runit-init(8)

💅 runit-init — the manual, but make it make sense

okay so bestie, you found the page for runit-init, and it lives in the System Manager's Manual section 8. Yes, that section 8. The one for the actual system-level, hold-my-iced-coffee, don't-touch-this-while-it's-running type of tools. Sit down, hydrate, let's go. 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

init — literally a UNIX process no 1. The first one. The main character. 👑

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

init [ 0 | 6 ]

That's it. That's the whole vibe. You get two numbers to choose from and they are 0 and 6. No in-between, no "maybe later", no "surprise me". 💀

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So runit-init is the very first process the kernel starts. First in the door, lights on, shoes off. If runit-init gets started as process no 1, it just runs, and then it replaces itself with runit(8). Handoff complete, no notes, iconic. ✨

But — and this is the plot twist — if runit-init gets started while the system is already up, you can't just run it however you feel. You have to call it as either init 0 or init 6. Pick one. Commit. 💅

• init 0 — tells the Unix process no 1 to shutdown and halt the system. To signal runit(8) that this is a system halt request, runit-init removes all permissions of the file /etc/runit/reboot (chmod 0), and sets the execute by owner permission of the file /etc/runit/stopit (chmod 100). Then a CONT signal gets sent to runit(8). Bye bye, bestie. 😭
• init 6 — tells the Unix process no 1 to shutdown and reboot the system. To signal runit(8) that this is a system reboot request, runit-init sets the execute by owner permission of the files /etc/runit/reboot and /etc/runit/stopit (chmod 100). Then a CONT signal gets sent to runit(8). Round two, let's run it back. 🔥

Note the difference, fr fr: init 0 chmods /etc/runit/reboot to 0, while init 6 chmods both /etc/runit/reboot and /etc/runit/stopit to 100. Two files, one file, 0, 100 — get it wrong and your machine is doing the wrong thing. No cap.

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👑 EXIT CODES 👑

• runit-init returns 111 on error.
• 0 in all other cases.

One number for the oopsie, one number for everything else. Simple. Clean. Slay. 💖

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🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

• runit(8)
• runsvdir(8)
• runsvchdir(8)
• sv(8)
• runsv(8)
• chpst(8)
• utmpset(8)
• svlogd(8)

https://smarden.org/runit/ — go read it, the whole fam is there. 🌈

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🧚 AUTHOR 🧚

Gerrit Pape <pape@smarden.org> — the legend, the blueprint, the moment. ⭐

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and that's the page!! 🎀 This whole thing came from the System Manager's Manual for runit-init(8), and the date on the original footer line was runit-init(8) — okay that's the manual name again, but you get it, that's where the version-and-date sign-off lives. Stay safe out there, don't init 0 on purpose unless you mean it. 💜🌸🦋