Service & System
init
Process control initialization — change system runlevel.
Synopsis
syntax
init [OPTION]... [RUNLEVEL]
Examples
Reboot the system
sudo init 6
Halt the system
sudo init 0
Enter single-user rescue mode
sudo init 1
Common options
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| 0 | Halt the system |
| 1 | Single-user mode |
| 3 | Multi-user without GUI |
| 5 | Multi-user with GUI |
| 6 | Reboot |
About init
The `init` command process control initialization — change system runlevel. Service and system commands manage daemons, scheduled tasks, system boot, and shutdown operations.
Modern Linux distributions use systemd for service management, though some still support SysVinit scripts. Understanding these commands is essential for deploying and maintaining production services.
The command accepts 5 commonly used flags shown above, though the full set of options is available in the man page (`man init`). The 3 examples on this page cover typical real-world usage patterns that you can copy and adapt for your own workflows.
Related commands
More Service & System Commands
Other commands in the Service & System category