Chapter 9. init

Table of Contents
9.1. init comes first
9.2. Configuring init to start getty: the /etc/inittab file
9.3. Run levels
9.4. Special configuration in /etc/inittab
9.5. Booting in single user mode

"Uuno on numero yksi" (Slogan for a series of Finnish movies.)

This chapter describes the init process, which is the first user level process started by the kernel. init has many important duties, such as starting getty (so that users can log in), implementing run levels, and taking care of orphaned processes. This chapter explains how init is configured and how you can make use of the different run levels.