# Creating symlink to /etc/init.d/pbs instead of a separate copy

**URL:** <https://community.openpbs.org/t/creating-symlink-to-etc-init-d-pbs-instead-of-a-separate-copy/1319>\
**Category:** Developers\
**Created:** [November 21, 2018, 6:54am UTC](https://community.openpbs.org/t/creating-symlink-to-etc-init-d-pbs-instead-of-a-separate-copy/1319 "2018-11-21T06:54:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nithinj](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.openpbs.org/nithinj/32/45_2.png) [@nithinj](https://community.openpbs.org/u/nithinj)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 6:54am UTC](https://community.openpbs.org/t/creating-symlink-to-etc-init-d-pbs-instead-of-a-separate-copy/1319/1 "2018-11-21T06:54:25Z")

</div>

Hello All,

This [PR](https://github.com/PBSPro/pbspro/pull/821) proposes changes to create a symlink to `/etc/init.d/pbs` from `$PBS_EXEC/libexec/pbs_init.d` rather than creating a new copy.

This has the advantage that admin does not want to make their changes in two different places. systemctl relies on file in $PBS\_EXEC directory and admins also depends on init script to start/stop PBS so it is better when they are in sync.

The drawbacks:

1. When we have a copy, it serves as a backup if somebody breaks the init script when they edits them.
2. Modifying files inside libexec directory is not a convention.

I invite feedbacks from admins so that we can proceed on this.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![adarsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f07891/32.png) [@adarsh](https://community.openpbs.org/u/adarsh)\
**Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 10:30pm UTC](https://community.openpbs.org/t/creating-symlink-to-etc-init-d-pbs-instead-of-a-separate-copy/1319/2 "2018-11-21T22:30:39Z")

</div>

- symbolic link might not work for all the customers
  - some customers customise /etc/init.d/pbs script to support PBS Pro HA in external fail-over framework
  - some customer do not care about this, as they do not care about these changes, if they can stop , start, restart services, they are happy as their setup is simple.
  - not sure how it will be integrated into cluster provisioning tools, as they have to made aware of

- 
  - drawback mentioned above

- 100% of the customers are used to this , making this basic change might affect many . A clear documentation on the same would avoid confusion ( i agree, both ways )

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mkaro](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.openpbs.org/mkaro/32/85_2.png) [@mkaro](https://community.openpbs.org/u/mkaro)\
**Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://community.openpbs.org/t/creating-symlink-to-etc-init-d-pbs-instead-of-a-separate-copy/1319/3 "2018-11-26T17:59:17Z")

</div>

The description in the PR seems to indicate that the boot check file is the real source of the problem, and cleaning it up upon uninstall would resolve the issue. I don’t think we need to change our current approach as it relates to /etc/init.d/pbs since it only increases the risk something will go wrong for admins that customize the start/stop script.