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 actions 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 Debian 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.

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 constrains 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 constraints.

       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 action 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 multiple 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/pol-
       icy-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/runlevel.conf
              file-rc runlevel configuration (if the file-rc package is being used).

       /etc/rc?.d/*
              System V runlevel configuration (if the sysv-rc package is being used).

NOTES

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

BUGS

       Please report any bugs using the Debian bug tracking system, http://bugs.debian.org/, package sysv-rc or file-rc (depending on  which  ver-
       sion of invoke-rc.d you are using).

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 Holschuh

       Licence: GNU Public Licence v2 or Later (GPLv2+)

COPYRIGHT

       2001 Hernique Holschuh

1 March 2001                                                                                                                        INVOKE-RC.D(8)