diff --git a/src/system/helpers.cpp b/src/system/helpers.cpp
index 0ebf7629e..8b0cb2320 100644
--- a/src/system/helpers.cpp
+++ b/src/system/helpers.cpp
@@ -568,6 +568,16 @@ bool exec_controlscript(std::string script)
 	return ret;
 }
 
+bool exec_initscript(std::string script, std::string command)
+{
+	dprintf(DEBUG_NORMAL, "executing service %s %s\n", script.c_str(), command.c_str());
+	int ret = my_system(3, "service", script.c_str(), command.c_str());
+	if (ret)
+		dprintf(DEBUG_NORMAL, "exec init script [%s] failed\n", script.c_str());
+
+	return ret;
+}
+
 std::string backtick(std::string command)
 {
 	char *buf = NULL;
diff --git a/src/system/helpers.h b/src/system/helpers.h
index 7b0bb8213..006868679 100644
--- a/src/system/helpers.h
+++ b/src/system/helpers.h
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ int mySleep(int sec);
 
 std::string find_executable(const char *name);
 bool exec_controlscript(std::string script);
+bool exec_initscript(std::string script, std::string command = "start");
 /* basically what "foo=`command`" does in the shell */
 std::string backtick(std::string command);