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Mastering Embedded Linux Programming
book

Mastering Embedded Linux Programming

by Chris Simmonds
December 2015
Beginner to intermediate
418 pages
10h 1m
English
Packt Publishing
Content preview from Mastering Embedded Linux Programming

BusyBox init

BusyBox has a minimal init program that uses a configuration file, /etc/inittab, to define rules to start programs at boot up and to stop them at shutdown. Usually, the actual work is done by shell scripts which, by convention, are placed in the /etc/init.d directory.

init begins by reading the configuration file, /etc/inittab. This contains a list of programs to run, one per line, with this format:

<id>::<action>:<program>

The role of these parameters is as follows:

  • id: The controlling terminal for the command
  • action: The conditions to run this command, as shown in the following paragraph
  • program: The program to run

The actions are as follows:

  • sysinit: Run the program when init starts, before any of the other types of actions.
  • respawn: Run ...
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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781784392536