April 6, 2007 RC 8

### NAME

rc, rc.shutdown, rc.d/ - startup and shutdown scripts

### SYNOPSIS

rc rc.shutdown rc.d/

### DESCRIPTION

rc is the command script which controls the startup of various services, and is invoked by init(8) as part of the process of entering the automatic reboot to multi-user startup, or after the single user mode shell has exited. If init(8) is starting the automatic reboot process, rc is invoked with the argument of `autoboot'.

rc.shutdown is the command script which shuts down various services, and is invoked by shutdown(8) as part of the process of shutting down the system.

rc.d/ is the directory which contains various sh(1) scripts, one for each service, which are called by rc at startup, rc.shutdown at shutdown, and as necessary during system operation to stop, start, restart, reload, or otherwise control the service.

#### Operation of rc

1. Source ```/etc/rc.subr` to load various rc.subr(8) shell functions to use.

2. If autobooting, set autoboot=yes and enable a flag (rc_fast=yes), which prevents the rc.d scripts from performing the check for already running processes (thus speeding up the boot process). This rc_fast=yes speedup won't occur when rc is started up after exiting the single-user shell.

3. Invoke rcorder(8) to order the files in ```/etc/rc.d/` that do not have a ``nostart'' keyword (refer to rcorder(8)'s -s flag), and assigns the result to a variable.

4. Calls each script in turn using run_rc_script(``) (from rc.subr(8)), which sets ```$1` to `start', and sources the script in a subshell. If the script has a `.sh' suffix then it is sourced directly into the current shell.

#### Operation of rc.shutdown

1. Source ```/etc/rc.subr` to load various rc.subr(8) shell functions to use.

2. Invoke rcorder(8) to order the files in ```/etc/rc.d/` that have a ``shutdown'' keyword (refer to rcorder(8)'s -k flag), reverses that order, and assigns the result to a variable.

3. Calls each script in turn using run_rc_script(``) (from rc.subr(8)), which sets ```$1` to `stop', and sources the script in a subshell. If the script has a `.sh' suffix then it is sourced directly into the current shell.

#### Contents of rc.d/

rc.d/ is located in ```/etc/rc.d`. The following file naming conventions are currently used in rc.d/:

```ALLUPPERCASE`
  Scripts that are `placeholders' to ensure that certain operations are performed before others. In order of startup, these are:

  ```NETWORKING`
    Ensure basic network services are running, including general network configuration (```network`) and ```dhclient`.

  ```SERVERS`
    Ensure basic services (such as ```NETWORKING`, ```ppp`, ```syslogd`, and ```kdc`) exist for services that start early (such as ```named`), because they're required by ```DAEMON` below.

  ```DAEMON`
    Before all general purpose daemons such as ```dhcpd`, ```lpd`, and ```ntpd`.

  ```LOGIN`
    Before user login services ``(`inetd`, ```telnetd`, ```rshd`, ```sshd`, and ```xdm`), as well as before services which might run commands as users ``(`cron`, ```postfix`, and ```sendmail`).

```foo.sh`
  Scripts that are to be sourced into the current shell rather than a subshell have a ````.sh`' suffix. Extreme care must be taken in using this, as the startup sequence will terminate if the script does. ```/etc/rc.d/bootconf.sh` uses this behaviour to allow the user to select a different configuration (including ```/etc/rc.conf`) early in the boot.

```bar`
  Scripts that are sourced in a subshell. The boot does not stop if such a script terminates with a non-zero status, but a script can stop the boot if necessary by invoking the stop_boot(``) function (from rc.subr(8)).

Each script should contain rcorder(8) keywords, especially an appropriate ``PROVIDE'' entry.

The scripts are expected to support at least the following arguments:

start
  Start the service. This should check that the service is to be started as specified by rc.conf(5). Also checks if the service is already running and refuses to start if it is. This latter check is not performed by standard NetBSD scripts if the system is starting directly to multi-user mode, to speed up the boot process.

stop
  If the service is to be started as specified by rc.conf(5), stop the service. This should check that the service is running and complain if it's not.

restart
  Perform a stop then a start.

status
  If the script starts a process (rather than performing a one-off operation), show the status of the process. Otherwise it's not necessary to support this argument. Defaults to displaying the process ID of the program (if running).

poll
  If the script starts a process (rather than performing a one-off operation), wait for the command to exit. Otherwise it's not necessary to support this argument.

rcvar
  Display which rc.conf(5) variables are used to control the startup of the service (if any).

Other arguments (such as `reload', `dumpdb', etc) can be added if necessary.

The argument may have one of the following prefixes to alter its operation:

fast
  Skip the check for an existing running process. Sets rc_fast=yes.

force
  Skips the rc.conf(5) check, ignores a failure result from any of the prerequisite checks, executes the command, and always returns a zero exit status. Sets rc_force=yes.

one
  Skips the rc.conf(5) check, but performs all other prerequisite tests.

In order to simplify scripts, the run_rc_command(``) function from rc.subr(8) may be used.

### FILES

```/etc/rc`
  Startup script called by init(8).
```/etc/rc.d/`
  Directory containing control scripts for each service.
```/etc/rc.shutdown`
  Shutdown script called by shutdown(8).
```/etc/rc.subr`
  Contains rc.subr(8) functions used by various scripts.
```/etc/rc.conf`
  System startup configuration file.

### SEE ALSO

rc.conf(5), init(8), rc.subr(8), rcorder(8), reboot(8), shutdown(8)

### HISTORY

The rc command appeared in 4.0BSD. The ```/etc/rc.d` support was implemented in NetBSD1.5 by Luke Mewburn
<lukem@NetBSD.org>.