xref: /openbsd/share/man/man8/rc.8 (revision a6445c1d)
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30.\"     @(#)rc.8	8.2 (Berkeley) 12/11/93
31.\"
32.Dd $Mdocdate: July 22 2014 $
33.Dt RC 8
34.Os
35.Sh NAME
36.Nm rc
37.Nd command scripts for system startup
38.Sh SYNOPSIS
39.Nm /etc/rc
40.Nm /etc/rc.firsttime
41.Nm /etc/rc.local
42.Nm /etc/rc.securelevel
43.Sh DESCRIPTION
44.Nm rc
45is the command script that is invoked by
46.Xr init 8
47when the system starts up.
48It performs system housekeeping chores and starts up system daemons.
49Additionally,
50.Nm rc
51is intricately tied to the
52.Xr netstart 8
53script, which runs commands and daemons pertaining to the network.
54.Nm rc
55is also used to execute any
56.Xr rc.d 8
57scripts defined in
58.Xr rc.conf.local 8 .
59The
60.Nm rc.securelevel ,
61.Nm rc.firsttime ,
62and
63.Nm rc.local
64scripts hold commands which are pertinent only to a specific site.
65.Pp
66All of these startup scripts are controlled to some
67extent by variables defined in
68.Xr rc.conf 8 ,
69which specify which daemons and services to run.
70.Pp
71Before
72.Xr init 8
73starts
74.Nm rc ,
75it sets the process priority, umask, and resource limits according to the
76.Dq daemon
77login class as described in
78.Xr login.conf 5 .
79It then starts
80.Nm rc
81and attempts to execute the sequence of commands therein.
82.Pp
83The first part of
84.Nm rc
85runs an
86.Xr fsck 8
87with option
88.Fl p
89to
90.Dq preen
91all disks of minor inconsistencies resulting
92from the last system shutdown and to check for serious inconsistencies
93caused by hardware or software failure.
94If this auto-check and repair succeeds, then the second part of
95.Nm rc
96is run.
97However, if the file
98.Pa /fastboot
99exists,
100fsck will not be invoked.
101The file is then removed so that fsck will be run on subsequent boots.
102.Pp
103The second part of
104.Nm rc
105then asks
106.Xr rc.conf 8
107for configuration variables,
108mounts filesystems, saves
109.Xr dmesg 8
110output to the file
111.Pa /var/run/dmesg.boot ,
112starts system daemons,
113preserves editor files,
114clears the scratch directory
115.Pa /tmp ,
116and saves any possible core image that might have been
117generated as a result of a system crash, with
118.Xr savecore 8 .
119.Pp
120If at any point the boot script fails,
121.Xr init 8
122enters single-user mode,
123allowing the superuser a shell on the console.
124On exiting this mode,
125init again invokes
126.Nm rc ,
127but this time without performing the file system preen.
128.Pp
129Before
130.Nm rc
131starts most system daemons,
132.Xr netstart 8
133is executed.
134.Pp
135.Nm rc.securelevel
136is executed by
137.Nm rc
138to start daemons that must be run before the security level changes.
139Following this,
140.Nm rc
141then sets the security level to '1' if it wasn't set already by
142.Nm rc.securelevel .
143See
144.Xr securelevel 7
145for the effects of setting the security level.
146.Pp
147If
148.Nm rc.firsttime
149exists, it is executed once and then deleted.
150Any output is mailed to root.
151.Pp
152.Nm rc.local
153is executed towards the end of
154.Nm rc
155(it is not the very last as there are a few services that must be
156started at the very end).
157Normally,
158.Nm rc.local
159contains commands and daemons that are not part of the
160stock installation.
161.Sh FILES
162.Bl -tag -width "/etc/rc.securelevelXX" -compact
163.It Pa /etc/netstart
164Command script for network startup.
165.It Pa /etc/rc
166Command scripts for system startup.
167.It Pa /etc/rc.conf
168System daemon configuration database.
169.It Pa /etc/rc.conf.local
170Site specific daemon configuration database.
171.It Pa /etc/rc.d
172Directory to hold
173.Xr rc.d 8
174scripts.
175.It Pa /etc/rc.d/rc.subr
176Functions used by the
177.Xr rc.d 8
178scripts.
179.It Pa /etc/rc.firsttime
180Commands run on the first boot after creation.
181.It Pa /etc/rc.local
182Site specific command scripts for system startup.
183.It Pa /etc/rc.securelevel
184Commands run before the security level changes.
185.It Pa /etc/rc.shutdown
186Commands run at system shutdown.
187.It Pa /fastboot
188Tells
189.Nm rc
190not to run
191.Xr fsck 8
192during the next boot.
193.It Pa /var/run/dmesg.boot
194copy of
195.Xr dmesg 8
196saved by
197.Nm rc
198at boot time
199.El
200.Sh SEE ALSO
201.Xr sysctl.conf 5 ,
202.Xr securelevel 7 ,
203.Xr init 8 ,
204.Xr netstart 8 ,
205.Xr rc.conf 8 ,
206.Xr rc.d 8 ,
207.Xr rc.shutdown 8
208.Sh HISTORY
209The
210.Nm
211command appeared in
212.Bx 4.0 .
213