Is there an easy method of starting Fuseki when the OS starts, more or less like we can start a Tomcat or ElasticSearch instance from /etc/init.d/tomcat7 start or /etc/init.d/elasticsearch start?
As far as I have seen Fuseki doesn't seem to have a status method, and also it doesn't seem to have something similar to this /etc/init.d/ trick.
Actually, Fuseki comes with a script that does exactly the kinds of things you're asking for. It's just a matter of putting the fuseki script in an init.d directory, I think. The fuseki script that comes in the distribution takes a {start|stop|restart|status} argument. Here's what it looks like in use from the command line:
$ ./fuseki
Usage: fuseki {start|stop|restart|status}
$ ./fuseki status
Fuseki is not running
$ ./fuseki start
Starting Fuseki: Redirecting Fuseki stderr/stdout to .../jena-fuseki-1.1.2-SNAPSHOT/log/stderrout.log
STARTED Fuseki Mon Oct 27 10:02:59 EDT 2014
PID=3752
$ ./fuseki status
Fuseki is running with pid: 3752
$ ./fuseki restart
Stopping Fuseki: OK
Starting Fuseki: Redirecting Fuseki stderr/stdout to .../jena-fuseki-1.1.2-SNAPSHOT/log/stderrout.log
STARTED Fuseki Mon Oct 27 10:03:09 EDT 2014
PID=3813
$ ./fuseki status
Fuseki is running with pid: 3813
$ ./fuseki stop
Stopping Fuseki: OK
$ ./fuseki status
Fuseki is not running
It's actually designed for this purpose; looking at the source we see:
# Startup script for Fuseki under *nix systems (works with cygwin too)
#
# Configuration
# -------------
# Default values are loaded from /etc/default/fuseki, if it exists.
⋮
# FUSEKI_HOME
# Where Fuseki is installed. If not set, the script will try
# to guess it based on the script invokation path.
#
# FUSEKI_RUN
# Where the fuseki.pid file should be stored. It defaults
# first available of /var/run, /usr/var/run, and /tmp if not set.
#
# FUSEKI_PID
# The FUSEKI PID file, defaults to $FUSEKI_RUN/fuseki.pid
#
# FUSEKI_ARGS
# The arguments to pass to the Fuseki server on the command line. Defaults to:
# --update --loc=$FUSKEI_DATA_DIR /ds # if FUSEKI_CONF is not set
# --config=$FUSEKI_CONF # if FUSEKI_CONF is set
#
# FUSEKI_CONF
# The Fuseki configuration file, usually in RDF Turtle notation.
#
# FUSEKI_USER
# If set, the server will be run as this user
#
# FUSEKI_DATA_DIR
# The location of the data directory Fuseki will use (i.e. the value of --loc).
# Defaults to $FUSEKI_HOME/DB
#
# FUSEKI_LOGS
# Directory where logs will be generated. Defaults to $FUSEKI_HOME/log
#
# FUSEKI_LOGS_STDERROUT
# Log file with stderr and stdout log output from Fuseki. Defaults to
# $FUSEKI_LOGS/stderrout.log