Learning Debian GNU/LinuxBy Bill McCarty1st Edition September 1999 1-56592-705-2, Order Number: 7052 360 pages, $34.95 , Includes CD-ROM |
7.3 Starting and Stopping the System and Services
Using Linux commands, you can start and stop the system or start and start services, such as the Apache web server.
7.3.1 Starting and Stopping the System
Generally, you start your system by turning on its power. However, you can use a Linux command to cause a system to restart itself. If you enter the command:
shutdown -r nowthe system will immediately begin to shut down. Once it's shut down, it will reboot. If you want to provide a delay before commencing the shutdown, use this form of the command:
shutdown -r + mmwhere
mm
gives the number of minutes until the shutdown commences. The command displays a message to system users who have active shells displaying a command prompt. After commencement of a shutdown, users cannot initiate new login sessions.If you want to halt the system, that is, shut down the system without causing it to reboot, use the command:
shutdown -h now7.3.2 Starting and Stopping Services
Services are daemon programs that run without an associated console. They listen for network connections from clients, which request them to perform an action or provide information. Table 7.1 describes some of the most important services.
Table 7.1: Important Services Service
Function
apache
Web server
atd
Runs commands at predefined times.
cron
Runs commands at predefine times; offers more flexibility than
atd
.
exim
Mail transfer agent.
gpm
Provides cut and paste to virtual consoles.
lpd
Controls the printer.
netbase
Basic networking services (
inetd
andportmap
).
netstd_init
Network routing (
routed
).
netstd_misc
Miscellaneous networking services.
nfs-server
Network file system (
nfsd
).
samba
Microsoft-compatible networking (
smbd
andnmbd
).If a network services fails, you may want to restart it without rebooting your system. To do so, you can enter a command such as this:
/etc/init.d/ service startwhere service gives the name of the service, as shown in Table 7.1.
If you want to stop a service, use a command such as this:
/etc/init.d/ service stopIf a service is behaving erratically, you may be able to stabilize it by stopping and restarting it:
/etc/init.d/ service stop /etc/init.d/ service startPause a few seconds before entering the start command to give the service time to come to a smooth stop.
Back to: Learning Debian GNU/Linux
© 2001, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.