Configure Debian start up services

I used to use chkconfig to configure which service to run at system start up.

With my Raspberry Pi running based on Debian distribution, there is no chkconfig 😔.

The replacement for Debian is sysv-rc-conf: Run-level configuration for SysV like init script links.

sysv-rc-conf gives an easy to use interface for managing /etc/rc{runlevel}.d/ symlinks.

Install sysv-rc-conf

sysv-rc-conf can be installed by apt-get:

$ sudo apt-get install -y sysv-rc-conf

Use sysv-rc-conf

After installation, just run

$ sudo sysv-rc-conf

It will show a text based window user interface to easily manage which service to run at system start up.

List all of the services and if they are stopped or started when entering each runlevel by --list:

$ sysv-rc-conf --list
alsa-utils   0:off	1:off	6:off	S:on
avahi-daemon 0:off	1:off	2:on	3:on	4:on	5:on	6:off
bluetooth    0:off	1:off	2:on	3:on	4:on	5:on	6:off
bootlogs     1:on	2:on	3:on	4:on	5:on
brightness   0:off	6:off	S:on
cron         2:on	3:on	4:on	5:on
dbus         2:on	3:on	4:on	5:on
dhcpcd       0:off	1:off	2:on	3:on	4:on	5:on	6:off

You can also enable/disable a service through command line with update-rc.d:

$ sudo update-rc.d minidlna disable

$ sudo update-rc.d vsftpd enable

You can also specific run level when enable/disable a service:

$ sudo update-rc.d vsftpd enable 3 5  # Only enable for level 3 5

Usage of update-rc.d:

$ update-rc.d -h
usage: update-rc.d [-f] <basename> remove
       update-rc.d [-f] <basename> defaults
       update-rc.d [-f] <basename> defaults-disabled
       update-rc.d <basename> disable|enable [S|2|3|4|5]
		-f: force

The disable|enable API is not stable and might change in the future.

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