path: root/share/man/man8/rc.8

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.\"     @(#)rc.8	8.2 (Berkeley) 12/11/93
.\"
.Dd $Mdocdate: April 25 2011 $
.Dt RC 8
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm rc
.Nd command scripts for system startup
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm /etc/rc
.Nm /etc/rc.firsttime
.Nm /etc/rc.local
.Nm /etc/rc.securelevel
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.Nm rc
is the command script that is invoked by
.Xr init 8
when booting into multi-user mode,
and after single user mode is exited.
It performs system housekeeping chores and starts up system daemons.
Additionally,
.Nm rc
is intricately tied to the
.Xr netstart 8
script, which runs commands and daemons pertaining to the network.
.Nm rc
is also used to execute any
.Xr rc.d 8
scripts defined in
.Xr rc.conf.local 8 .
The
.Nm rc.securelevel ,
.Nm rc.firsttime ,
and
.Nm rc.local
scripts hold commands which are pertinent only to a specific site.
.Pp
All of these startup scripts are controlled to some
extent by variables defined in
.Xr rc.conf 8
and
.Xr rc.conf.local 8 ,
which specify which daemons and services to run.
.Pp
When booting into multi-user mode
.Nm rc
is invoked with the argument
.Em autoboot .
The first portion of
.Nm rc
runs an
.Xr fsck 8
with option
.Fl p
to
.Dq preen
all disks of minor inconsistencies resulting
from the last system shutdown and to check for serious inconsistencies
caused by hardware or software failure.
If this auto-check and repair succeeds, then the second part of
.Nm rc
is run.
However, if the file
.Pa /fastboot
exists,
.Xr fsck 8
will not be invoked during this boot.
This file is then removed so that fsck will be run on subsequent boots.
.Pp
The second part of
.Nm rc ,
which is also run by
.Xr init 8
after a single user shell terminates,
then asks
.Xr rc.conf 8
for configuration variables,
mounts filesystems, starts system daemons,
preserves editor files,
clears the scratch directory
.Pa /tmp ,
and saves any possible core image that might have been
generated as a result of a system crash, with
.Xr savecore 8 .
.Pp
Before
.Nm rc
starts most system daemons,
.Xr netstart 8
is executed.
.Pp
.Nm rc.securelevel
is executed by
.Nm rc
to start daemons that must be run before the security level changes.
Following this,
.Nm rc
then sets the security level to the value specified in the
.Va securelevel
variable in that file.
See
.Xr securelevel 7
for the effects of setting the security level.
.Pp
If
.Nm rc.firsttime
exists, it is executed once and then deleted.
Any output is mailed to root.
Do not install
.Nm rc.firsttime
from
.Pa siteXX.tgz
during a system install since the installer may write to it too.
Rather, install an
.Pa install.site
script and let that script append the required commands to
.Nm rc.firsttime .
.Pp
.Nm rc.local
is executed towards the end of
.Nm rc
(it is not the very last as there are a few services that must be
started at the very end).
Normally,
.Nm rc.local
contains commands and daemons that are not part of the
stock installation.
.Sh CONFIGURATION EXAMPLES
The
.Xr rc.conf 8
file contains a series of Bourne shell syntax assignments that
are used to configure the kernel, the network,
and various other system daemons.
This file is then sourced by
.Pa /etc/rc .
Various comments in
.Xr rc.conf 8
make it clear what each variable does.
Refer to the specific man pages for each daemon to determine what that
subsystem does.
.Pp
For example, the
.Xr lpd 8
daemon is controlled by the following line:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
lpd_flags=NO        # for normal use: "" (or "-l" for debugging)
.Ed
.Pp
This does not start
.Xr lpd 8
at system startup.
To start
.Xr lpd 8 ,
the following entry can be used:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
lpd_flags=""        # for normal use: "" (or "-l" for debugging)
.Ed
.Pp
Alternately,
.Xr lpd 8
can be started with the
.Fl l
flag (to log remote connections):
.Bd -literal -offset indent
lpd_flags="-l"      # for normal use: "" (or "-l" for debugging)
.Ed
.Pp
To start the a and b
.Xr rc.d 8
scripts in reverse order, one could specify rc_scripts in the
the following way:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
rc_scripts="b a"
.Ed
.Sh ENVIRONMENT
Before
.Xr init 8
starts
.Nm rc ,
it sets the process priority, umask, and resource limits according to the
.Dq daemon
login class as described in
.Xr login.conf 5 .
.Sh FILES
.Bl -tag -width "/etc/rc.securelevelXX" -compact
.It Pa /etc/netstart
Command script for network startup.
.It Pa /etc/rc
Command scripts for system startup.
.It Pa /etc/rc.conf
System daemon configuration database.
.It Pa /etc/rc.conf.local
Site specific daemon configuration database.
.It Pa /etc/rc.d
Directory to hold
.Xr rc.d 8
scripts.
.It Pa /etc/rc.d/rc.subr
Functions used by the
.Xr rc.d 8
scripts.
.It Pa /etc/rc.firsttime
Commands run on the first boot after creation.
.It Pa /etc/rc.local
Site specific command scripts for system startup.
.It Pa /etc/rc.securelevel
Commands run before the security level changes.
.It Pa /etc/rc.shutdown
Commands run at system shutdown.
.It Pa /fastboot
Tells
.Nm rc
not to run
.Xr fsck 8
during the next boot.
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr sysctl.conf 5 ,
.Xr securelevel 7 ,
.Xr init 8 ,
.Xr netstart 8 ,
.Xr rc.conf 8 ,
.Xr rc.d 8 ,
.Xr rc.shutdown 8
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Nm
command appeared in
.Bx 4.0 .