python binary is installed with the version number. Unless a symbolic link has been created with ln(1), this may be a reason why the script cannot be executed.
• Likewise, the path returned by which(1) must match the first line of the script unless the script is run as a command-line argument.
• Execute the script above, & while it running, check ps(1).
  

   $ ps aux | grep python 
  me      32464  4.1  0.2  1948  3968 p0  S+     6:58PM    0:00.08 /usr/local/bin/python ./sleep.py (python2.6)
  me      24570  0.0  0.0   472     4 p1  R+     6:58PM    0:00.00 grep python (ksh)
  $

• Whenever I boot up my machine and check ps aux, it's not on there.

  Two questions:
  • Do you see "dns" echoed during boot?
    

    if [ -x /usr/local/bin/dns.py ]; then
                echo -n ' dns';
                /usr/local/bin/dns.py >/dev/null 2>&1 &
    fi

    If not, dns.py is not found on this path or it is not executable.
    
    You can also test the above code independently of rc.local (complete with enclosing if-statement...).
  • How long does dns.py take to execute?
  • Because this script is being started automatically, you will want to change ownership to root.

Beyond this, you need to provide more details.

I also invite you to review the following:

http://www.daemonforums.org/showthread.php?t=596