OpenRC - ArchWiki

# OpenRC

Related articles

- eudev
- init
- init Rosetta
- SysVinit

Warning: Arch Linux only has official support for systemd. When using OpenRC, please mention so in support requests.

OpenRC is a service manager maintained by the Gentoo developers. OpenRC is dependency based and works with the system provided init program, normally SysVinit.

## Installation

OpenRC and accompanying packages are available in the AUR. For details on init components, see Init.

Install either openrcAUR or openrc-gitAUR. openrc-sysvinitAUR is used as init process. Services are contained in the openrc-arch-services-gitAUR package.

To maintain compability with initscripts-forkAUR, configuration files are installed to `/etc/openrc/`. The sysvinit init binary is installed to `/usr/bin/init-openrc` for compability with systemd-sysvcompat or similar packages.

## Configuration

For more information on configuring OpenRC, see OpenRC manuals, OpenRC migration and the gentoo wiki. See Init#Configuration for generic configuration.

### Enabling services

Save a list of running daemons:

    $ systemctl list-units --state=running "*.service" > daemons.list

Install respective services as described in #Installation. OpenRC services are enabled by issuing the `rc-update` command. For example, to enable ALSA and dbus:

    # rc-update add alsa default
    # rc-update add dbus default

To enable udev (disabled by default):

    # rc-update add udev sysinit

See also Gentoo services and Daemons list.

### Booting

For booting with OpenRC add `init=/usr/bin/init-openrc` to the kernel parameters. To switch back to systemd, remove the parameter again.

The `/etc/openrc/conf.d` directory, and the `/etc/openrc/rc.d` file is used for configuration.

### Network

See Network configuration for general networking information.

The network is configured through `newnet`. [1] Modify the `/etc/openrc/conf.d/network` file; both the `ip` (iproute2) and the `ifconfig` (net-tools) commands are supported. Below is an example configuration using `ip`.

    ip_eth0="192.168.1.2/24"
    defaultiproute="via 192.168.1.1"
    ifup_eth0="ip link set \$int mtu 1500"

The network service is added to the boot runlevel by default, so no further action is required.

You may also use NetworkManager, dhcpcd or netcfgAUR by enabling the respective services. netcfgAUR mimics the netctl behaviour (see [2] if you want to enable profiles connection on booting - requires `wpa_actiond`). You could consult the official documentation or old wiki documentation (be aware of consulting version later than 2012-05-13)

### Logging

See Init#System logging. Relevant service files are included in openrc-arch-services-gitAUR. It is recommended to only use a single logger as different loggers may conflict.

To enable boot logging, uncomment the `rc_logger="YES"` line in `/etc/openrc/rc.conf`.

Tip: Boot logs are stored in `/var/log/rc.log`

### Hostname

OpenRC sets the hostname from `/etc/openrc/conf.d/hostname`. The file looks as follows:

    # Set to the hostname of this machine
    hostname="myhostname"

### Module autoloading

OpenRC uses `/etc/openrc/conf.d/modules` instead of `/etc/modules-load.d`. For example:

    /etc/openrc/conf.d/modules

    # You should consult your kernel documentation and configuration
    # for a list of modules and their options.

    modules="vboxdrv acpi_cpufreq"

### Locale

Keyboard layout can be configured via `/etc/openrc/conf.d/keymaps` and `/etc/openrc/conf.d/consolefont`. You can also configure the settings through the `/etc/locale.conf` file, which is sourced via `/etc/profile.d/locale.sh`.

See [3] and Locale for details.

## Troubleshooting

### Error while unmounting /tmp

When shutting the system down, you might get an error message such as

    * Unmounting /tmp ...
    * in use but fuser finds nothing [ !! ]

This can be fixed by adding

    no_umounts="/tmp"

to `/etc/openrc/conf.d/localmount`

Note: This problem occurs only if your tmp is mounted as a tmpfs.

### Disabling IPv6 does not work

One option is to add:

    # Disable ipv6
    net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6 = 1

in a file with a `.conf` extension under `/etc/openrc/sysctl.d`

### During shutdown remounting root as read-only fails

If the above happens, edit the `/etc/openrc/init.d/mount-ro` file and put:

    telinit u

after the following line:

    # Flush all pending disk writes now
    sync; sync

### /etc/sysctl.conf not found

Create the file:

    # touch /etc/sysctl.conf

## Using OpenRC with a desktop environment

If using OpenRC with a desktop environment, ConsoleKit may help. Install the service to `/etc/openrc/init.d`, and enable it:

    # rc-update add consolekit default

See ConsoleKit for more information.

## See also

- Wikipedia:OpenRC
- Gentoo wiki
- OpenRC for Arch Linux - sourceforge repository
- Forum thread about OpenRC in Arch
- Blog: OpenRC on Arch Linux
- Manjaro wiki

Category:

- Boot process