conf: optionally load services from available

doc/config/files.md

@@ -57,11 +57,20 @@ being where they are installed and if the `initctl` tool can manage them
 with the `enable` and `disable` commands.  An administrator can always
 create files and symlinks manually.
 
+By default, `available/` is only a staging area, its files are *not*
+read by Finit.  With the [`load-available`](#loading-available-services)
+setting enabled, their unit stanzas are registered as *available-only*:
+controllable with `initctl start/stop`, but never started automatically
+until enabled.  This loader state is separate from `manual-start`, and
+top-level settings remain inactive.
+
 At bootstrap, and `initctl reload`, all .conf files are read, starting
 with `finit.conf`, then `/run/finit/system/*.conf`,
 `/lib/finit/system/*.conf`, `finit.d/*.conf`, and finally all
-`finit.d/enabled/*.conf` files.  Each directory is a unique group,
-where files within each group are sorted alphabetically.
+`finit.d/enabled/*.conf` files.  With `load-available` enabled,
+`finit.d/available/*.conf` is read first of all, so a same-named file
+in any of the other directories overrides it.  Each directory is a
+unique group, where files within each group are sorted alphabetically.
 
 **Example:**
 
@@ -204,6 +213,50 @@ another set of .conf files, e.g.:
 > This directive is only available from the top-level bootstrap .conf
 > file, usually `/etc/finit.conf`.
 
+Loading Available Services
+--------------------------
+
+**Syntax:** `load-available = true`
+
+By default Finit only reads `finit.d/enabled/*.conf`, so a service that
+has been installed in `finit.d/available/` but not enabled is unknown to
+Finit and `initctl start` fails with *no such task or service*.  This
+setting makes Finit read `finit.d/available/*.conf` as well, so such
+services can be started and stopped at runtime without being enabled,
+i.e., without starting automatically at boot:
+
+    load-available = true
+
+Run, task, service, sysv, and tty stanzas from `available/` are marked
+available-only by the loader.  There is no configuration key for this
+state, and includes inherit it.  `manual-start` remains an independent
+unit option: it does not enable an available-only unit, even when set to
+`false`.
+
+Enabling a service (a symlink in `enabled/`, read last) makes its logical
+source enabled.  The unit then follows its own `manual-start` setting:
+`true` remains manual, while `false` or an omitted setting permits normal
+automatic start.  Disabling it again leaves it loaded and startable with
+`initctl start`; a running instance is not stopped merely by reload.
+
+Only units and their file-scope resource limits are loaded from an
+available-only file.  Top-level settings, such as `environment`,
+`cgroup`, `modules`, `mknod`, `runlevel`, and `shutdown`, are ignored
+with a warning until the file is enabled.  Unit-local settings such as
+`envfile`, `log`, `cgroup`, and `rlimit` remain active so the unit can be
+started manually.
+
+Units restricted to the bootstrap `S` runlevel retain the normal Finit
+lifecycle: they are discarded after bootstrap and cannot be started in
+a regular runlevel.  Enable them before the next boot to run them.
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> Like `rcsd`, this directive is only available from the top-level
+> bootstrap .conf file, usually `/etc/finit.conf`, and only in the
+> block-based format.  A legacy format `finit.conf` can enable the
+> feature with `include /path/to.conf`, where the included block-based
+> file sets it.
+
 Including Finit Configs
 ------------------------
 

doc/config/service-opts.md

@@ -48,6 +48,12 @@ It can then be started at any time with `initctl start <service>`:
         command      = "/usr/sbin/lldpd -d"
     }
 
+> [!NOTE]
+> With [`load-available`](files.md#loading-available-services) enabled,
+> units in `finit.d/available/` are prevented from automatic start by
+> their loader-derived available-only state.  This is independent of
+> `manual-start`, which takes effect normally after the unit is enabled.
+
 Other run/task/service settings are:
 
   * `capabilities` -- see the [Linux Capabilities](capabilities.md) section

doc/config/tty.md

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ Settings common to all three:
 |---|---|---|
 | `runlevel` | | Runlevels to run in, e.g. `"12345"` |
 | `conditions` | `cond` | Conditions to wait for |
+| `manual-start` | `manual` | Register without starting automatically |
 | `noclear` | | Do not clear the TTY after each session |
 | `nowait` | | Do not wait for Enter before the login prompt |
 | `nologin` | | Skip login, give a shell straight away |
@@ -164,4 +165,4 @@ connected to the TTY device.
         runlevel    = "S"
         tty         = "@console"
         command     = "my-setup-script"
-    }
+    }

doc/distro.md

@@ -101,6 +101,30 @@ directory (e.g., `/etc/finit.d/`), `initctl` will ignore it. This allows
 you to create system-level overrides that cannot be accidentally disabled
 by package management tools.
 
+### Runtime Control Without Enabling
+
+By default, a `.conf` that only exists in `available/` is not loaded at
+all, so `initctl start` cannot control it -- enabling (load) and starting
+at boot are one and the same switch.  Products that need the systemd-like
+separation between "starts at boot" and "can be started/stopped at
+runtime" can enable the `load-available` setting in `/etc/finit.conf`:
+
+```
+load-available = true
+```
+
+With this setting, unit stanzas in `available/` are loaded with an
+internal available-only source state: they show up in `initctl status`
+and can be started and stopped freely, yet they do not start
+automatically until enabled.  This state is independent of the unit's
+`manual-start` option.  Top-level settings in an available-only file
+remain inactive.  Enabling the file activates those settings and makes
+the unit follow `manual-start`; disabling it no longer makes a service
+uncontrollable (a running instance is not stopped by `initctl reload`,
+mirroring `systemctl disable`).  See
+[config/files.md](config/files.md#loading-available-services) for
+details.
+
 ## Customizing Directory Paths
 
 Distributions can customize the directory names and locations at build time

man/finit.conf.5

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 .\" First parameter, NAME, should be all caps
 .\" Second parameter, SECTION, should be 1-8, maybe w/ subsection
 .\" other parameters are allowed: see man(7), man(1)
-.Dd July 10, 2025
+.Dd October 29, 2026
 .Dt FINIT.CONF 5 SMM
 .Os Linux
 .Sh NAME
@@ -62,6 +62,26 @@ file.  Please use the
 .Cm initctl
 tool to manage these symlinks to ensure proper operation.
 .Pp
+By default, files in
+.Pa /etc/finit.d/available/
+are not loaded; a service must be enabled to be known to
+.Nm Finit .
+With the
+.Cm load-available = true
+setting in
+.Pa /etc/finit.conf
+(new block-based format only), unit stanzas in
+.Pa available/
+are registered with an internal available-only source state and are
+controllable with
+.Cm initctl start/stop ,
+but are not started automatically until enabled.  This state is separate
+from the unit's
+.Cm manual-start
+option.  Top-level settings in those files remain inactive until enabled.
+See the Finit documentation for details and the bootstrap-only runlevel
+limitation.
+.Pp
 .Sy NOTE:
 Previous versions of
 .Nm Finit

plugins/modules-load.c

@@ -169,7 +169,8 @@ static int modules_load(const char *file, int index)
 			snprintf(cmd, sizeof(cmd), SERVICE_LINE, mod, index++, lvl, modprobe_path, mod, args);
 
 		dbg("task %s", cmd);
-		service_register(SVC_TYPE_TASK, cmd, global_rlimit, NULL);
+		service_register(SVC_TYPE_TASK, cmd, global_rlimit, NULL,
+				 SVC_SOURCE_ENABLED);
 		num++;
 	next:
 		free(line);

plugins/pidfile.c

@@ -103,10 +103,6 @@ static void pidfile_update_conds(char *dir, char *name, uint32_t mask)
 
 	nm = svc_ident(svc, NULL, 0);
 	dbg("Found svc %s for %s with pid %d", nm, fn, svc->pid);
-	if (svc_is_stopping(svc)) {
-		dbg("Ignoring pidfile death rattles while service %s is %s", nm, svc_status(svc));
-		goto sneaky_zebra;
-	}
 
 	if (mask & (IN_CLOSE_WRITE | IN_ATTRIB | IN_MODIFY | IN_MOVED_TO)) {
 		/*
@@ -126,16 +122,13 @@ static void pidfile_update_conds(char *dir, char *name, uint32_t mask)
 			pid_t pid;
 
 			pid = pid_file_read(fn);
-			if (pid == -1) {
-				/* handle case when service dies immediately */
+			if (pid <= 1) {
+				/* handle missing, empty, or otherwise invalid pidfiles */
 				if (!fexist(fn))
-				    cond_clear(cond);
+					cond_clear(cond);
 				return;
 			}
 
-			/* Service is not crashing, let's tell state machine! */
-			service_forked(svc);
-
 			if (pid != svc->pid) {
 				dbg("Forking service %s (cmd %s) changed PID from %d to %d",
 				   svc_ident(svc, NULL, 0), svc->cmd, svc->pid, pid);
@@ -145,14 +138,17 @@ static void pidfile_update_conds(char *dir, char *name, uint32_t mask)
 				logit(LOG_CONSOLE | LOG_NOTICE, "Started %s[%d]", svc_ident(svc, NULL, 0), pid);
 				cgroup_move_svc(svc);
 			}
+
+			/* Service is not crashing, let's tell state machine! */
+			if (!service_forked(svc))
+				return;
 		}
 
 		if (svc->notify == SVC_NOTIFY_PID)
 			svc_cond_set(svc);
 		if (svc->notify == SVC_NOTIFY_PID || svc->notify == SVC_NOTIFY_NONE)
 			service_ready(svc, 1);
 	} else if (mask & IN_DELETE) {
-	sneaky_zebra:
 		svc_cond_clear(svc);
 		if (svc->notify == SVC_NOTIFY_PID)
 			service_ready(svc, 0);