The Services Configuration Tool is a graphical application
developed by Red Hat to configure which SysV services in the
/etc/rc.d/init.d directory are started at boot time (for
runlevels 3, 4, and 5) and which xinetd services are
enabled. It also allows you to start, stop, and restart SysV services as
well as restart xinetd.
To start the Services Configuration Tool from the desktop, go to
the (on the Panel) =>
=>
=>
or type the command
system-config-services at a shell prompt (for
example, in an XTerm or a GNOME
terminal).
The Services Configuration Tool displays the current runlevel as
well as the runlevel you are currently editing. To edit a different
runlevel, select from the pulldown menu
and select runlevel 3, 4, or 5. Refer to Section 20.1 Runlevels for
a description of runlevels.
The Services Configuration Tool lists the services from the
/etc/rc.d/init.d directory as well as the services controlled
by xinetd. Click on the name of the service from the
list on the left-hand side of the application to display a brief
description of that service as well as the status of the service. If the
service is not an xinetd service, the status window
shows whether the service is currently running. If the service is
controlled by xinetd, the status window displays the
phrase xinetd service.
To start, stop, or restart a service immediately, select the service
from the list and click the appropriate button on the toolbar (or choose
the action from the pulldown menu). If the
service is an xinetd service, the action buttons are
disabled because they can not be started or stopped individually.
If you enable/disable an xinetd service by checking
or unchecking the checkbox next to the service name, you must select
=> from
the pulldown menu to restart xinetd and immediately
enable/disable the xinetd service that you
changed. xinetd is also configured to remember the
setting. You can enable/disable multiple xinetd
services at a time and save the changes when you are finished.
For example, assume you check rsync to enable it in
runlevel 3 and then save the changes. The rsync
service is immediately enabled. The next time xinetd
is started, rsync is still enabled.
 | Warning |
|---|
| | When you save changes to xinetd services,
xinetd is restarted, and the changes take place
immediately. When you save changes to other services, the runlevel is
reconfigured, but the changes do not take effect immediately.
|
To enable a non-xinetd service to start at boot time
for the currently selected runlevel, check the checkbox beside the name
of the service in the list. After configuring the runlevel, apply the
changes by selecting => from the pulldown menu. The runlevel configuration
is changed, but the runlevel is not restarted; thus, the changes do not
take place immediately.
For example, assume you are configuring runlevel 3. If you
change the value for the httpd service from checked
to unchecked and then select ,
the runlevel 3 configuration changes so that httpd
is not started at boot time. However, runlevel 3 is not reinitialized,
so httpd is still running. Select one of following
options at this point:
Stop the httpd service — Stop the
service by selecting it from the list and clicking the
Stop button. A message
appears stating that the service was stopped
successfully.
Reinitialize the runlevel — Reinitialize the runlevel by
going to a shell prompt and typing the command telinit
3 (where 3 is the runlevel number). This option is
recommended if you change the Start at Boot
value of multiple services and want to activate the changes
immediately.
Do nothing else — You do not have to stop the
httpd service. You can wait until the system is
rebooted for the service to stop. The next time the system is
booted, the runlevel is initialized without the
httpd service running.
To add a service to a runlevel, select the runlevel from the
pulldown menu, and then select
=> . To
delete a service from a runlevel, select the runlevel from the
pulldown menu, select the service to be
deleted from the list on the left, and select
=> .
