Generic service init script written using a jinja2 template which is then called by a template task in an ansible play.

service_init_script.j2

#!/bin/bash

### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:             {{ item.service_name }}
# Required-Start:       $all
# Required-Stop:        $all
# Default-Start:        2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:         0 1 6
# Short-Description:    {{ item.service_description }}
### END INIT INFO

# Taken loosely from https://gist.github.com/tilfin/5004848
prgcmd={{ item.service_exec }} # What gets executed?
prgname={{ item.service_name }} # What's the name (used to ensure only one instance is running)
prguser={{ item.service_user }} # Which user should be used
pidfile=/var/run/{{ item.service_name }}.pid # Where should the pid file be stored?
logfile=/var/log/{{ item.service_name }}.log

export BJA_CONFIG={{ bja_config }}

start() {
    if [ -f $pidfile ]; then
        pid=`cat $pidfile`
        kill -0 $pid >& /dev/null
        if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
            echo "{{ item.service_name }} has already been started."
            return 1
        fi
    fi

    echo -n "Starting {{ item.service_name }}"

    nohup start-stop-daemon -c $prguser -n $prgname -p $pidfile -m --exec /usr/bin/env --start $prgcmd >> $logfile 2>&1 &

    if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
        echo "."
        return 0
    else
        echo "Failed to start {{ item.service_name }}."
        return 1
    fi
}

stop() {

    if [ ! -f $pidfile ]; then
        echo "{{ item.service_name }} not started."
        return 1
    fi

    echo -n "Stopping {{ item.service_name }}."

    start-stop-daemon -p $pidfile --stop

    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
        echo "Failed to stop {{ item.service_name }}."
        return 1
    fi

    rm $pidfile
    echo "."
}

status() {

    if [ -f $pidfile ]; then
        pid=`cat $pidfile`
        kill -0 $pid >& /dev/null
        if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
            echo "{{ item.service_name }} running. (PID: ${pid})"
            return 0
        else
            echo "{{ item.service_name }} might have crashed. (PID: ${pid} file remains)"
            return 1
        fi
    else
        echo "{{ item.service_name }} not started."
        return 0
    fi
}

restart() {
    stop
    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
        return 1
    fi

    sleep 2

    start
    return $?
}

case "$1" in
    start | stop | status | restart)
        $1
        ;;
    *)
        echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|status|restart}"
        exit 2
esac

exit $?