shutdown(ADM) 06 January 1993 shutdown(ADM) Name shutdown - terminate all processing Syntax /etc/shutdown [ -y ] [ -g[hh:]mm ] [ -i[0156sS] ] [ -f "mesg" ] [ -f file ] [ su ] Description The primary function of shutdown is to terminate all currently running processes in an orderly and cautious manner. shutdown goes through the following steps: 1. All users logged on the system are notified to log off the system by a broadcast message. 2. /etc/init is called to perform the actual shutdown. Only the super user or a user with the shutdown subsystem authorization can execute the shutdown command. The options are as follows: -y Runs the command silently. If this option is not speci- fied, shutdown will prompt for confirmation to shut down the system. -g[hh:]mm Specifies the number of hours and minutes before shutdown (maximum: 72 hours). 1 minute is the default. (To shut down the system immediately without a grace period, use /etc/haltsys or /etc/reboot. Note that these commands should not be used if NFS, TCP/IP or certain other services are running.) -i[0156abcsS] Specifies the init level to bring the system to (see init(M)). By default, the system is brought to level 0. -f ``mesg'' mesg is a message enclosed in double quotes (" ") to be sent to all terminals warning of the imminent shutdown dur- ing the grace period. -f file Similar to the -f mesg option, but file is the pathname for a file containing the message. The optional su argument lets the user go single-user without completely shutting down the system. (This option is identical to -i1 and is present for backwards compatibility with XENIX). Broadcast messages, whether default or defined, are displayed at regular intervals during the grace period. The closer the shutdown time, the more frequent the mes- sage. _________________________________________________________________________ Time left until shutdown Frequency of message _________________________________________________________________________ Greater than 1 hour Every hour Greater than 15 minutes Every 15 minutes Less than 15 minutes Every minute In general, if no options are specified, shutdown behaves as follows: 1. Prompt for confirmation 2. 60-second grace period 3. Bring the system to init level 0 4. Broadcast default message prior to shutdown. See also boot(HW) and wall(ADM). Diagnostics The most common error diagnostic that will occur is ``device busy''. This diagnostic appears when a particular filesystem could not be unmounted. See umount(ADM). Notes Once shutdown has been invoked, it must be allowed to run to completion and must not be interrupted by pressing <Break> or <Del>. shutdown does not work when executed from within a shell layer. shutdown locks the hard disk heads. Credit shutdown was developed at the University of California, Berkeley, and is used with permission.