From Wsms

Note: This page should be titled update-rc.d (all lowercase). It is Update-rc.d due to technical limitations of Mediawiki.

update-rc.d is the debian utility for manging the initscripts in /etc/init.d. It also applies to ubuntu and Linuxmint.

common usage

Make nxserver startup at the default runlevels.

root@hayes:~# update-rc.d nxserver defaults

Don't start openvpn automatically:

root@harrison:~# update-rc.d -f openvpn remove
 Removing any system startup links for /etc/init.d/openvpn ...
   /etc/rc0.d/K80openvpn
   /etc/rc1.d/K80openvpn
   /etc/rc2.d/S16openvpn
   /etc/rc3.d/S16openvpn
   /etc/rc4.d/S16openvpn
   /etc/rc5.d/S16openvpn
   /etc/rc6.d/K80openvpn

see also

man update-rc.d
chkconfig The RedHat eqivalent
invoke-rc.d start/stop/restart a server