xref: /freebsd/share/man/man8/rc.8 (revision c6989859ae9388eeb46a24fe88f9b8d07101c710)
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31.\"     @(#)rc.8	8.2 (Berkeley) 12/11/93
32.\" $FreeBSD$
33.\"
34.Dd September 6, 2019
35.Dt RC 8
36.Os
37.Sh NAME
38.Nm rc
39.Nd command scripts for auto-reboot and daemon startup
40.Sh SYNOPSIS
41.Nm
42.Nm rc.conf
43.Nm rc.conf.local
44.Nm rc.d/
45.Nm rc.firewall
46.Nm rc.local
47.Nm rc.resume
48.Nm rc.shutdown
49.Nm rc.subr
50.Sh DESCRIPTION
51The
52.Nm
53utility is the command script which controls the automatic boot process
54after being called by
55.Xr init 8 .
56The
57.Nm rc.local
58script contains commands which are pertinent only
59to a specific site.
60Typically, the
61.Pa /usr/local/etc/rc.d/
62mechanism is used instead of
63.Nm rc.local
64these days but if
65you want to use
66.Nm rc.local ,
67it is still supported.
68In this case, it should source
69.Pa /etc/rc.conf
70and contain additional custom startup code for your system.
71The best way to handle
72.Nm rc.local ,
73however, is to separate it out into
74.Nm rc.d/
75style scripts and place them under
76.Pa /usr/local/etc/rc.d/ .
77The
78.Nm rc.conf
79file contains the global system configuration information referenced
80by the startup scripts, while
81.Nm rc.conf.local
82contains the local system configuration.
83See
84.Xr rc.conf 5
85for more information.
86.Pp
87The
88.Nm rc.d/
89directories contain scripts which will be automatically
90executed at boot time and shutdown time.
91.Pp
92The
93.Xr service 8
94command provides a convenient interface to manage rc.d services.
95.Pp
96The
97.Xr sysrc 8
98command provides a scripting interface to modify system config files.
99.Ss Operation of Nm
100.Bl -enum
101.It
102If autobooting, set
103.Va autoboot Ns = Ns Li yes
104and enable a flag
105.Pq Va rc_fast Ns = Ns Li yes ,
106which prevents the
107.Nm rc.d/
108scripts from performing the check for already running processes
109(thus speeding up the boot process).
110This
111.Va rc_fast Ns = Ns Li yes
112speedup will not occur when
113.Nm
114is started up after exiting the single-user shell.
115.It
116Determine whether the system is booting diskless,
117and if so run the
118.Pa /etc/rc.initdiskless
119script.
120.It
121Source
122.Pa /etc/rc.subr
123to load various
124.Xr rc.subr 8
125shell functions to use.
126.It
127Load the configuration files.
128.It
129Determine if booting in a jail,
130and add
131.Dq Li nojail
132(no jails allowed) or
133.Dq Li nojailvnet
134(only allow vnet-enabled jails) to the list of KEYWORDS to skip in
135.Xr rcorder 8 .
136.It
137If the file
138.Va ${firstboot_sentinel}
139does not exist, add
140.Dq Li firstboot
141to the list of KEYWORDS to skip in
142.Xr rcorder 8 .
143.It
144Invoke
145.Xr rcorder 8
146to order the files in
147.Pa /etc/rc.d/
148that do not have a
149.Dq Li nostart
150KEYWORD (refer to
151.Xr rcorder 8 Ns 's
152.Fl s
153flag).
154.It
155Call each script in turn using
156.Fn run_rc_script
157(from
158.Xr rc.subr 8 ) ,
159which sets
160.Va $1
161to
162.Dq Li start ,
163and sources the script in a subshell.
164Stop processing when the script that is the value of the
165.Va $early_late_divider
166has been run.
167.It
168Check again to see if the file
169.Va ${firstboot_sentinel}
170exists (in case it is located on a newly mounted file system)
171and adjust the list of KEYWORDs to skip appropriately.
172.It
173Re-run
174.Xr rcorder 8 ,
175this time including the scripts in the
176.Va $local_startup
177directories.
178Ignore everything up to the
179.Va $early_late_divider ,
180then start executing the scripts as described above.
181.It
182If the file
183.Va ${firstboot_sentinel}
184exists, delete it.
185If the file
186.Va ${firstboot_sentinel}-reboot
187also exists (because it was created by a script), then delete it and reboot.
188.El
189.Ss Operation of Nm rc.shutdown
190.Bl -enum
191.It
192Set
193.Va rc_shutdown
194to the value of the first argument passed to
195.Nm rc.shutdown
196or to
197.Dq Li unspecified
198if no argument was passed.
199.It
200Source
201.Pa /etc/rc.subr
202to load various
203.Xr rc.subr 8
204shell functions to use.
205.It
206Load the configuration files.
207.It
208Invoke
209.Xr rcorder 8
210to order the files in
211.Pa /etc/rc.d/
212and the
213.Va $local_startup
214directories
215that have a
216.Dq Li shutdown
217KEYWORD (refer to
218.Xr rcorder 8 Ns 's
219.Fl k
220flag),
221reverse that order, and assign the result to a variable.
222.It
223Call each script in turn using
224.Fn run_rc_script
225(from
226.Xr rc.subr 8 ) ,
227which sets
228.Va $1
229to
230.Dq Li faststop ,
231and sources the script in a subshell.
232.El
233.Ss Contents of Nm rc.d/
234.Nm rc.d/
235is located in
236.Pa /etc/rc.d/ .
237The following file naming conventions are currently used in
238.Nm rc.d/ :
239.Bl -tag -width ".Pa ALLUPPERCASE" -offset indent
240.It Pa ALLUPPERCASE
241Scripts that are
242.Dq placeholders
243to ensure that certain operations are performed before others.
244In order of startup, these are:
245.Bl -tag -width ".Pa NETWORKING"
246.It Pa NETWORKING
247Ensure basic network services are running, including general
248network configuration.
249.It Pa SERVERS
250Ensure basic services
251exist for services that start early (such as
252.Pa nisdomain ) ,
253because they are required by
254.Pa DAEMON
255below.
256.It Pa DAEMON
257Check-point before all general purpose daemons such as
258.Pa lpd
259and
260.Pa ntpd .
261.It Pa LOGIN
262Check-point before user login services
263.Pa ( inetd
264and
265.Pa sshd ) ,
266as well as services which might run commands as users
267.Pa ( cron
268and
269.Pa sendmail ) .
270.El
271.It Pa bar
272Scripts that are sourced in a subshell.
273The boot does not stop if such a script terminates with a non-zero status,
274but a script can stop the boot if necessary by invoking the
275.Fn stop_boot
276function (from
277.Xr rc.subr 8 ) .
278.El
279.Pp
280Each script should contain
281.Xr rcorder 8
282keywords, especially an appropriate
283.Dq Li PROVIDE
284entry, and if necessary
285.Dq Li REQUIRE
286and
287.Dq Li BEFORE
288keywords.
289.Pp
290Each script is expected to support at least the following arguments, which
291are automatically supported if it uses the
292.Fn run_rc_command
293function:
294.Bl -tag -width ".Cm restart" -offset indent
295.It Cm start
296Start the service.
297This should check that the service is to be started as specified by
298.Xr rc.conf 5 .
299Also checks if the service is already running and refuses to start if
300it is.
301This latter check is not performed by standard
302.Fx
303scripts if the system is starting directly to multi-user mode, to
304speed up the boot process.
305If
306.Cm forcestart
307is given, ignore the
308.Xr rc.conf 5
309check and start anyway.
310.It Cm stop
311If the service is to be started as specified by
312.Xr rc.conf 5 ,
313stop the service.
314This should check that the service is running and complain if it is not.
315If
316.Cm forcestop
317is given, ignore the
318.Xr rc.conf 5
319check and attempt to stop.
320.It Cm restart
321Perform a
322.Cm stop
323then a
324.Cm start .
325.It Cm status
326If the script starts a process (rather than performing a one-off
327operation), show the status of the process.
328Otherwise it is not necessary to support this argument.
329Defaults to displaying the process ID of the program (if running).
330.It Cm enable
331Enable the service in
332.Xr rc.conf 5 .
333.It Cm disable
334Disable the service in
335.Xr rc.conf 5 .
336.It Cm delete
337Remove the service from
338.Xr rc.conf 5 .
339If
340.Ql Li service_delete_empty
341is set to
342.Dq Li YES ,
343.Pa /etc/rc.conf.d/$servicename
344will be deleted if empty after modification.
345.It Cm describe
346Print a short description of what the script does.
347.It Cm extracommands
348Print the script's non-standard commands.
349.It Cm poll
350If the script starts a process (rather than performing a one-off
351operation), wait for the command to exit.
352Otherwise it is not necessary to support this argument.
353.It Cm enabled
354Return 0 if the service is enabled and 1 if it is not.
355This command does not print anything.
356.It Cm rcvar
357Display which
358.Xr rc.conf 5
359variables are used to control the startup of the service (if any).
360.El
361.Pp
362If a script must implement additional commands it can list them in
363the
364.Va extra_commands
365variable, and define their actions in a variable constructed from
366the command name (see the
367.Sx EXAMPLES
368section).
369.Pp
370The following key points apply to old-style scripts in
371.Pa /usr/local/etc/rc.d/ :
372.Bl -bullet
373.It
374Scripts are only executed if their
375.Xr basename 1
376matches the shell globbing pattern
377.Pa *.sh ,
378and they are executable.
379Any other files or directories present within the directory are silently
380ignored.
381.It
382When a script is executed at boot time, it is passed the string
383.Dq Li start
384as its first and only argument.
385At shutdown time, it is passed the string
386.Dq Li stop
387as its first and only argument.
388All
389.Nm rc.d/
390scripts are expected to handle these arguments appropriately.
391If no action needs to be taken at a given time
392(either boot time or shutdown time),
393the script should exit successfully and without producing an error message.
394.It
395The scripts within each directory are executed in lexicographical order.
396If a specific order is required,
397numbers may be used as a prefix to the existing filenames,
398so for example
399.Pa 100.foo
400would be executed before
401.Pa 200.bar ;
402without the numeric prefixes the opposite would be true.
403.It
404The output from each script is traditionally a space character,
405followed by the name of the software package being started or shut down,
406.Em without
407a trailing newline character.
408.El
409.Sh SCRIPTS OF INTEREST
410When an automatic reboot is in progress,
411.Nm
412is invoked with the argument
413.Cm autoboot .
414One of the scripts run from
415.Pa /etc/rc.d/
416is
417.Pa /etc/rc.d/fsck .
418This script runs
419.Xr fsck 8
420with option
421.Fl p
422and
423.Fl F
424to
425.Dq preen
426all the disks of minor inconsistencies resulting
427from the last system shutdown.
428If this fails, then checks/repairs of serious inconsistencies
429caused by hardware or software failure will be performed
430in the background at the end of the booting process.
431If
432.Cm autoboot
433is not set, when going from single-user to multi-user mode for example,
434the script does not do anything.
435.Pp
436The
437.Pa /etc/rc.d/local
438script can execute scripts from multiple
439.Nm rc.d/
440directories.
441The default location includes
442.Pa /usr/local/etc/rc.d/ ,
443but these may be overridden with the
444.Va local_startup
445.Xr rc.conf 5
446variable.
447.Pp
448The
449.Pa /etc/rc.d/serial
450script is used to set any special configurations for serial devices.
451.Pp
452The
453.Nm rc.firewall
454script is used to configure rules for the kernel based firewall
455service.
456It has several possible options:
457.Pp
458.Bl -tag -width ".Ar filename" -compact -offset indent
459.It Cm open
460will allow anyone in
461.It Cm client
462will try to protect just this machine
463.It Cm simple
464will try to protect a whole network
465.It Cm closed
466totally disables IP services except via
467.Pa lo0
468interface
469.It Cm UNKNOWN
470disables the loading of firewall rules
471.It Ar filename
472will load the rules in the given filename (full path required).
473.El
474.Pp
475Most daemons, including network related daemons, have their own script in
476.Pa /etc/rc.d/ ,
477which can be used to start, stop, and check the status of the service.
478.Pp
479Any architecture specific scripts, such as
480.Pa /etc/rc.d/apm
481for example, specifically check that they are on that architecture
482before starting the daemon.
483.Pp
484Following tradition, all startup files reside in
485.Pa /etc .
486.Sh FILES
487.Bl -tag -compact -width Pa
488.It Pa /etc/rc
489.It Pa /etc/rc.conf
490.It Pa /etc/rc.conf.local
491.It Pa /etc/rc.d/
492.It Pa /etc/rc.firewall
493.It Pa /etc/rc.local
494.It Pa /etc/rc.shutdown
495.It Pa /etc/rc.subr
496.It Pa /var/run/dmesg.boot
497.Xr dmesg 8
498results soon after the
499.Nm
500process begins.
501Useful when
502.Xr dmesg 8
503buffer in the kernel no longer has this information.
504.El
505.Sh EXAMPLES
506The following is a minimal
507.Nm rc.d/
508style script.
509Most scripts require little more than the following.
510.Bd -literal -offset indent
511#!/bin/sh
512#
513
514# PROVIDE: foo
515# REQUIRE: bar_service_required_to_precede_foo
516
517\&. /etc/rc.subr
518
519name="foo"
520rcvar=foo_enable
521command="/usr/local/bin/foo"
522
523load_rc_config $name
524run_rc_command "$1"
525.Ed
526.Pp
527Certain scripts may want to provide enhanced functionality.
528The user may access this functionality through additional commands.
529The script may list and define as many commands at it needs.
530.Bd -literal -offset indent
531#!/bin/sh
532#
533
534# PROVIDE: foo
535# REQUIRE: bar_service_required_to_precede_foo
536# BEFORE:  baz_service_requiring_foo_to_precede_it
537
538\&. /etc/rc.subr
539
540name="foo"
541rcvar=foo_enable
542command="/usr/local/bin/foo"
543extra_commands="nop hello"
544hello_cmd="echo Hello World."
545nop_cmd="do_nop"
546
547do_nop()
548{
549	echo "I do nothing."
550}
551
552load_rc_config $name
553run_rc_command "$1"
554.Ed
555.Pp
556As all processes are killed by
557.Xr init 8
558at shutdown, the explicit
559.Xr kill 1
560is unnecessary, but is often included.
561.Sh SEE ALSO
562.Xr kill 1 ,
563.Xr rc.conf 5 ,
564.Xr init 8 ,
565.Xr rc.resume 8 ,
566.Xr rc.subr 8 ,
567.Xr rcorder 8 ,
568.Xr reboot 8 ,
569.Xr savecore 8 ,
570.Xr service 8 ,
571.Xr sysrc 8
572.Sh HISTORY
573The
574.Nm
575utility appeared in
576.Bx 4.0 .
577