UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

how do i make a program run at system startup?
is there a hirarchy i have to consider?
is there any equivalent to an NT "Service" in unix?
how do you set it up?

thanx
Ron

It depends on at what runlevel your system comes up.Suppose if your system comes up at run level 3 then you need to place the startup script in the directory where your other run level 3 scripts are placed or in the directory where your other run level 2 scripts (run level 2 , i am saying b'cos run level 2 is an intermediate state when your system comes up in run level 3). Also the startup script should start with alphabet S followed by a number. The number indicates the order in which the scripts are executed. Actually the scripts in the /etc/rc?.d directory are links to files placed in /etc/rc.d directory and these files are executed when the system comes up. Usually people keep DATABASE startup and shutdown scripts in these directories so that when a system comes up the database starts and when the sysem goes down the database also goes down and it's manually done.

Hope this helps

All system startup scripts are stored in /etc/rc.d directory.
Care has to be taken by the script to catch start and stop actions as system gives this as argument

Cheers

Amit Jain