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    Starting daemons without writing a package

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved pfSense Packages
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    • M
      molar
      last edited by

      Hello

      I've searched google, newsgroups, the mailing lists and these fine forums but have found no mention of any way to start freebsd daemons at bootup without writing a package?

      Is there a way to hack a service to startup without writing a full blown package and front end for webConfigurator?

      I.e. the equivalent of servicename_enable="YES" in rc.conf.

      Thanks. :)

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      • H
        hoba
        last edited by

        http://faq.pfsense.com/index.php?action=artikel&cat=10&id=38&artlang=en&highlight=hidden (search for the shellcommand items).

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        • R
          rsw686
          last edited by

          You could just make an rc file and stick it in /usr/local/etc/rc.d/ follow the format for an existing one.

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          • M
            molar
            last edited by

            Thanks to you both. I will let you know how I get on.

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            • J
              Justinw
              last edited by

              If you installed additional services using the pkg_add command, it usually generates its own rc.d file in /usr/local/etc/rc.d Just vi the file and change the enable:NO to YES and rename it to a shell script (.sh extension).  That is how I have been doing it anyways, I'm guessing someone is about to tell me that its a bad idea for one reason or another though…

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              • S
                sullrich
                last edited by

                @Justinw:

                If you installed additional services using the pkg_add command, it usually generates its own rc.d file in /usr/local/etc/rc.d Just vi the file and change the enable:NO to YES and rename it to a shell script (.sh extension).  That is how I have been doing it anyways, I'm guessing someone is about to tell me that its a bad idea for one reason or another though…

                Bad idea.  JUST KIDDING.  This is absolutely fine what you are doing.  This is the correct way to start "extra" programs in pfSense.  Either this method or use <shellcmd>which you can place within <system>in config.xml.

                Example:

                <system><shellcmd>tcpdump -i xl0 &
                …
                ...

                Notice &.  You need to encode special characters since this is in a XML space.

                The advantage to config.xml mod is that your change gets backed up and restored meaning you do not need to recreate the rc.d file if you want to reinstall.</shellcmd></system></system></shellcmd>

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                • M
                  molar
                  last edited by

                  I've done it now thanks ;D

                  I changed the enable:NO to YES in the shell script so that it always starts up by default.

                  Thanks for the XML explanation as well.

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