RC(8) System Manager's Manual RC(8)

rc, rc.single, rc.multi, rc.modules, rc.local, rc.shutdown, rc.d/ — startup and shutdown scripts

init(8)
|-- rc
|   `-- rc.modules
|-- rc.single
|-- rc.multi
|   |-- rc.d/
|   `-- rc.local
`-- rc.shutdown

rc is the command script which controls the system boot, and is invoked by init(8) as part of init process.

rc.single is the command script which controls what to do in single-user mode.

rc.multi is the command script which controls what to do in multi-user mode.

rc.modules is the command script to which local kernel module initialization actions can be added. It is (nearly) the last thing invoked by rc during system boot.

rc.local is the command script to which local boot-time actions can be added. It is (nearly) the last thing invoked by rc.multi during a normal boot.

rc.shutdown is the command script which shuts down various services, and is invoked by shutdown(8) as part of the process of shutting down the system.

rc.d/ is the directory which contains various sh(1p) scripts, one for each service, which are called by rc.multi at startup, rc.shutdown at shutdown, and as necessary during system operation to stop, start, restart, reload or otherwise control the service.

/etc/rc
System boot script.
/etc/rc.single
Single-User startup script.
/etc/rc.multi
Multi-User startup script.
/etc/rc.modules
Module initialization script.
/etc/rc.local
Local multi-user startup script.
/etc/rc.shutdown
System shutdown script.
/etc/rc.conf
System boot configuration file.
/etc/rc.d/
Directory containing control scripts for each service.

rc.conf(5), init(8), reboot(8), shutdown(8)

The original implementation of rc scripts was done by Per Lidén <per@fukt.bth.se>, the author of CRUX, as part of “rc” port, and was maintained for years (and still maintaining) by CRUX team.

This implementation was extensively re-worked for Zeppe-Lin by Alexandr Savca <alexandr.savca89@gmail.com>.

September 3, 2023 Zeppe-Lin