Basic chkconfig Command Examples in Linux

This is our ongoing Linux command series where we are going to review how we can usechkconfigcommand efficiently with it’s available parameters. TheChkconfigcommand tool allows to configure services start and stop automatically in the/etc/rd.d/init.dscripts through command line. Let’s see some examples.

1. List All Services

Using ‘–list‘ parameter will displayed all services and their current start-up status in each run-level configuration.

[root@tecmint ~]# chkconfig --list

NetworkManager  0:off   1:off   2:on    3:on    4:on    5:on    6:off
abrt-ccpp       0:off   1:off   2:off   3:on    4:off   5:on    6:off
abrt-oops       0:off   1:off   2:off   3:on    4:off   5:on    6:off
...

2. Check Status of Specific Service

Below command shows startup configuration for a particular service. It’s showingHTTPservices are turnedoffin all run levels.

[root@tecmint ~]# chkconfig --list | grep httpd
httpd           0:off   1:off   2:off   3:off   4:off   5:off   6:off

3. How Do I Start a Particular Service on Run Levels

The following ‘chkconfig‘ command shows how we can startHTTPservices only on run level3and5with ‘–level‘ parameter. First command startshttpdservices on run level3and5and second command verifies the status ofhttpdservices running on run level.

[root@tecmint ~]# chkconfig --level 35 httpd on

[root@tecmint ~]# chkconfig --list | grep httpd
httpd           0:off   1:off   2:off   3:on    4:off   5:on    6:off

4. How to Check Which Services are On/Off

The following command will display all the services which areOnandOffin specific run level5.

[root@tecmint ~]# chkconfig --list | grep 5:on
NetworkManager  0:off   1:off   2:on    3:on    4:on    5:on    6:off
abrt-ccpp       0:off   1:off   2:off   3:on    4:off   5:on    6:off
abrt-oops       0:off   1:off   2:off   3:on    4:off   5:on    6:off
abrtd           0:off   1:off   2:off   3:on    4:off   5:on    6:off
acpid           0:off   1:off   2:on    3:on    4:on    5:on    6:off
...

[root@tecmint ~]# chkconfig --list | grep 5:off
dnsmasq         0:off   1:off   2:off   3:off   4:off   5:off   6:off
dovecot         0:off   1:off   2:off   3:off   4:off   5:off   6:off
firstboot       0:off   1:off   2:off   3:off   4:off   5:off   6:off
kdump           0:off   1:off   2:off   3:off   4:off   5:off   6:off
mysqld          0:off   1:off   2:off   3:off   4:off   5:off   6:off
netconsole      0:off   1:off   2:off   3:off   4:off   5:off   6:off
nfs             0:off   1:off   2:off   3:off   4:off   5:off   6:off
...

5. How Do I Stop a Particular Service on Run Levels

The following command will turnedOffa service calledpostfixfor a just single run level. Similarly, we can turnOffa particular service in multiple run levels in one go as shown under.

[root@tecmint ~]# chkconfig --level 3 postfix off

[root@tecmint ~]# chkconfig --level 2345 postfix off

As we all know, there are seven run levels are available on Linux Operating System. We’ll cover the significant of different run levels and booting sequence in details in our upcoming article. So, please stay tuned.