INIT(VIII) 2/22/74 INIT(VIII)





INIT(VIII)                   2/22/74                   INIT(VIII)







NAME

     init  -  process control initialization



SYNOPSIS

     /etc/init



DESCRIPTION

     Init is invoked inside UNIX as the last  step  in  the  boot

     procedure.   Generally  its  role is to create a process for

     each typewriter on which a user may log in.



     First, init checks to see if the  console  switches  contain

     173030.   (This  number  is likely to vary between systems.)

     If so,  the  console  typewriter  /dev/tty8  is  opened  for

     reading  and  writing  and the Shell is invoked immediately.

     This feature is used to bring up a single-user system.  When

     the  system  is  brought up in this way, the getty and login

     routines mentioned below and  described  elsewhere  are  not

     used.  If the Shell terminates, init starts over looking for

     the console switch setting.



     Otherwise, init invokes a Shell, with input taken  from  the

     file  /etc/rc.  This command file performs housekeeping like

     removing  temporary  files,  mounting  file   systems,   and

     starting daemons.



     Then init reads the file /etc/ttys and forks  several  times

     to  create  a  process  for each typewriter specified in the

     file.   Each  of  these  processes  opens  the   appropriate

     typewriter  for  reading  and  writing.  These channels thus

     receive file descriptors 0 and 1,  the  standard  input  and

     output.   Opening  the  typewriter  will  usually  involve a

     delay, since the open is  not  completed  until  someone  is

     dialed  up  and  carrier  established  on the channel.  Then

     /etc/getty is called with argument as specified by the  last

     character  of  the  ttys  file line.  Getty reads the user's

     name and invokes login  (q.v.)   to  log  in  the  user  and

     execute the Shell.



     Ultimately the Shell will terminate because  of  an  end-of-

     file  either  typed  explicitly  or generated as a result of

     hanging up.  The main path of init, which has  been  waiting

     for  such  an  event,  wakes  up and removes the appropriate

     entry from the file utmp, which records current  users,  and

     makes  an  entry in /usr/adm/wtmp, which maintains a history

     of logins and logouts.  Then the appropriate  typewriter  is

     reopened and getty is reinvoked.



     Init catches the hangup signal (signal #1) and interprets it

     to mean that the switches should be examined as in a reboot:

     if they indicate a multi-user system, the /etc/ttys file  is

     read again.  The Shell process on each line which used to be

     active in ttys but is no longer there is terminated;  a  new

     process  is  created for each added line; lines unchanged in

     the file are undisturbed.  Thus it is possible  to  drop  or

     add phone lines without rebooting the system by changing the

     ttys file and sending a hangup signal to the  init  process:

     use ``kill -1 1.''





FILES

     /dev/tty?, /etc/utmp, /usr/adm/wtmp, /etc/ttys, /etc/rc



SEE ALSO

     login (I), kill (I), sh (I), ttys (V), getty (VIII)
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