Re: Services in Debian

[Robert Storey <y2kbug@ms25.hinet.net>]

On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 22:25:25 -0400
Hal Vaughan <hal@thresholddigital.com> wrote:

> Could someone please tell me if my understanding of this is correct?
> 
> I've noticed that when I apt-get a package, that doesn't mean it will
> be  started, but if I start a program (like sshd, or some other
> service  in /etc/init.d/), that it seems to autostart the next time I
> boot.
> 
> Is that always true, or am I not seeing the entire picture?
> 
> Hal

You're not seeing the entire picture. First, if you haven't already done
so, install rcconf:

  apt-get rcconf

This can be used to set up services so that they do/don't start on
bootup. However, I've noticed that a few services occasionally don't
show up in rcconf (not sure why that is). Another option is ksysv (it's
a graphical services editor under KDE). A third option would be Webmin
(if you've got it installed).

You can also do it manually, but that is a nuisance. Basically, you do
this - to prevent apache from starting:

  update-rc.d apache remove

To add apache back in so it auto-starts again:

  update-rc.d apache defaults

The Debian manual has more details, but the above will probably suit
your needs.

regards,
Robert