Running linux scripts and services during CentOS / Redhat/ Fedora startup

Running commands and shell scripts on startup/boot

Do you need to run a set of commands or a shell script on CentOS / RHEL / Fedora startup?  The easiest way to start a script upon boot is by adding the command to /etc/rc.local (a symbolic link to /etc/rc.d/rc.local).  /etc//rc.local is a script executed after the initial startup services have been executed.

Here’s an example of the /etc/rc.local script:

#!/bin/sh
#
# This script will be executed *after* all the other init scripts.
# You can put your own initialization stuff in here if you don't
# want to do the full Sys V style init stuff.

touch /var/lock/subsys/local

Auto start services on startup/boot

To auto start services in Centos or Redhat OS, you can use builtin chkconfig utility. It is located in /sbin directory. If you are a regular user (non-root), then /sbin may not be in your path. Therefore, you may have to use the full path to access the chkconfig utility.

To auto start a new service:

  • Find out the name of service’s script from /etc/init.d/ directory e.g. mysqld or httpd
  • Add it to chkconfig

    sudo /sbin/chkconfig –add mysqld
  • Make sure it is in the chkconfig.

    sudo /sbin/chkconfig –list mysqld
  • Set it to autostart

    sudo /sbin/chkconfig mysqld on

To stop a service from auto starting on boot

  • sudo /sbin/chkconfig mysqld off

Leave a Reply

Related Post

Detecting and blocking click fraud on asp.net sites

Google policies dictate prevention of click fraud falls on the shoulders of the site owner and bans AdSense accounts for invalid clicks with practically no chance of getting that account back in good standing. Here’s how to detect and prevent invalid clicks on your sites AdSense advertisements.

The Speed of the Internet at Google (Googleplex)

Recently Google hosted a thread on Reddit where they answered questions from the general public. The question of Internet connection speed at Googleplex came up. To put things in perspective, the average connection in European countries is 12 Mb/s and 10 Mb/s in the United States. Personally, my connection with U-Verse is a blazing, or so I thought, 25 Mb/s. Google’s pipe is a mind blowing 523 Mb/s!

Google engineer mistakenly posts internal memo to public forum

Making the equivalent of mistakenly hitting the reply all button, Google Engineer Steve Yegge posted a very well written rant on the importance of architectural planning and the importance of building products around a platform. The neat thing about his post is that he is almost “spot on” with his logic. Long post but well worth reading.