Shutting Down - Red Hat ENTERPRISE LINUX 3 Reference Manual

8
In general, users operate Red Hat Enterprise Linux at runlevel 3 or runlevel 5 — both full multi-user
modes. Users sometimes customize runlevels 2 and 4 to meet specific needs, since they are not used.
The default runlevel for the system is listed in
system, look for the line similar to the one below near the top of
id:5:initdefault:
The default runlevel listed in the example above is five, as the number after the first colon indicates.
To change it, edit
/etc/inittab
Warning
Be very careful when editing
bootable. If this happens, either use a boot diskette, enter single-user mode, or enter rescue mode
to boot the computer and repair the file.
For more information on single-user and rescue mode, refer to the chapter titled Basic System Re-
covery in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux System Administration Guide.
It is possible to change the default runlevel at boot-time by modifying the arguments passed by the
boot loader to the kernel. For information on changing the runlevel at boot time, refer to Section 2.10
Changing Runlevels at Boot Time.
1.4.2. Runlevel Utilities
One of the best ways to configure runlevels is to use an initscript utility. These tools are designed
to simplify the task of maintaining files in the SysV init directory hierarchy and relieves system ad-
ministrators from having to directly manipulate the numerous symbolic links in the subdirectories of
.
/etc/rc.d/
Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides three such utilities:
• /sbin/chkconfig
taining the
/etc/rc.d/init.d
/sbin/ntsysv — The ncurses-based /sbin/ntsysv utility provides an interactive text-based interface,
•
which some find easier to use than
Services Configuration
•
(
redhat-config-services
Refer to the chapter titled Controlling Access to Services in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux System
Administration Guide for more information regarding these tools.

1.5. Shutting Down

To shut down Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the root user may issue the
The man page has a complete list of options, but the two most common uses are:
shutdown
/sbin/shutdown -h now
/sbin/shutdown -r now
After shutting everything down, the
as root.
/etc/inittab
— The
/sbin/chkconfig
directory hierarchy.
chkconfig
Tool
—
) program is a flexible utility for configuring runlevels.
option halts the machine, and the
-h
Chapter 1. Boot Process, Init, and Shutdown
. To find out the default runlevel for a
/etc/inittab
/etc/inittab
. Simple typos can cause the system to become un-
utility is a simple command-line tool for main-
.
Services
The graphical
:
Configuration
command.
/sbin/shutdown
option reboots.
-r
Tool