Why is chkconfig no longer available in Ubuntu?

sysv-rc-conf is an alternate option for Ubuntu.

The usage is almost the same.

To install:

sudo apt-get install sysv-rc-conf

To configure apache2 to start on boot

sysv-rc-conf apache2 on

equivalent chkconfig command

chkconfig apache2 enable

To check runlevels apache2 is configured to start on

sysv-rc-conf --list apache2

equivalent chkconfig command

chkconfig --list apache2

The Upstart equivalent of chkconfig is the update-rc.d. There's some info on how to use it in the UbuntuBootupHowto linked in L. D. James's answer.

Admittedly, this tool is anything but friendly; it tends to expose the ugly underbelly of SysV init with all it's gory runlevel and priority blackmagic. I have almost never managed to get it to do what I want in the first go. chkconfig did a fantastic job of abstracting all those numbers away and providing a simple, usable interface that was loved by all. Nevertheless, it was always lipstick on a pig.

It's a brave new world and I would suggest you put in some time towards learning how Upstart works so that you can wire new jobs using that. For existing packages/applications that still provide you with SysV init scripts, update-rc.d should allow you to do everything that chkconfig did, except for one usecase. update-rc.d provides no clean way to see what the current status of a given service is, i.e., there is no equivalent of chkconfig --list. For this particular case, I'd suggest ls -l /etc/rc*.d/*${service_name}.

HTH

Update: 12-June-2013 The answer at https://askubuntu.com/a/161893/111294 points to a more palatable alternative- sysv-rc-conf.

Update: 28-July-2013 Hmm... it appears that the OP has already answered here (https://askubuntu.com/a/277732/111294) suggesting sysv-rc-conf. Can't see how I missed that, have upvoted that answer now.

chkconfig is a redhat-ism. In Ubuntu we use upstart instead of sysvinit as used by redhat.