Manual: invoke-rc.d

invoke-rc.d(8)					      Debian GNU/Linux					      invoke-rc.d(8)

Name
       invoke-rc.d - executes System-V style init script actions

SYNOPSIS
       invoke-rc.d  [--quiet]  [--force] [--try-anyway] [--disclose-deny] [--query] [--no-fallback] name action [init script
       parameters...]

       invoke-rc.d [--help]

DESCRIPTION
       invoke-rc.d is a generic interface to execute System V style init script /etc/init.d/name actions,  obeying  runlevel
       constraints as well as any local policies set by the system administrator.

       All access to the init scripts by Debian packages' maintainer scripts should be done through invoke-rc.d.

       This  manpage  documents	 only  the  usage  and behavior of invoke-rc.d.	 For a discussion of the System V style init
       script arrangements please see init(8).	More information on invoke-rc.d can be found in the section on runlevels and
       init.d scripts of the Debian Policy Manual.

INIT SCRIPT ACTIONS
       The standard actions are: start, stop, force-stop, restart, try-restart, reload, force-reload, and status.  Other ac‐
       tions are accepted, but they can cause problems to policy-rc.d (see the INIT SCRIPT POLICY section), so warnings	 are
       generated if the policy layer is active.

       Please  note  that  not	all  init scripts will implement all the actions listed above, and that the policy layer may
       override an action to another action(s), or even deny it.

       Any extra parameters will be passed to the init script(s) being executed.

       If an action must be carried out regardless of any local policies, use the --force switch.

OPTIONS
       --help Display usage help.

       --quiet
	      Quiet mode, no error messages are generated.

       --force
	      Tries to run the init script regardless of policy and init script subsystem errors.  Use of this option in De‐
	      bian maintainer scripts is severely discouraged.

       --try-anyway
	      Tries to run the init script if a non-fatal error is detected.

       --disclose-deny
	      Return status code 101 instead of status code 0 if the init script action is denied by the policy layer.

       --query
	      Returns one of the status codes 100-106. Does not	 run  the  init	 script,  and  implies	--disclose-deny	 and
	      --no-fallback.

       --no-fallback
	      Ignores  any  fallback  action requests by the policy layer.  Warning: this is usually a very bad idea for any
	      actions other than start.

       --skip-systemd-native
	      Exits before doing anything if a systemd environment is detected and the requested service is a native systemd
	      unit.  This is useful for maintainer scripts that want to defer systemd actions to deb-systemd-invoke(1p)

STATUS CODES
       Should an init script be executed, invoke-rc.d always returns the status code  returned	by  the	 init  script.	Init
       scripts	should	not  return  status codes in the 100+ range (which is reserved in Debian and by the LSB). The status
       codes returned by invoke-rc.d proper are:

       0      Success.	Either the init script was run and returned exit status 0 (note that a fallback action may have been
	      run instead of the one given in the command line), or it was not run because  of	runlevel/local	policy	con‐
	      strains and --disclose-deny is not in effect.

       1 - 99 Reserved for init.d script, usually indicates a failure.

       100    Init script ID (name) unknown.  This means the init script was not registered successfully through update-rc.d
	      or that the init script does not exist.

       101    Action  not  allowed.   The  requested  action  will not be performed because of runlevel or local policy con‐
	      straints.

       102    Subsystem error.	Init script (or policy layer) subsystem malfunction. Also, forced init script execution	 due
	      to --try-anyway or --force failed.

       103    Syntax error.

       104    Action allowed.  Init script would be run, but --query is in effect.

       105    Behavior uncertain.  It cannot be determined if action should be carried out or not, and --query is in effect.

       106    Fallback action requested.  The policy layer denied the requested action, and supplied an allowed fallback ac‐
	      tion to be used instead.

INIT SCRIPT POLICY
       invoke-rc.d  introduces the concept of a policy layer which is used to verify if an init script should be run or not,
       or if something else should be done instead.  This layer has various uses, the most  immediate  ones  being  avoiding
       that package upgrades start daemons out-of-runlevel, and that a package starts or stops daemons while inside a chroot
       jail.

       The policy layer has the following abilities: deny or approve the execution of an action; request that another action
       (called	a fallback) is to be taken, instead of the action requested in invoke-rc.d's command line; or request multi‐
       ple actions to be tried in order, until one of them succeeds (a multiple fallback).

       invoke-rc.d itself only pays attention to the current runlevel; it will block any attempts to start a  service  in  a
       runlevel	 in  which  the service is disabled.  Other policies are implemented with the use of the policy-rc.d helper,
       and are only available if /usr/sbin/policy-rc.d is installed in the system.

FILES
       /etc/init.d/*
	      System V init scripts.

       /usr/sbin/policy-rc.d
	      Init script policy layer helper (not required).

       /etc/rc?.d/*
	      System V runlevel configuration.

NOTES
       invoke-rc.d special cases the status action, and returns exit status 4 instead of exit status 0 when it is denied.

BUGS
       See  and .

SEE ALSO
       Debian Policy manual,
       /etc/init.d/skeleton,
       update-rc.d(8),
       init(8),
       /usr/share/doc/init-system-helpers/README.policy-rc.d.gz

Author
       Henrique de Moraes Holschuh

       License: GNU General Public License v2 or Later (GPLv2+)

Copyright
       2001 Henrique de Moraes Holschuh

1 March 2001												      invoke-rc.d(8)