Chkconfig is a RedHat specific utility that allows you to view which or add/remove services from starting up automatically on a RedHat linux server.

To view the current startup status of a specific service, use the following commands:

   chkconfig —list | grep <servicename>

   example:  chkconfig —list | grep httpd

which should return something like this:

   httpd           0:off   1:off   2:off   3:on    4:off   5:on    6:off 
 

Each number indicates a system run-level following by the startup status(on or off).  The default linux run-level is 3(run-level 5 if you boot a graphical interface, however unlikely), but you usually want to make runlevels 2,3,4 and 5 the same status to be safe.  To enable or disable a service for run-levels 2,3,4 and 5, use the command below:

   chkconfig  —level 2345 <servicename> <status> 

   example:  chkconfig —level 2345 httpd on

After all the above, you should see the service listed in chkconfig, and it should start on boot.