AutoWake

Scheduled suspend and automatic wake-up for Linux servers.

AutoWake is a lightweight POSIX shell utility that uses a systemd timer to suspend a physical Ubuntu/Debian server and a hardware real-time clock (RTC) alarm to resume it.

Why I created AutoWake

I created AutoWake because I was too lazy to manually start and suspend my server every week. It automates the routine: the server goes to sleep when I no longer need it and wakes up before I need it again.

Status

AutoWake is complete and ready for installation. The timer is intentionally left disabled during installation so hardware wake support can be validated on the target server before activation.

Default schedule

Action	Time
Suspend	Every Friday at 19:00
Wake	Every Monday at 06:00
Timezone	Server's configured local timezone
RTC device	/dev/rtc0

AutoWake calculates calendar dates in local time, so the elapsed weekend can be 58, 59, or 60 hours when the timezone offset changes.

The editable architecture diagram shows the installation, diagnostic, scheduled suspend, and hardware wake flows. Open it with draw.io or the diagrams.net desktop app.

Requirements

• A physical Ubuntu/Debian server running systemd.
• GNU date, sed, grep, util-linux (rtcwake), and systemd.
• Firmware and hardware support for suspend-to-RAM and RTC wake alarms.
• Root access for installation, alarm setup, and suspension.

Suspend-to-RAM requires continued power. AutoWake resumes a suspended machine; it cannot turn on a machine that has lost or disconnected power.

Install

For a fresh installation, run:

git clone https://github.com/apache261/Autowake.git
cd Autowake
sudo ./install.sh

If the repository is already downloaded, open its directory and run only:

sudo ./install.sh

The installer does not activate the schedule. Verify the installation with:

sudo /usr/local/sbin/autowake check
/usr/local/sbin/autowake preview

After completing a hardware wake test, enable the weekly timer:

sudo systemctl enable --now autowake.timer
systemctl list-timers autowake.timer

The installer places:

• autowake in /usr/local/sbin
• autowake-uninstall in /usr/local/sbin
• configuration in /etc/autowake.conf
• units in /etc/systemd/system/autowake.service and /etc/systemd/system/autowake.timer

An existing configuration is preserved. The installer regenerates the timer from that configuration and reloads systemd. It never enables or starts the timer automatically.

Commands

sudo /usr/local/sbin/autowake check
/usr/local/sbin/autowake preview
sudo /usr/local/sbin/autowake run

• check validates configuration, looks for dependencies, the RTC device, and the kernel's mem suspend interface. It does not set an alarm or suspend.
• preview prints the next suspend and its associated wake time. It has no power-management side effects.
• run is intended for the timer. It only acts during the five minutes after a scheduled suspend, arms the alarm first, and then calls systemctl suspend.

Do not invoke run on a production server merely as a diagnostic: when called inside its execution window it will suspend the machine.

Run custom scripts after wake

After a successful resume, AutoWake runs every executable regular file in /etc/autowake/wake.d in filename order. This can be used for service health checks, notifications, storage checks, or other site-specific recovery work.

Wake hooks run as root. Install them as root-owned files and do not make them writable by untrusted users:

sudo install -o root -g root -m 0755 my-wake-check.sh \
    /etc/autowake/wake.d/20-my-wake-check

Non-executable files are ignored. If a hook fails, AutoWake records the failure in the journal, continues running the remaining hooks, and marks the service run as failed after all hooks finish. Hooks run only after suspends initiated by AutoWake; they do not run after a reboot or an unrelated manual suspend.

An example hook checks for llama-server and starts it with nohup when it is not running:

sudo install -o root -g root -m 0755 \
    examples/wake.d/10-ensure-llama-server \
    /etc/autowake/wake.d/10-ensure-llama-server

The example uses absolute paths below /home/nisadmin/llama.cpp and runs the process as nisadmin. Edit LLAMA_SERVER, MODEL, and RUN_AS_USER if your installation differs. A dedicated systemd service is still recommended if the program must also recover after a reboot or power interruption, because wake hooks run only after an AutoWake suspend.

Configure

/etc/autowake.conf uses unquoted KEY=value entries:

SUSPEND_WEEKDAY=Fri
SUSPEND_TIME=19:00
WAKE_WEEKDAY=Mon
WAKE_TIME=06:00
RTC_DEVICE=/dev/rtc0

Weekdays are Mon through Sun; times must use 24-hour HH:MM format. The RTC device must be an absolute path below /dev.

After editing the configuration, preview it and rerun the installer to regenerate the timer's OnCalendar setting:

/usr/local/sbin/autowake preview
sudo ./install.sh
systemctl cat autowake.timer

Validate and enable

First run non-invasive checks on the target server:

sudo /usr/local/sbin/autowake check
/usr/local/sbin/autowake preview
timedatectl

During a maintenance window, test the hardware with a short direct suspend and wake cycle (the following example requests a wake after two minutes):

sudo rtcwake -m mem -d /dev/rtc0 -s 120

Confirm that the machine resumes and its services recover. A short test does not establish that the RTC supports the full weekend alarm range. Test the full configured interval on the target hardware before relying on AutoWake.

After hardware validation, enable scheduling explicitly:

sudo systemctl enable --now autowake.timer
systemctl list-timers autowake.timer

If the server wakes early for any reason, AutoWake leaves it awake until the next scheduled suspension.

Operate and troubleshoot

systemctl status autowake.timer
systemctl list-timers autowake.timer
journalctl -u autowake.service
sudo systemctl disable --now autowake.timer

An invalid configuration or failed rtcwake command prevents suspension. Runs delivered more than five minutes late are logged and skipped. The timer uses Persistent=false, so a missed event is not replayed after downtime.

Remove

Run the installed uninstaller to disable the timer and remove AutoWake:

sudo /usr/local/sbin/autowake-uninstall

To preserve /etc/autowake.conf for a later reinstall:

sudo /usr/local/sbin/autowake-uninstall --keep-config

Custom wake hooks are preserved during removal. The uninstaller removes the hook directory only when it is empty.

The uninstaller can also operate on an isolated staged installation without contacting the host's systemd instance:

./uninstall.sh --root /tmp/autowake-stage

Development verification

Run the complete automated suite with:

make test

To test installation without writing to system directories or contacting the host's systemd instance:

./install.sh --root /tmp/autowake-stage
./uninstall.sh --root /tmp/autowake-stage

It checks POSIX shell syntax, validates generated systemd units when systemd-analyze is available, exercises calendar and daylight-saving boundaries using fixed timestamps, and uses mocked power commands to verify ordering and failures. It does not perform hardware validation.

RTC capabilities vary; consult the rtcwake manual when validating the target server.

For common operational questions, see the FAQ.