chkconfig

Additional Notes

chkconfig manages service startup configuration on SysVinit-style systems, especially older RHEL, CentOS, and compatible distributions. It controls which services start in which runlevels.

On systemd systems, use systemctl enable, systemctl disable, and systemctl is-enabled instead.

Syntax

chkconfig [options]
chkconfig service on|off|reset
chkconfig --level levels service on|off

Parameters

• service: Init script service name.
• levels: Runlevel numbers such as 345.
• options: Listing, add, delete, and level controls.

Common Options

• --list: List service startup settings.
• --add SERVICE: Add a service to chkconfig management.
• --del SERVICE: Remove a service from chkconfig management.
• --level LEVELS: Select runlevels.

Examples

chkconfig --list

List service startup settings.

sudo chkconfig httpd on

Enable a service for default runlevels.

sudo chkconfig --level 35 httpd on

Enable a service in runlevels 3 and 5.

systemctl is-enabled httpd

Modern systemd equivalent check.

Practical Notes

• chkconfig is mostly legacy.
• Know whether the system uses SysVinit or systemd before changing service startup.
• Enabling startup does not necessarily start the service immediately.