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32. init, ? getty, and UNIX Run Levels

This chapter explains how LINUX (and a UNIX system in general) initializes itself. It follows on from the kernel boot explained in Section 31.2. We also go into some advanced uses for mgetty, like receiving of faxes.

32.1 init -- the First Process

After the kernel has been unpacked into memory, it begins to execute, initializing hardware. The last thing it does is mount the root file system, which necessarily contains a program /sbin/init, which the kernel executes. init is one of the only programs the kernel ever executes explicitly; the onus is then on init to bring the UNIX system up. init always has the process ID 1.

For the purposes of init, the (rather arbitrary) concept of a UNIX run level was invented. The run level is the current operation of the machine, numbered run level 0 through run level 9. When the UNIX system is at a particular run level, it means that a certain selection of services is running. In this way, the machine could be a mail server or an X Window workstation depending on what run level it is in.

The traditionally defined run levels are:

0	Halt.
1	Single-user mode.
2	Multiuser, without network file system (NFS).
3	Full multiuser mode.
4	Unused.
5	X Window System Workstation (usually identical to run level 3).
6	Reboot.
7	Undefined.
8	Undefined.
9	Undefined.

The idea here is that init begins at a particular run level that can then be manually changed to any other by the superuser. init uses a list of scripts for each run level to start or stop each of the many services pertaining to that run level. These scripts are /etc/rc? .d/KNNservice or /etc/rc? .d/SNNservice [On some systems /etc/rc.d/rc? .d/... .], where NN, K, or S is a prefix to force the order of execution (since the files are executed in alphabetical order).

These scripts all take the options start and stop on the command-line, to begin or terminate the service.

For example, when init enters, say, run level 5 from run level 3, it executes the particular scripts from /etc/rc3.d/ and /etc/rc5.d/ to bring up or down the appropriate services. This may involve, say, executing

/etc/rc3.d/S20exim stop

and similar commands.

32.2 /etc/inittab

init has one config file: /etc/inittab which is scanned once on bootup.

32.2.1 Minimal configuration

A minimal inittab file might consist of the following.

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id:3:initdefault:   si::sysinit:/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit   l0:0:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 0 l1:1:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 1 l2:2:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 2 l3:3:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 3 l4:4:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 4 l5:5:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 5 l6:6:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 6   ud::once:/sbin/update   1:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty1 2:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty2 3:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty3 4:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty4   S0:2345:respawn:/sbin/mgetty -n 3 -s 115200 ttyS0 57600   S4:2345:respawn:/sbin/mgetty -r -s 19200 ttyS4 DT19200   x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/X11/xdm -nodaemon

The lines are colon-separated fields and have the following meaning (lots more can be gotten from inittab(5)):

id:3:initdefault:

This dictates that the default run level is 3. It is the run level that the system will boot up into. This field usually has a 3 or a 5, which are most often the only two run levels that the system ever sits in.

si::sysinit:/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit

This says to run a script on bootup to initialize the system. If you view the file /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit, you will see a fairly long script that does the following: mounts the proc file system; initializes the keyboard maps, console font, NIS domain, host name, and swap partition; runs isapnp and depmod -a; cleans the utmp file; as well as other things. This script is only run once on bootup. On Debian this is a script, /etc/init.d/rcS, that runs everything under /etc/rcS.d/. [As usual, Debian gravitated to the most clean, elegant and extensible solution.]

l3:3:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 3

The first field is a descriptive tag and could be anything. The second is a list of run levels under which the particular script (last field) is to be invoked: in this case, /etc/rc.d/rc 3 is to be run when entering run level 3. The wait means to pause until /etc/rc.d/rc has finished execution. If you view the file /etc/rc.d/rc, you will see it merely executes scripts under /etc/rc? .d/ as appropriate for a run level change.

ud::once:/sbin/update

This flushes the disk cache on each run level change.

1:2345:respawn:/sbin/getty 38400 tty1

This says to run the command /sbin/getty 38400 tty1 when in run level 2 through 5. respawn means to restart the process if it dies.

x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/X11/xdm -nodaemon

This says to run the command /usr/bin/X11/xdm -nodaemon when in run level 5. This is the X Window System graphical login program.

32.2.2 Rereading inittab

If you modify the inittab file, init will probably not notice until you issue it a SIGHUP. This is the same as typing

telinit q

which causes init to reread /etc/inittab.

32.2.3 The respawning too fast error

You get a respawning too fast error when an inittab line makes no sense [These errors are common and very irritating when you are doing console work, hence an explicit section on it.]: like a getty running on a non-functioning serial port. Simply comment out or delete the appropriate line and then run

telinit q

32.3 Useful Run Levels

Switching run levels manually is something that is rarely done. The most common way of shutting down the machine is to use:

shutdown -h now

which effectively goes to run level 0, and

shutdown -r now

which effectively goes to run level 6.

You can also specify the run level at the LILO: prompt. Type

linux 1

or

linux single

to enter single-user mode when booting your machine. You change to single-user mode on a running system with:

telinit S

You can forcefully enter any run level with

telinit <N>

32.4 getty Invocation

The getty man page begins with:

getty opens a tty port, prompts for a login name and invokes the /bin/login command. It is normally invoked by init(8).

Note that getty, agetty, fgetty and mingetty are just different implementations of getty.

The most noticeable effect of init running at all is that it spawns a login to each of the LINUX virtual consoles. It is the getty (or sometimes mingetty) command as specified in the inittab line above that displays this login. Once the login name is entered, getty invokes the /bin/login program, which then prompts the user for a password.

The login program (discussed in Section 11.7) then executes a shell. When the shell dies (as a result of the user exiting the session) getty is just respawned.

32.5 Bootup Summary

Together with Chapter 31 you should now have a complete picture of the entire bootup process:

1.

First sector loaded into RAM and executed-- LILO: prompt appears.

2.

Kernel loaded from sector list.

3.

Kernel executed; unpacks.

4.

Kernel initializes hardware.

5.

Kernel mounts root file system, say /dev/hda1.

6.

Kernel executes /sbin/init as PID 1.

7.

init executes all scripts for default run level.

8.

init spawns getty programs on each terminal.

9.

getty prompts for login.

10.

getty executes /bin/login to authentic user.

11.

login starts shell.

32.6 Incoming Faxes and Modem Logins

32.6.1 mgetty with character terminals

The original purpose of getty was to manage character terminals on mainframe computers. mgetty is a more comprehensive getty that deals with proper serial devices. A typical inittab entry is

S4:2345:respawn:/sbin/mgetty -r -s 19200 ttyS4 DT19200

which would open a login on a terminal connected to a serial line on /dev/ttyS4. See page for information on configuring multiport serial cards.

(The LINUX devices /dev/tty1 through /dev/tty12 as used by getty emulate classic terminals in this way.)

32.6.2 mgetty log files

mgetty will log to /var/log/mgetty.log.ttyS?. This log file contains everything you need for troubleshooting. It is worthwhile running tail -f on these files while watching a login take place.

32.6.3 mgetty with modems

Running mgetty (see mgetty(8)) is a common and trivial way to get a dial login to a LINUX machine. Your inittab entry is just

S0:2345:respawn:/sbin/mgetty -n 3 -s 115200 ttyS0 57600

where -n 3 says to answer the phone after the 3rd ring. Nothing more is needed than to plug your modem into a telephone. You can then use dip -t, as done in Section 41.1.1, to dial this machine from another LINUX machine. Here is an example session: [This example assumes that an initialization string of AT&F1 is sufficient. See Section 3.5.]

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[root@cericon]# dip -t DIP: Dialup IP Protocol Driver version 3.3.7o-uri (8 Feb 96) Written by Fred N. van Kempen, MicroWalt Corporation.   DIP> port ttyS0 DIP> speed 57600 DIP> term [ Entering TERMINAL mode.  Use CTRL-] to get back ] AT&F1 OK ATDT5952521 CONNECT 19200/ARQ/V34/LAPM/V42BIS   Red Hat Linux release 6.1 (Cartman) Kernel 2.2.12-20 on an i686   remote.dialup.private login:

Note that this is purely a login session having nothing to do with PPP dialup.

32.6.4 mgetty receiving faxes

mgetty receives faxes by default, provided your modem supports faxing [If your modem says it supports faxing, and this still does not work, you will have to spend a lot of time reading through your modem's AT command set manual, as well as the mgetty info documentation.]and provided it has not been explicitly disabled with the -D option. An appropriate inittab line is,

S0:2345:respawn:/sbin/mgetty -x 4 -n 3 -s 57600 -I '27 21 7654321' ttyS0 57600

The options mean, respectively, to set the debug level to 4, answer after 3 rings, set the port speed to 57600, and set the fax ID number to 27 21 7654321. Alternatively, you can use the line

S0:2345:respawn:/sbin/mgetty ttyS0 57600

and instead put your configuration options in the file mgetty.config under /etc/mgetty+sendfax/:

debug 4 rings 3 speed 57600 fax-id 27 21 7654321

Faxes end up in /var/spool/fax/incoming/ as useless .g3 format files, but note how the command

strings /sbin/mgetty | grep new_fax

gives

/etc/mgetty+sendfax/new_fax

which is a script that mgetty secretly runs when new faxes arrive. It can be used to convert faxes into something (like .gif graphics files [I recommend .png over .gif any day, however.]) readable by typical office programs. The following example /etc/mgetty+sendfax/new_fax script puts incoming faxes into /home/fax/ as .gif files that all users can access. [Modified from the mgetty contribs.] Note how it uses the CPU-intensive convert program from the ImageMagic package.

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#!/bin/sh   # you must have pbm tools and they must be in your PATH PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/local/bin   HUP="$1" SENDER="$2" PAGES="$3"   shift 3 P=1   while [ $P -le $PAGES ] ; do     FAX=$1     BASENAME=`basename $FAX`     RES=`echo $BASENAME | sed 's/.\(.\).*/\1/'`     if [ "$RES" = "n" ] ; then         STRETCH="-s"     else         STRETCH=""     fi     nice g32pbm $STRETCH $FAX > /tmp/$BASENAME.pbm \         && rm -f $FAX \         && nice convert -colorspace gray -colors 16 -geom \             '50%x50%' /tmp/$BASENAME.pbm /home/fax/$BASENAME.gif \         && rm -f /tmp/$BASENAME.pbm \         && chmod 0666 /home/fax/$BASENAME.gif     shift     P=`expr $P + 1` done   exit 0