inittab.4 (2010 09)

i
inittab(4) inittab(4)
rstate field is empty, boot init
enters run level 6.
The
initdefault entry cannot specify that boot init
start in the
single-user state. Additionally, if boot
init does not find an init-
default entry in inittab, it requests an initial run level from the
user at boot time.
off If the process associated with this entry is currently running, send
the warning signal (SIGTERM) and wait 20 seconds before forcibly
terminating the process via the kill signal (
SIGKILL). If the process
is nonexistent, ignore the entry.
once When boot init enters a run level that matches the entry’s rstate ,
start the process and do not wait for its termination. When it dies, do
not restart the process. If boot
init
enters a new run level but the
process is still running from a previous run level change, the process
is not restarted.
ondemand This instruction is really a synonym for the
respawn action. It is
functionally identical to
respawn but is given a different keyword in
order to divorce its association with run levels. This is used only with
the a, b,orc values described in the rstate field.
powerfail Execute the process associated with this entry only when boot init
receives a power-fail signal (SIGPWR see signal (5)).
powerwait Execute the process associated with this entry only when boot init
receives a power-fail signal (SIGPWR) and wait until it terminates
before continuing any processing of inittab.
respawn If the process does not exist, start the process; do not wait for its ter-
mination (continue scanning the inittab file). When it dies, restart
the process. If the process currently exists, do nothing and continue
scanning the inittab file.
sysinit Entries of this type are executed before boot init tries to access the
console. It is expected that this entry will be only used to initialize
devices on which boot init might attempt to obtain run level infor-
mation. These entries are executed and waited for before continuing.
wait When boot init enters the run level that matches the entry’s rstate ,
start the process and wait for its termination. Any subsequent reads
of the
inittab file while boot init is in the same run level cause
boot init to ignore this entry.
process This is a
sh command to be executed. The entire process field is prefixed with
exec
and passed to a forked sh as "sh -c ’exec command’". For this reason, any
sh syn-
tax that can legally follow
exec can appear in the process field. Comments can be
inserted by using the ;#comment syntax.
WARNINGS
The use of a four-character id is strongly recommended. Many pty servers use the last two characters of
the pty name as an id.Ifanid chosen by a pty server collides with one used in the
inittab file, the
/etc/utmp file can become corrupted. A corrupt /etc/utmp file can cause commands such as who to
report inaccurate information.
FILES
/etc/inittab File of processes dispatched by boot init.
SEE ALSO
sh(1), getty(1M), exec(2), open(2), signal(5).
2 Hewlett-Packard Company − 2 − HP-UX 11i Version 3: September 2010