---
name: "rc.d"
section: "8"
platform: "openbsd"
package: "man"
version: "8.0-current-20261101"
release: "OpenBSD 8.0-current (2026-11-01)"
platforms: ["freebsd", "openbsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/rc.d"
---

# rc.d(8)

daemon control scripts

## NAME

**rc.d** – daemon control scripts

## SYNOPSIS

**/etc/rc.d/***daemon* \[**-d** \| **-q**\] \[**-f**\] *action*

## DESCRIPTION

The */etc/rc.d* directory contains [ksh(1)](/ksh/1.md) scripts to start, stop, and reconfigure daemon programs (“services”).

Services installed from [packages(7)](/packages/7.md) may be started at boot time in the order specified by the *pkg\_scripts* variable from [rc.conf(8)](/rc.conf/8.md); the order will be reversed during shutdown. Services comprising OpenBSD base are started by [rc(8)](/rc/8.md).

The options are as follows:

- **-d**

  Setting this option will print the function names as they are called and prevent the [rc.subr(8)](/rc.subr/8.md) framework from redirecting stdout and stderr to /dev/null. This is used to allow debugging of failed *actions*.

- **-f**

  This option only affects the **start** action. It will forcibly start the daemon whatever value *daemon\_flags* is set to. If *daemon\_flags* is set to “NO”, execution will continue with the script's own defaults unless other flags are specified.

- **-q**

  Quiet mode. Only display the script name and the result of the *action* on error.

Each such script responds to the following *actions*:

- **start**

  Start the service, if not already running.

- **stop**

  Stop the service.

- **reload**

  Tell the daemon to reload its configuration.

- **restart**

  Perform a stop, then a start.

- **check**

  Return 0 if the daemon is running or 1 if it is not.

- **configtest**

  Check that the daemon configuration is valid.

## ENVIRONMENT

Daemon control scripts use a fixed number of [ksh(1)](/ksh/1.md) variables when starting a daemon. The following can be overridden by site-specific values provided in rc.conf.local(8):

- *daemon*\_execdir

  Run daemon from the specified directory.

- *daemon*\_flags

  Additional arguments to call the daemon with. These will be appended to any mandatory arguments already contained in the *daemon* variable defined in the control script. If *daemon*\_flags is set to “NO”, it will prevent the daemon from starting even when listed in *pkg\_scripts*.

- *daemon*\_logger

  Redirect standard output and error to [logger(1)](/logger/1.md) using the configured priority (e.g. "daemon.info").

- *daemon*\_rtable

  Routing table to run the daemon under, using [route(8)](/route/8.md).

- *daemon*\_timeout

  Maximum time in seconds to wait for the **start**, **stop** and **reload** actions to return. This is only guaranteed with the default **rc\_start**, **rc\_stop** and **rc\_reload** functions.

- *daemon*\_user

  User to run the daemon as, using [su(1)](/su/1.md).

To obtain the actual variable names, replace *daemon* with the name of the script. For example, postgres is managed through */etc/rc.d/postgresql*:

```
daemon_flags=-D /var/postgresql/data -w -l /var/postgresql/logfile
```

To override this and increase the debug log level (keeping the existing flags), define the following in rc.conf.local(8):

```
postgresql_flags=-D /var/postgresql/data -w -l /var/postgresql/logfile -d 5
```

Each script may define its own defaults, as explained in [rc.subr(8)](/rc.subr/8.md).

*daemon\_class* is a special read-only variable. It is set to “daemon” unless there is a login class configured in [login.conf(5)](/login.conf/5.md) with the same name as the **rc.d** script itself, in which case it will be set to that login class. This allows setting many initial process properties, for example environment variables, scheduling priority, and process limits such as maximum memory use and number of files.

## FILES

- */etc/rc.d/*

  Directory containing daemon control scripts.

- */etc/rc.d/rc.subr*

  Functions and variables used by **rc.d** scripts.

- */var/run/rc.d/*

  Directory containing files recording the variables of currently running daemons. Some are informational and some are for matching daemons using [pgrep(1)](/pgrep/1.md) and [pkill(1)](/pkill/1.md).

## SEE ALSO

[ksh(1)](/ksh/1.md), [rc(8)](/rc/8.md), [rc.conf(8)](/rc.conf/8.md), [rc.subr(8)](/rc.subr/8.md), [rcctl(8)](/rcctl/8.md)

## HISTORY

The */etc/rc.d* directory first appeared in OpenBSD 4.9.