Since ddclient-3.7.3 runs the daemon with UID& GID = ddclient, the directory /var/cache/ddclient needs to be writable by this user or group. Otherwise it won't start. Workaround: After installation run: chgrp ddclient /var/cache/ddclient chmod g+w /var/cache/ddclient Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. install ddclient-3.7.3 2. Configure ddclient 3. Start the daemon: /etc/init.d/ddclient. It says OK, but the daemon won't start. emerge --info Portage 2.1.2.12 (default-linux/amd64/2007.0, gcc-4.1.2, glibc-2.5-r4, 2.6.22.6 x86_64) ================================================================= System uname: 2.6.22.6 x86_64 Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6300 @ 1.86GHz Gentoo Base System release 1.12.9 Timestamp of tree: Mon, 03 Sep 2007 00:50:01 +0000 app-shells/bash: 3.2_p17 dev-java/java-config: 1.3.7, 2.0.33-r1 dev-lang/python: 2.4.4-r4 dev-python/pycrypto: 2.0.1-r6 sys-apps/baselayout: 1.12.9-r2 sys-apps/sandbox: 1.2.17 sys-devel/autoconf: 2.13, 2.61 sys-devel/automake: 1.4_p6, 1.5, 1.6.3, 1.7.9-r1, 1.8.5-r3, 1.9.6-r2, 1.10 sys-devel/binutils: 2.17 sys-devel/gcc-config: 1.3.16 sys-devel/libtool: 1.5.24 virtual/os-headers: 2.6.21 ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="amd64" CBUILD="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu" CFLAGS="-march=nocona -O2 -pipe" CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu" CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/kde/3.5/env /usr/kde/3.5/share/config /usr/kde/3.5/shutdown /usr/share/X11/xkb /usr/share/config /var/qmail/alias /var/qmail/control" CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/env.d /etc/env.d/java/ /etc/gconf /etc/php/apache2-php5/ext-active/ /etc/php/cgi-php5/ext-active/ /etc/php/cli-php5/ext-active/ /etc/revdep-rebuild /etc/terminfo /etc/texmf/web2c" CXXFLAGS="-march=nocona -O2 -pipe" DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles" FEATURES="distlocks metadata-transfer sandbox sfperms strict" GENTOO_MIRRORS="ftp://files.gentoo.org http://files.gentoo.org ftp://trumpetti.atm.tut.fi/gentoo/ ftp://ftp.snt.utwente.nl/pub/os/linux/gentoo ftp://sunsite.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/pub/Linux/gentoo" MAKEOPTS="-j3" PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages" PORTAGE_RSYNC_OPTS="--recursive --links --safe-links --perms --times --compress --force --whole-file --delete --delete-after --stats --timeout=180 --exclude=/distfiles --exclude=/local --exclude=/packages --filter=H_**/files/digest-*" PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp" PORTDIR="/usr/portage" SYNC="rsync://rsync.europe.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage" USE="X aac acl acpi amd64 apache2 berkdb bitmap-fonts bzip2 cdr cli cracklib crypt ctype cups dbus dri encode fam ffmpeg fortran gd gdbm gpm hal iconv imagemagick imap isdnlog java jpeg kde ldap maildir matroska mhash midi mmx mozilla mp3 mudflap mysql ncurses nls nptl nptlonly nsplugin opengl openmp pam pcre perl php png posix pppd python qt3 readline reflection samba session spl sse sse2 ssl tcpd threads tiff truetype truetype-fonts type1-fonts unicode usb x264 xml xorg xv xvid zlib" ALSA_CARDS="ali5451 als4000 atiixp atiixp-modem bt87x ca0106 cmipci emu10k1x ens1370 ens1371 es1938 es1968 fm801 hda-intel intel8x0 intel8x0m maestro3 trident usb-audio via82xx via82xx-modem ymfpci" ALSA_PCM_PLUGINS="adpcm alaw asym copy dmix dshare dsnoop empty extplug file hooks iec958 ioplug ladspa lfloat linear meter mulaw multi null plug rate route share shm softvol" ELIBC="glibc" INPUT_DEVICES="keyboard mouse" KERNEL="linux" LCD_DEVICES="bayrad cfontz cfontz633 glk hd44780 lb216 lcdm001 mtxorb ncurses text" USERLAND="GNU" VIDEO_CARDS="radeon vesa" Unset: CTARGET, EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS, INSTALL_MASK, LANG, LC_ALL, LDFLAGS, LINGUAS, PORTAGE_COMPRESS, PORTAGE_COMPRESS_FLAGS, PORTAGE_RSYNC_EXTRA_OPTS, PORTDIR_OVERLAY
The privileges must also be changed on /var/run/ddclient. Otherwise the PID file won't be created and /etc/init.d/ddclient stop will fail to stop the daemon.
Also ddclient.cache needs to be changed from root.root ownership.
Fixed in 3.7.3-r1
