To run vnstat from /etc/rc.d: chmod +x /etc/rc.d/rc.vnstat Note that to have vnstat start automatically this way it should be called from rc.local (and optionally rc.local_shutdown) like so: In rc.local: # Start vnstat if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.vnstat ]; then /etc/rc.d/rc.vnstat start fi In rc.local_shutdown: # Stop vnstat if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.vnstat ]; then /etc/rc.d/rc.vnstat stop fi