OpenRC/openrc-init

A UNIX or linux operating system always has an init process which is the first process to start after the kernel loads. It is the direct or indirect parent of all processes in the system. Daemon processes often double fork, to make themselves direct child processes of the init process. OpenRC ships since version 0.25 with its own init system called, and can replace Gentoo's current default sysvinit's.

Kernel commandline
Because the init process is started by the linux kernel, the kernel will need to be told to start the alternative openrc-init process. This is done by passing  on the linux kernel command line at boot time. This description refers to GRUB2; adapt as needed in case a different boot manager is used.

Update as follows:

Regenerate :

Start terminals as OpenRC services
Openrc-init does not use, so the agetty processes for tty1 to tty6 will need to be started explicitly as services.

Create the links in and add them to the default run level:

Optional: add custom terminals
In case the system has one or more terminals connected via a serial line, then it would necessary to a define custom agetty configuration, e.g. to specify the baudrate:

Consult for the logic.

Create a symlink to, add it to the default run level, and reboot:

Reboot into openrc-init
Once rebooted the system is running under openrc-init. Verify as follows:

Process number one is now openrc-init. Commands like, and are no longer working under openrc-init. Instead there is. Check its [//manpages.debian.org/testing/openrc/openrc-shutdown.8.en.html man page] for its usage.

Optional: enable the sysv-utils USE flag
To use commands like and  instead of,  and later can be re-emerged with the sys-utils use flag enabled:

Re-emerging should automatically remove, unless it was explicitly installed previously, i.e. present in the world file, usually found at. In that case should be removed explicitly:

Reboot the system to activate this option:

Once rebooted the familiar commands, and the like should work as per normal.

Optional: remove openrc-init, revert back to sysv-init
In case openrc-init is not working properly, or for any other reason it is desired to revert back to, then that is possible by executing the above steps in reverse order. Please do not forget to log a bug in case openrc-init didn't work.

If you have added the sysv-utils use flag, then remove it, and make sure is installed again:

Remove init=/sbin/openrc-init kernel commandline, and reboot.