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+
+@page initialization Initialization and shutdown
+
+@tableofcontents
+
+@section overview Overview
+
+Tor has a single entry point: tor_run_main() in main.c.  All the ways of
+starting a Tor process (ntmain.c, tor_main.c, and tor_api.c) work by invoking tor_run_main().
+
+The tor_run_main() function normally exits (@ref init_exceptwhen "1") by
+returning: not by calling abort() or exit().  Before it returns, it calls
+tor_cleanup() in shutdown.c.
+
+Conceptually, there are several stages in running Tor.
+
+1. First, we initialize those modules that do not depend on the
+   configuration.  This happens in the first half of tor_run_main(), and the
+   first half of tor_init().  (@ref init_pending_refactor "2")
+
+2. Second, we parse the command line and our configuration, and configure
+   systems that depend on our configuration or state.  This configuration
+   happens midway through tor_init(), which invokes
+   options_init_from_torrc().  We then initialize more systems from the
+   second half of tor_init().
+
+3. At this point we may exit early if we have been asked to do something
+   requiring no further initialization, like printing our version number or
+   creating a new signing key.  Otherwise, we proceed to run_tor_main_loop(),
+   which initializes some network-specific parts of Tor, grabs some
+   daemon-only resources (like the data directory lock) and starts Tor itself
+   running.
+
+
+> @anchor init_exceptwhen 1. tor_run_main() _can_ terminate with a call to
+> abort() or exit(), but only when crashing due to a bug, or when forking to
+> run as a daemon.
+
+> @anchor init_pending_refactor 2. The pieces of code that I'm describing as
+> "the first part of tor_init()" and so on deserve to be functions with their
+> own name.  I'd like to refactor them, but before I do so, there is some
+> slight reorganization that needs to happen.  Notably, the
+> nt_service_parse_options() call ought logically to be later in our
+> initialization sequence.  See @ticket{32447} for our refactoring progress.
+
+
+@section subsys Subsystems and initialization
+
+Our current convention is to use the subsystem mechanism to initialize and
+clean up pieces of Tor.  The more recently updated pieces of Tor will use
+this mechanism.  For examples, see e.g. time_sys.c or log_sys.c.
+
+In simplest terms, a **subsystem** is a logically separate part of Tor that
+can be initialized, shut down, managed, and configured somewhat independently
+of the rest of the program.
+
+The subsys_fns_t type describes a subsystem and a set of functions that
+initialize it, desconstruct it, and so on. To define a subsystem, we declare
+a `const` instance of subsys_fns_t.  See the documentation for subsys_fns_t
+for a full list of these functions.
+
+After defining a subsystem, it must be inserted in subsystem_list.c.  At that
+point, table-driven mechanisms in subsysmgr.c will invoke its functions when
+appropriate.
+
+@subsection vsconfig Initialization versus configuration
+
+We note that the initialization phase of Tor occurs before any configuration
+is read from disk -- and therefore before any other files are read from
+disk.  Therefore, any behavior that depends on Tor's configuration or state
+must occur _after_ the initialization process, during configuration.
+
+
+
+