I think the current behavior is correctly, but the comment in "/etc/default/halt" sould be updated.
Currently, this file is only used by /sbin/shutdown (or by the /etc/init.d/halt, that can be called by the /sbin/shutdown depending of the situation). Updating the comment may avoid user misunderstands. In Trusty, this file is packaged in the "initscripts" package: http://packages.ubuntu.com/trusty/amd64/initscripts/filelist The default file should be: # Default behaviour of shutdown -h. Set to "halt" or "poweroff". HALT=poweroff I'm attaching a patch to the current "initscripts" package. ** Patch added: "bug_halt_outdated_docs.patch" https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/upstart/+bug/991997/+attachment/4327304/+files/bug_halt_outdated_docs.patch -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Touch seeded packages, which is subscribed to sysvinit in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/991997 Title: Wrong comment in /etc/default/halt: Default behavior of "halt" changed to halt only instead of powering off Status in sysvinit package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Status in upstart package in Ubuntu: Invalid Bug description: Hi, I just installed 12.04 and running "sudo halt" only halts the system instead of powering it off. This worked fine on 10.04 - running "halt" by itself powered off the machine and it looks like it is still configured to poweroff the box in /etc/default/halt in Precise but that doesn't happen. Is this the intended behavior? If so, is it documented somewhere? I saw a comment here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/upstart/+bug/880240/comments/4 That said that halt no longer powers off the system, but I have been unable to find any documention explaining the change. Thanks, Charles ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04 Package: upstart 1.5-0ubuntu5 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-24.37-generic 3.2.14 Uname: Linux 3.2.0-24-generic x86_64 NonfreeKernelModules: rr26xx ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu7 Architecture: amd64 Date: Mon Apr 30 07:48:35 2012 InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Server 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120424.1) ProcEnviron: TERM=xterm LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SHELL=/bin/bash SourcePackage: upstart UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/sysvinit/+bug/991997/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages Post to : touch-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp