To start and stop zope using your OS's init system (works on debian-style systems, YMMV on other systems), you need two files: /etc/default/zope which sets the location of the zope directory/ies, and /etc/init.d/zope, which does the starting and stopping. After copying these files, run "chmod +x /etc/init.d/zope" then "update-rc.d zope defaults"

/etc/default/zope needs at least two lines - the full path to zope(s), and the user to run as. Multiple instances are seperated by a space

# Location of zope instances (base folder); seperate by a space if you have more than one
# e.g ZOPE_INSTANCES="/foo/bar/zope-dev /foo/bar/zope-production"
ZOPE_INSTANCES="/opt/Plone-2.5.5/"
ZOPE_USER=plone

/etc/init.d/zope shouldn't need modification; you can overwrite variables in /etc/default/zope

#! /bin/sh -e
#### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides:          zope
# Required-Start:    $local_fs $remote_fs $network $syslog
# Required-Stop:     $local_fs $remote_fs $network $syslog
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
# Short-Description: Start zope instances
# Description:       Debian init script for the starting zope
#                    instances.  Basically just calls 
#                    "zeocluster/bin/{start|shutdown|restart}cluster.sh".
### END INIT INFO
#
# Author:    Victor Rajewski
#
set -e

PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin


STARTCLUSTER=zeocluster/bin/startcluster.sh 
STOPCLUSTER=zeocluster/bin/shutdowncluster.sh 
RESTARTCLUSTER=zeocluster/bin/restartcluster.sh 

# Configuration file for zope instances. Seperate instances by a space
# At miniumum should have:
# 
# ZOPE_INSTANCES="/opt/Plone-2.5.5/"
# ZOPE_RUN_AS=plone
#
conf="/etc/default/zope"
# Exit if not found.
test -f "$conf" && . "$conf"

. /lib/lsb/init-functions


for instance in $ZOPE_INSTANCES ; do
    cmd="su $ZOPE_RUN_AS -c '$instance'"
    RETVAL=0
    case "$1" in
    start)
        log_daemon_msg "Starting: $instance"
        echo -n "     "
        eval $cmd/$STARTCLUSTER
        log_end_msg 0
        ;;
    stop)
        log_daemon_msg "Stopping: $instance"
        echo -n "     "
        eval $cmd/$STOPCLUSTER
        log_end_msg 0
        ;;
    restart)
        log_daemon_msg "Restarting: $instance"
        echo -n "     "
        eval $cmd/$RESTARTCLUSTER
        log_end_msg 0
        ;;
    *)
        echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/zope {start|stop|restart}"
        exit 1
        ;;
    esac
done