CHKCONFIG(8)                                                                                                        CHKCONFIG(8)



NAME
       chkconfig - updates and queries runlevel information for system services


SYNOPSIS
       chkconfig [--list] [--type type][name]
       chkconfig --add name
       chkconfig --del name
       chkconfig --override name
       chkconfig [--level levels] [--type type] name <on|off|reset|resetpriorities>
       chkconfig [--level levels] [--type type] name


DESCRIPTION
       chkconfig  provides a simple command-line tool for maintaining the /etc/rc[0-6].d directory hierarchy by relieving system
       administrators of the task of directly manipulating the numerous symbolic links in those directories.

       This implementation of chkconfig was inspired by the chkconfig command present in the IRIX operating system. Rather  than
       maintaining configuration information outside of the /etc/rc[0-6].d hierarchy, however, this version directly manages the
       symlinks in /etc/rc[0-6].d. This leaves all of the configuration information regarding what services  init  starts  in  a
       single location.

       chkconfig has five distinct functions: adding new services for management, removing services from management, listing the
       current startup information for services, changing the startup information for services, and checking the  startup  state
       of a particular service.

       When  chkconfig  is run with only a service name, it checks to see if the service is configured to be started in the cur-
       rent runlevel. If it is, chkconfig returns true; otherwise it returns false. The --level option may be used to have  chk-
       config query an alternative runlevel rather than the current one.

       When  chkconfig is run with the --list argument, or no arguments at all, a listing is displayed of all services and their
       current configuration.

       If one of on, off, reset, or resetpriorities is specified after the service name, chkconfig changes the startup  informa-
       tion  for  the  specified service.  The on and off flags cause the service to be started or stopped, respectively, in the
       runlevels being changed. The reset flag resets the on/off state for all runlevels for the service to whatever  is  speci-
       fied  in  the init script in question, while the resetpriorities flag resets the start/stop priorities for the service to
       whatever is specifed in the init script.

       By default, the on and off options affect only runlevels 2, 3, 4, and 5, while reset and resetpriorities affects  all  of
       the runlevels.  The --level option may be used to specify which runlevels are affected.

       Note  that  for  every service, each runlevel has either a start script or a stop script.  When switching runlevels, init
       will not re-start an already-started service, and will not re-stop a service that is not running.

       chkconfig also can manage xinetd scripts via the means of xinetd.d configuration files. Note that only the on,  off,  and
       --list commands are supported for xinetd.d services.

       chkconfig  supports a --type argument to limit actions to only a specific type of services, in the case where services of
       either type may share a name. Possible values for type are sysv and xinetd.


OPTIONS
       --level levels
              Specifies the run levels an operation should pertain to. It is given as a string of numbers from 0 to 6. For exam-
              ple, --level 35 specifies runlevels 3 and 5.


       --add name

              This  option  adds a new service for management by chkconfig.  When a new service is added, chkconfig ensures that
              the service has either a start or a kill entry in every runlevel. If any runlevel is missing such an  entry,  chk-
              config  creates  the  appropriate  entry  as specified by the default values in the init script. Note that default
              entries in LSB-delimited 'INIT INFO' sections take precedence over the default runlevels in the initscript; if any
              Required-Start  or Required-Stop entries are present, the start and stop priorities of the script will be adjusted
              to account for these dependencies.


       --del name
              The service is removed from chkconfig management, and any symbolic links in /etc/rc[0-6].d which pertain to it are
              removed.

              Note  that future package installs for this service may run chkconfig --add, which will re-add such links. To dis-
              able a service, run chkconfig name off.


       --override name
              If service name is configured exactly as it would be if the --add option had been specified with no override  file
              in  /etc/chkconfig.d/name,  and  if  /etc/chkconfig.d/name  now  exists and is specified differently from the base
              initscript, change the configuration for service name to follow the overrides instead of the base configuration.


       --list name
              This option lists all of the services which chkconfig knows about, and whether they are stopped or started in each
              runlevel. If name is specified, information in only display about service name.


RUNLEVEL FILES
       Each  service  which  should be manageable by chkconfig needs two or more commented lines added to its init.d script. The
       first line tells chkconfig what runlevels the service should be started in by default, as well as the start and stop pri-
       ority levels. If the service should not, by default, be started in any runlevels, a - should be used in place of the run-
       levels list.  The second line contains a description for the service, and may be  extended  across  multiple  lines  with
       backslash continuation.

       For example, random.init has these three lines:
       # chkconfig: 2345 20 80
       # description: Saves and restores system entropy pool for \
       #              higher quality random number generation.
       This  says  that  the random script should be started in levels 2, 3, 4, and 5, that its start priority should be 20, and
       that its stop priority should be 80.  You should be able to figure out what the description says; the \ causes  the  line
       to be continued.  The extra space in front of the line is ignored.

       chkconfig  also supports LSB-style init stanzas, and will apply them in preference to "chkconfig:" lines where available.
       A LSB stanza looks like:
       ### BEGIN INIT INFO
       # Provides: foo
       # Required-Start: bar
       # Defalt-Start: 2 3 4 5
       # Default-Stop: 0 1 6
       # Description: Foo init script
       ### END INIT INFO

       In this case, the start priority of "foo" would be changed such that it is higher than the "bar" start priority, if "bar"
       is  enabled.  Care must be taken when adding dependencies, as they can cause vast shifts in the start and stop priorities
       of many scripts.


OVERRIDE FILES
       File in /etc/chkconfig.d/servicename are parsed using the same comments that chkconfig notices in init  service  scripts,
       and override values in the init service scripts themselves.


SEE ALSO
       init(8) ntsysv(8) system-config-services(8)


AUTHOR
       Erik Troan <ewtATredhat.com>



4th Berkeley Distribution                                Wed Oct 8 1997                                             CHKCONFIG(8)