A daemon (or service) is a background process that is designed to run autonomously,with little or not user intervention. The Apache web server http daemon (httpd) is one such example of a daemon.

Basic steps to follow for daemon creation are,

• Fork off the parent process and allow parent to die.
• Change file mode mask (umask)
• Open any logs for writing
• Create a unique Session ID (SID)
• Change the current working directory to a safe place
• Close standard file descriptors
• Enter actual daemon code

A complete example is given here.^?

A more detailed explanation of daemon creation steps can be found here.^?

Resources :-

• Ender Unix - Daemon Creation
• Linux Daemon - Howto