RC(8) BSD System Manager's Manual RC(8)
rc - command scripts for system startup
/etc/rc
/etc/rc.local
/etc/rc.securelevel
rc is the command script that is invoked by init(8) during an automatic
reboot and after single user mode is exited; it performs system house-
keeping chores and starts up system daemons. Additionally, rc is intri-
cately tied to the netstart(8) script, which runs commands and daemons
pertaining to the network. The rc.securelevel and rc.local scripts hold
commands which are pertinent only to a specific site.
All four of these startup scripts are (or can be) controlled to some ex-
tent by variables defined in rc.conf(8) and rc.conf.local(8), which
specify which daemons and services to run.
When an automatic reboot is in progress, rc is invoked with the argument
autoboot. The first portion of rc runs an fsck(8) with option -p to
"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 rc is run.
However, if the file /fastboot exists, fsck(8) will not be invoked during
this boot. This file is then removed so that it will be run on subsequent
boots.
The second part of rc, which is run after an auto-reboot succeeds and
also if rc is invoked when a single user shell terminates (see init(8)),
then asks rc.conf(8) for configuration variables, mounts filesystems,
starts system daemons, preserves editor files, clears the scratch direc-
tory /tmp, and saves any possible core image that might have been gen-
erated as a result of a system crash, with savecore(8).
Before rc starts most system daemons, netstart(8) is executed.
rc.securelevel is executed by rc to start daemons that must be run before
the security level changes. Following this, rc then sets the security
level to the value specified in the securelevel variable in that file.
See securelevel(7) for the effects of setting the security level.
rc.local is executed towards the end of rc (it is not the very last as
there are a few services that must be started at the very end). Normally,
rc.local contains commands and daemons that are not part of the stock in-
stallation.
The rc.conf(8) file contains a series of Bourne-shell syntax assignments
that are used to configure kernel configurations, network configuration,
and various other system daemons. As described above, this file is
sourced (using sh(1) of course) by /etc/rc. Various comments in
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.
For example, the lpd(8) daemon is controlled by the following line:
lpd_flags=NO # for normal use: "" (or "-l" for debugging)
This does not start lpd(8) at system startup. To start lpd(8), the fol-
lowing entry can be used:
lpd_flags="" # for normal use: "" (or "-l" for debugging)
Alternately, lpd(8) can be started with the -l flag (to log remote con-
nections):
lpd_flags="-l" # for normal use: "" (or "-l" for debugging)
Before init(8) starts rc, it sets the process priority, umask, and
resource limits according to the "daemon" login class as described in
login.conf(5).
/etc/rc Command scripts for system startup.
/etc/rc.local Site specific command scripts for system startup.
/etc/rc.conf System daemon configuration database.
/etc/rc.conf.local Site specific daemon configuration database.
/etc/rc.securelevel Commands run before the security level changes.
/etc/rc.shutdown Commands run at system shutdown.
/etc/login.conf Login class capability database.
/etc/netstart Command script for network startup.
login.conf(5), sysctl.conf(5), securelevel(7), init(8), netstart(8),
rc.conf(8), rc.shutdown(8), reboot(8), savecore(8)
The rc command appeared in 4.0BSD.
MirBSD #10-current December 11, 1993 1