invoke-rc.d - executes System-V style init script actions
invoke-rc.d [ ''--quiet''? [ ''--force''? [ ''--try-anyway''? [ ''--disclose-deny''? [ ''--query''? [ ''--no-fallback''? name action [ ''init\'' script\ ''parameters...''? .HP invoke-rc.d [ ''--help''? .HP
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) and the dpkg programmers' manual . More information on invoke-rc.d can be found in the section on runlevels and init.d scripts of the debian policy manual .
The standard actions are: start , stop , force-stop , 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 init script 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.
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:
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 will only pay attention to the current runlevel, and block any tries to start an init script in a runlevel it is not configured to be started at. 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.
Please report any bugs using the Debian bug tracking system, http://bugs.debian.org/, packages sysv-rc or file-rc (depending on which version of invoke-rc.d you are using).
dpkg programmers manual , /etc/init.d/skeleton , update-rc.d (8), init(8), /usr/share/doc/sysv-rc/README.policy-rc.d
2 pages link to invoke-rc.d(8):