FreeBSD Quickstart Guide for Linux® Users
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# 4 System Startup: Where are the run-levels?

Linux® uses the SysV init system, whereas FreeBSD uses the traditional BSD-style init(8). Under the BSD-style init(8) there are no run-levels and no `/etc/inittab`, instead startup is controlled by the rc(8) utility. The `/etc/rc` script reads `/etc/defaults/rc.conf` and `/etc/rc.conf` to determine which services are to be started. The specified services are then started by running the corresponding service initialization scripts located in `/etc/rc.d/` and `/usr/local/etc/rc.d/`. These scripts are similar to the scripts located in `/etc/init.d/` on Linux systems.

Services are enabled by specifying ``ServiceName`_enable="YES"` in `/etc/rc.conf` (rc.conf(5)). Take a look at `/etc/defaults/rc.conf` for the system defaults, these default settings are overridden by settings in `/etc/rc.conf`. Also, when installing additional applications be sure to review the documentation to determine how to enable any associated services.

The following snippet from `/etc/rc.conf` enables sshd(8) and Apache 2.2. It also specifies that Apache should be started with SSL.

    # enable SSHD
    sshd_enable="YES"
    # enable Apache with SSL
    apache22_enable="YES"
    apache22_flags="-DSSL"

Once a service has been enabled in `/etc/rc.conf`, the service can be started from the command line (without rebooting the system):

    # /etc/rc.d/sshd start

If a service has not been enabled it can be started from the command line using `forcestart`:

    # /etc/rc.d/sshd forcestart

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