Re: change run levels
On Thu, 2002-08-29 at 17:45, Aaron Peters wrote:
> init <runlevel you want to go to>, e.g.
>
> init 5
>
> On Thursday 29 August 2002 14:51, John F Davis wrote:
> > Hello
> >
> > How to change the run level on a currently running system without
> > rebooting?
> >
> >
> > For the first time in my life today, I needed to change run levels on a
> > currently running system.
> >
> > I edited /etc/inittab to change the default run level and then i did a kill
> > -9 1. Needless to say this didn't help. I think if
> > I had did a -HUP instead of a -9 that wouldn't have hurt as bad. But I am
> > sure I saw someone change their runlevel
> > which didn't require editing /etc/inittab.
> >
> > JD
>
>
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>
According to the init/telinit man page, init starts the system and all
main processes, including usually consoles and rc scripts. Telinit sends
a message to the running init to make any necessary changes. However,
unlike most applications that may have different behaviours based on the
name used to call them, init ALWAYS is process 1 - if it is run as any
other process number, it functions as telinit, passing on the direction
to change the runlevel to process 1. Hence, you could use either name,
depending on the functionality you wish to draw upon.
The man page for Init and Telinit:
INIT
Section: Linux System Administrator's Manual (8)
Updated: 23 August 2001
Index
NAME
init, telinit - process control initialization
SYNOPSIS
/sbin/init [ -a ] [ -s ] [ -b ] [ -z xxx ] [ 0123456Ss ]
/sbin/telinit [ -t sec ] [ 0123456sSQqabcUu ]
DESCRIPTION
Init
Init is the parent of all processes. Its primary role is to create
processes from a script stored in the file /etc/inittab (see
inittab(5)). This file usually has entries which cause init to spawn
gettys on each line that users can log in. It also controls autonomous
processes required by any particular system.
RUNLEVELS
A runlevel is a software configuration of the system which allows only a
selected group of processes to exist. The processes spawned by init for
each of these runlevels are defined in the /etc/inittab file. Init can
be in one of eight runlevels: 0en6 and S or s. The runlevel is changed
by having a privileged user run telinit, which sends appropriate signals
to init, telling it which runlevel to change to.
Runlevels 0, 1, and 6 are reserved. Runlevel 0 is used to halt the
system, runlevel 6 is used to reboot the system, and runlevel 1 is used
to get the system down into single user mode. Runlevel S is not really
meant to be used directly, but more for the scripts that are executed
when entering runlevel 1. For more information on this, see the manpages
for shutdown(8) and inittab(5).
Runlevels 7-9 are also valid, though not really documented. This is
because "traditional" Unix variants don't use them. In case you're
curious, runlevels S and s are in fact the same. Internally they are
aliases for the same runlevel.
BOOTING
After init is invoked as the last step of the kernel boot sequence, it
looks for the file /etc/inittab to see if there is an entry of the type
initdefault (see inittab(5)). The initdefault entry determines the
initial runlevel of the system. If there is no such entry (or no
/etc/inittab at all), a runlevel must be entered at the system console.
Runlevel S or s bring the system to single user mode and do not require
an /etc/inittab file. In single user mode, /sbin/sulogin is invoked on
/dev/console.
When entering single user mode, init reads the console's ioctl(2) states
from /etc/ioctl.save. If this file does not exist, init initializes the
line at 9600 baud and with CLOCAL settings. When init leaves single user
mode, it stores the console's ioctl settings in this file so it can
re-use them for the next single-user session.
When entering a multi-user mode for the first time, init performs the
boot and bootwait entries to allow file systems to be mounted before
users can log in. Then all entries matching the runlevel are processed.
When starting a new process, init first checks whether the file
/etc/initscript exists. If it does, it uses this script to start the
process.
Each time a child terminates, init records the fact and the reason it
died in /var/run/utmp and /var/log/wtmp, provided that these files
exist.
CHANGING RUNLEVELS
After it has spawned all of the processes specified, init waits for one
of its descendant processes to die, a powerfail signal, or until it is
signaled by telinit to change the system's runlevel. When one of the
above three conditions occurs, it re-examines the /etc/inittab file. New
entries can be added to this file at any time. However, init still waits
for one of the above three conditions to occur. To provide for an
instantaneous response, the telinit Q or q command can wake up init to
re-examine the /etc/inittab file.
If init is not in single user mode and receives a powerfail signal
(SIGPWR), it reads the file /etc/powerstatus. It then starts a command
based on the contents of this file:
F(AIL)
Power is failing, UPS is providing the power. Execute the powerwait and
powerfail entries. O(K)
The power has been restored, execute the powerokwait entries. L(OW)
The power is failing and the UPS has a low battery. Execute the
powerfailnow entries.
If /etc/powerstatus doesn't exist or contains anything else then the
letters F, O or L, init will behave as if it has read the letter F.
Usage of SIGPWR and /etc/powerstatus is discouraged. Someone wanting to
interact with init should use the /dev/initctl control channel - see the
source code of the sysvinit package for more documentation about this.
When init is requested to change the runlevel, it sends the warning
signal SIGTERM to all processes that are undefined in the new runlevel.
It then waits 5 seconds before forcibly terminating these processes via
the SIGKILL signal. Note that init assumes that all these processes (and
their descendants) remain in the same process group which init
originally created for them. If any process changes its process group
affiliation it will not receive these signals. Such processes need to be
terminated separately.
TELINIT
/sbin/telinit is linked to /sbin/init. It takes a one-character argument
and signals init to perform the appropriate action. The following
arguments serve as directives to telinit:
0,1,2,3,4,5 or 6
tell init to switch to the specified run level. a,b,c
tell init to process only those /etc/inittab file entries having
runlevel a,b or c. Q or q
tell init to re-examine the /etc/inittab file. S or s
tell init to switch to single user mode. U or u
tell init to re-execute itself (preserving the state). No re-examining
of /etc/inittab file happens. Run level should be one of Ss12345,
otherwise request would be silently ignored.
telinit can also tell init how long it should wait between sending
processes the SIGTERM and SIGKILL signals. The default is 5 seconds, but
this can be changed with the -t sec option.
telinit can be invoked only by users with appropriate privileges.
The init binary checks if it is init or telinit by looking at its
process id; the real init's process id is always 1. From this it follows
that instead of calling telinit one can also just use init instead as a
shortcut.
ENVIRONMENT
Init sets the following environment variables for all its children:
PATH
/usr/local/sbin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin INIT_VERSION
As the name says. Useful to determine if a script runs directly from
init. RUNLEVEL
The current system runlevel. PREVLEVEL
The previous runlevel (useful after a runlevel switch). CONSOLE
The system console. This is really inherited from the kernel; however if
it is not set init will set it to /dev/console by default.
BOOTFLAGS
It is possible to pass a number of flags to init from the boot monitor
(eg. LILO). Init accepts the following flags:
-s, S, single
Single user mode boot. In this mode /etc/inittab is examined and the
bootup rc scripts are usually run before the single user mode shell is
started.
1-5
Runlevel to boot into.
-b, emergency
Boot directly into a single user shell without running any other startup
scripts.
-a, auto
The LILO boot loader adds the word "auto" to the command line if it
booted the kernel with the default command line (without user
intervention). If this is found init sets the "AUTOBOOT" environment
variable to "yes". Note that you cannot use this for any security
measures - of course the user could specify "auto" or -a on the command
line manually.
-z xxx
The argument to -z is ignored. You can use this to expand the command
line a bit, so that it takes some more space on the stack. Init can then
manipulate the command line so that ps(1) shows the current runlevel.
INTERFACE
Init listens on a fifo in /dev, /dev/initctl, for messages. Telinit uses
this to communicate with init. The interface is not very well documented
or finished. Those interested should study the initreq.h file in the
src/ subdirectory of the init source code tar archive.
SIGNALS
Init reacts to several signals:
SIGHUP
Init looks for /etc/initrunlvl and /var/log/initrunlvl. If one of these
files exist and contain an ASCII runlevel, init switches to the new
runlevel. This is for backwards compatibility only! . In the normal case
(the files don't exist) init behaves like telinit q was executed.
SIGUSR1
On receipt of this signals, init closes and re-opens its control fifo,
/dev/initctl. Useful for bootscripts when /dev is remounted. SIGINT
Normally the kernel sends this signal to init when CTRL-ALT-DEL is
pressed. It activates the ctrlaltdel action. SIGWINCH
The kernel sends this signal when the KeyboardSignal key is hit. It
activates the kbrequest action.
CONFORMING TO
Init is compatible with the System V init. It works closely together
with the scripts in the directories /etc/init.d and /etc/rc{runlevel}.d.
If your system uses this convention, there should be a README file in
the directory /etc/init.d explaining how these scripts work.
FILES
/etc/inittab
/etc/initscript
/dev/console
/etc/ioctl.save
/var/run/utmp
/var/log/wtmp
/dev/initctl
WARNINGS
Init assumes that processes and descendants of processes remain in the
same process group which was originally created for them. If the
processes change their group, init can't kill them and you may end up
with two processes reading from one terminal line.
DIAGNOSTICS
If init finds that it is continuously respawning an entry more than 10
times in 2 minutes, it will assume that there is an error in the command
string, generate an error message on the system console, and refuse to
respawn this entry until either 5 minutes has elapsed or it receives a
signal. This prevents it from eating up system resources when someone
makes a typographical error in the /etc/inittab file or the program for
the entry is removed.
AUTHOR
Miquel van Smoorenburg (miquels@cistron.nl), initial manual page by
Michael Haardt (u31b3hs@pool.informatik.rwth-aachen.de).
SEE ALSO
getty(1), login(1), sh(1), runlevel(8), shutdown(8), kill(1),
inittab(5), initscript(5), utmp(5)
--
Mark L. Kahnt, FLMI/M, ALHC, HIA, AIAA, ACS, MHP
ML Kahnt New Markets Consulting
Tel: (613) 531-8684 / (613) 539-0935
Email: kahnt@hosehead.dyndns.org
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